post action for url.action?

Question

Here is a line of code in my Controller class:

return JavaScript(String.Format(\"window.top.location.href=\'{0}\';\", Url.Action(\"MyAction\", \"MyController         


        

Answer 1

Continuing off of Matt Lacey's answer, your action could return a bit of Javascript that does this:

1. Use jquery to add a new form to the DOM
2. Use jquery to submit the newly added form

Something like this: (untested code)

var urlHelper = new UrlHelper(...);
var redirectUrl = urlHelper.Action("MyAction", "MyController");

var redirectScript = String.Format(@"
    var formTag = $('<form action=""{0}"" method=""post"" id=""redirectForm""></form>');
    $(body).append(formTag);
    formTag.submit();"
    , redirectUrl
);

return JavaScript(redirectScript);

Answer 2

I came across the same problem myself and solved it using a data- attribute and some jQuery. The benefit of doing it this way is that you still get the correct URL when you hover over the link, even though it does a POST. Note that the Html.BeginForm contains the default action in case the user hits the enter key.

HTML (ASP.NET MVC3 Razor)

@using (Html.BeginForm("Quick", "Search"))
{
    <input type="text" name="SearchText" />
    <a href="@Url.Action("Quick", "Search")" data-form-method="post">Search</a>
    <a href="@Url.Action("Advanced", "Search")" data-form-method="post">Advanced</a>
}

jQuery

$("a[data-form-method='post']").click(function (event) {
    event.preventDefault();
    var element = $(this);
    var action = element.attr("href");
    element.closest("form").each(function () {
        var form = $(this);
        form.attr("action", action);
        form.submit();
    });
});

Answer 3

You can't use POST by simply navigating to a different URL. (Which is what you'd do by changing location.href.)

Using POST only makes sense when submitting some data. It's not clear from your code what data would actually be POSTed.

If you really want to initiate a POST via javascript try using it to submit a form.