Passing json list to MVC 3

Question

I am trying to submit this with Ajax to a MVC3 controller:

    var params = {
        \'productId\': productId,
        \'list\': []
    };

    $.each($(\'.         


        

Answer 1

Try changing your controller action to (I'm assuming here that Specification is a model representing the JSON you're trying to post):

public Boolean Save(Int32 productId, List<Specification> specifications)

And then change these things in your JS:

var params = {
    'productId': productId,
    'specifications': []
};

params.specifications.add(specification);

$.ajax({
    type: "POST",
    url: "/Admin/Product/Save/",
    data: JSON.stringify(params),
    contentType: 'application/json',
    success: function () { alert('done'); }
});

Answer 2

jQuery .ajax() converts the JSON object to a collection of key value pairs in the application/x-www-form-urlencoded content type. You can read a good explanation of this in the blog post and comments of POSTing JSON Data to MVC Controllers

So, You should either create a custom ModelBinder or put FormCollection form as the parameter instead of Object[]. The FormCollection will give you a NameValueCollection of the Form's values that also implements IValueProvider. You can loop through the collection and all your data will be there.

Answer 3

ASP.NET MVC 3 includes built-in JSON model binding.

So create simple POCOs which matches the JSON your attempting to submit:

public class ProductJsonModel
{
   public int ProductId { get; set; }
   public ProductSpecificationJsonModel[] @List { get; set; }
}

public class ProductSpecificationJsonModel
{
   public int SpecificationId { get; set; }
   public int ArticleId { get; set; }
   public double Price { get; set; }
   public int Stock { get; set; }
   public int StockCount { get; set; }
   public int Weight { get; set; }
   public bool Visible { get; set; }
}

Then accept that in your action:

[HttpPost]
public Boolean Save(ProductJsonModel model)

As long as the property names in the JSON object match the property names in the POCO's, MVC will bind for you.

Also - you should serialise the JSON using .stringify or something similar, and set the contentType of the $.ajax object accordingly.