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how exactly should the 'myArray' array be passed to the mvc controller? I've tried everything but i can't seem to get anything to work

Controller

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult MyAction(MyModel model, List<string> myArray) {
     //code...
}

View

$('#dialog').dialog({
        //...
        buttons: {
            "Cancel": function () {
                $(this).dialog("close");
            },
            "Submit": function () {
                var arrCount= 0;
                var myArray = new Array();

                //grabs all the dropdownlists that begin with id 'dropdownlist' and adds it to 'myArray'
                $('form').contents().find("select[id ^= 'dropdownlist'] option:selected").each(function () {
                    myArray[arrCount++] = $(this).text();
                });

                if ($('form').validate().form()) {
                    $.ajax({
                        url: "MyController/MyAction",
                        type: 'POST',
                        dataType: "json",
                        traditional: true,
                        data: { 
                           model: $("form").serialize(),
                           myArray: myArray
                        },
                        success: function (result) {
                            alert("debug: complete");
                        }
                    });
                }
            }
        }
    });

I know how to pass in the array by itself to the controller. But, once i add my existing model into the equation, i'm unsure as to how i would be able pass my array to the controller. Any thoughts?

share|improve this question
Does the model get posted properly? – sormii Sep 7 '12 at 8:00
no, the model returns null on the controller – theStig Sep 7 '12 at 17:21

1 Answer

up vote 0 down vote

First of all, the simple solution is:

Make a string of array values with some separator,

1##2##3... or 1,2,3.. etc.

and use

public ActionResult MyAction(MyModel model, string myArray) {
     string[] values = myArray.Split("##"); //split incoming string with your separator

     List<int> myIntArray = new List<int>();
     foreach (var value in values)
     {
         int tmp = 0;
         if (int.TryParse(value, out tmp))
         {
             myIntArray.Add(tmp);
         }
     }

     //code...
}

works good for simple things.

Second approach is a little bit more complex but works for objects.

Suppose you have the following:

public class YourMainModel
{
    public YourMainModel()
    {
        ArrayField = new List<YourPartialModel>()
    }

    List<YourPartialModel> ArrayField {get; set;}

    //some other fields
}

public class YourPartialModel
{
    public string Name {get; set;}

    //some other fields
}

Use some kind of enumerator in your view to make the following:

<form id="myForm">

//some other fields from YourMainModel here

//dealing with our array
@for (int i = 0; i < Model.ArrayField.Count(); i++)
{
    @Html.TextBox("ArrayField[" + i + "].Name", Model.ArrayField[i].Name)

    //some other fields from YourPartialModel here
}

</form>

and then

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult MyAction(YourMainModel model) {
    //use model.ArrayFields here, it should be submitted
}
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