Returning data from controllers to views in asp.net mvc

Question

Is it possible to return a complex type from a controller to a view in asp.net mvc? All the examples I have looked at so far demonstrate passing simple intrinsic types like int, string....

Drevak · Accepted Answer · 2009-05-12 18:18:23Z

2

You can pass any object type to the view using the ViewData Dictionary.

Just put in your controller:

ViewData["example"] = (YourObject)data;

And then in your view:

<%= ((YourObject)ViewData["example"]).YourProperty %>

And if you want to pass your object as your View model then:

return View("viewname", (YourObject)data);

And make sure your view looks like this:

<%@ Page Title="" Language="C#" MasterPageFile="~/Views/Shared/Site.Master" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewPage<YourObject>" %>

answered May 12, 2009 at 18:18

Drevak

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2 Comments

Peter J Over a year ago

Why use ViewData when the YourObject already exists in the view as the Model?

Drevak Over a year ago

i was trying to say that he can either pass the object using the viewdata or directly as the view model. My answer was very poor i admit.

Morph · Accepted Answer · 2009-05-12 20:52:59Z

2

You can create a viewmodel that's then used in the strongly typed view. You can check out this blogpost by Stephen Walther that explains it. I started out just dumping stuff in viewdata, but that gets confusing pretty quickly ;).

answered May 12, 2009 at 20:52

Morph

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Comments

MatteKarla · Accepted Answer · 2009-05-12 19:05:16Z

0

Use a ViewModel for your page.

you could use a view model containing both complex and simple objects, for example:

public class MyComplexViewModel
{
    public Address UserAddress { get; set;}
    public List<string> ValidZipCodes { get; set; }
    public string Message { get; set; }
}

If your view inherits the generic ViewPage with something like this

<%@ Page Title="" Language="C#" MasterPageFile="~/Views/Shared/Site.Master" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewPage<MyComplexViewModel>" %>

you could then in the view use the view model as Model.:

<%= Html.Encode(Model.UserAddress.SomeAddressProperty) %>
<%= Html.Encode(Model.ValidZipCodes.Count) %>
<%= Html.Encode(Model.Message) %>

answered May 12, 2009 at 19:05

MatteKarla

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