CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#asp.net-mvcrazor
DBS
DBS

Reputation: 9984

Include search string in URL for Razor MVC view

I'm attempting to add a search string (e.g. http://stackoverflow.com?this=that) to a view returned by a controller. This is being used by JS on the page which I can't change, so other ways to transfer the data aren't an option.

Currently I'm just returning View("Page", viewModel); from my controller, which doesn't seem to allow you to pass anything via the URL.

I tried using return RedirectToAction("a", "b", new { this = that }); but I can't work out how to return the view correctly with both the view model and the URL string.

How would I go about adding on a ?a=b style string to a returned view?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 1026

Answers (2)

CodeCaster
CodeCaster

Reputation: 151664

I'm attempting to add [query string parameters] to [the URL of] a view returned by a controller.

You can't. A view is rendered in response to a request to a certain URL. The request has already been made on that point by the browser, so logically you can't change the URL anymore.

What you can do is a redirect.

I tried using return RedirectToAction("a", "b", new { this = that }); but I can't work out how to return the view correctly with both the view model and the URL string.

I think the problem you're trying to address there is that your Page action builds some model, which you'd like to access again from the SeachResults page after the redirect.

For that you can set the model in TempData before redirecting. See Using Tempdata in ASP.NET MVC - Best practice. Adapted for your scenario:

public ActionResult Page()
{
    var tempModel = new FooModel
    {
        Foo = "Bar"
    };

    TempData["TempModel"] = tempModel;

    return RedirectToAction("SeachResults" new { searchParameters = "baz" });
}

public ActionResult SeachResults(string searchParameters)
{
    var model = TempData["TempModel"] as FooModel;

    return View(model);
}

Upvotes: 2

David
David

Reputation: 218960

A view doesn't have query string arguments, a request does. So if this is your controller action:

public ActionResult SomeAction()
{
    return View();
}

then whatever request is made to SomeAction is what needs to have that query string parameter:

http://hostname/Widgets/SomeAction?something=somevalue

The action may accept it as a parameter:

public ActionResult SomeAction(string something)

but it doesn't need to if the server-side code isn't going to do anything with that value.

If the request to SomeAction can't be modified, then you'll need to break this apart into two actions. The first one just redirects to the second:

public ActionResult SomeAction()
{
    return RedirectToAction("Widgets", "SomeOtherAction", new { something = somevalue });
}

public ActionResult SomeOtherAction()
{
    return View();
}

In that scenario the first action's only responsibility is to forward the user to the second action with a particular route parameter. This is necessary because the query string needs to be in a request from the browser, not in a response from the server. So the first action's response is to direct the browser to make a new request with the query string.

Upvotes: 4

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