asp.net mvc and jquery

Question

In my MVC view (using VS 2012 RC), I'm attempting to use jQuery to parse XML data returned from my Controller. However, my focus is to make use of the jQuery $.ajax() function. Problem is that ajax is NOT returning an XML Doc from my controller; it returns some formatted Html.

Example: I can indeed return it directly to my view inside a , but I don't want that entire XML doc displayed that way. For example, get XML from the @Model object:

@model RazorMvc.Models.PortfolioResponse
@{
    ViewBag.Title = "PortfolioList";
}              
 ...
<div class="XmlResp">
        <@Html.Raw(@Model.XmlPortfolioResponse.OuterXml.ToString())>
</div>

HOWEVER, I would much prefer to use $.ajax() to retrieve my XML Doc. The only problem is that the return value from my Controller code is NOT the XML; it's returning some formatted HTML text:

This is a test div !!!

What's getting displayed is some formatted HTML as follows:

Here is the jQuery code. I would hope to get an XML doc in the DATA object:

<script type="text/javascript">
    $.ajax({
        url: "/Portfolios/PortfolioList",
        type: "POST", 
        async: true,
        success: function(data){
            if (!data)
                alert("No xml data returned.");
            else{
                var $xml = $(data);
                var $title = $xml.find("portfolioSummary").text();

                $('.xmlTest').text("Wow are we getting somewhere ?!!!");
                $('.xmlTest').append($xml.text());
                alert("success!");                
            }
        },
        error: function (error) {
            alert("failed");
        }

    });

Some guidance and advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Bob

Darin Dimitrov · Accepted Answer · 2012-06-27 18:17:17Z

1

You don't need a view. You could return the XML directly from your controller action:

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult PortfolioList()
{
    string xml = ...
    return Content(xml, "text/xml");
}

Now, since you have set the proper content type response header, jQuery will know how to parse it and in your success callback you will be able to directly work with this XML stream.

answered Jun 27, 2012 at 18:17

Darin Dimitrov

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6 Comments

bob.mazzo Over a year ago

thank you for responding. I've already tried to return Content(..), but the XML gets rendered in the browser directly. I'm missing a key piece of code somewhere...

bob.mazzo Over a year ago

maybe I should try NOT using a View file; maybe just a straight HTML file.

Darin Dimitrov Over a year ago

No, you don't need a view at all.

Darin Dimitrov Over a year ago

You have 2 controller actions, right? One that serves the view containing the AJAX request and the PortfolioList controller action which returns a Content as shown in my answer?

bob.mazzo Over a year ago

Ahhhh, interesting point ! No, I don't have 2 views to handle this. I'm doing it all in the PortfolioList controller. So it sounds like I need to write a separate controller and call into it from $.ajax() something like this: url: "/Portfolios/RetrievePortfolio" ???

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Tommy · Accepted Answer · 2012-06-27 18:17:04Z

0

You probably need to specify the dataType as XML in your .ajax() setup as seen below

$.ajax({
            url: "/Portfolios/PortfolioList",
            type: "POST", 
            //add this line
            dataType: "XML",
            async: true,
            success: function(data){
                if (!data)
                    alert("No xml data returned.");
                else{
                    var $xml = $(data);
                    var $title = $xml.find("portfolioSummary").text();

                    $('.xmlTest').text("Wow are we getting somewhere ?!!!");
                    $('.xmlTest').append($xml.text());
                    alert("success!");                
                }
            },
            error: function (error) {
                alert("failed");
            }

        });

There are other options as well from the JQuery documentation on this function depending on your needs

answered Jun 27, 2012 at 18:17

Tommy

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6 Comments

bob.mazzo Over a year ago

thank you as well, but it's still rendering the XML doc directly in the browser (IE in my case). It seems my Controller is NOT returning the XML back to the jQuery ajax routine.

Tommy Over a year ago

@bob Yes, I have seen the same issue (with JSON) and Jquery not handling it. How are you calling the ajax function? Are you getting any JS errors in your dev console?

bob.mazzo Over a year ago

I'm calling the ajax function just as you re-posted in your answer (with dataType: "XML"), EXCEPT I modified the URL as "/Portfolios/getPortfolios". And yes, I'm crashing on js line: var $title = $xml.find("portfolioSummary").text(); (null or undefined).

bob.mazzo Over a year ago

funny thing is that when I crash, I'm able to use the VS IDE to view my vars. and when I use the Watch window to view the "data" object returned, I CAN INDEED see the XML document returned. Is it something with $.parseXML(data) ???

bob.mazzo Over a year ago

OKAY NO CRASHES NOW ! I simply removed the [HttpPost] attrib from my action method inside the controller. So now public ActionResult looks basically like this : getPortfolios() { var portf = new PortfolioResponse { XmlPortfolioResponse = xmlResponse }; return Content(portfoliosResponse, "text/xml"); }

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