How to call a method without specifying action and controller in asp.net mvc3?

Question

I am new to asp.net mvc. I have a button on my page. On click of that button I want to show download dialog box only. I don't want to call any other view and controller. Whenever I use @Html.BeginForm("Index", "Download", FormMethod.Post) , it opens new window along with download dialog box. I don't want to open any new window. My code is as follows

@Html.BeginForm("Index", "Download", FormMethod.Post)
                                {
                                @{if (check.CheckName != "Total")
                                  {
                                    <td colspan="2" align="right">
                                        <span class="button">
                                            <input type="submit" value="View Report" class="form_button" onclick="window.showModalDialog('/Download/Index?EmployeeID=@Model.EmployeeInformation.EmployeeID&RequestID=@Model.RequestInformation.RequestID','Download View','dialogHeight:4px;dialogWidth:4px;');" /></span>
                                    </td>
                                    <td colspan="2" align="left">
                                        <span class="button">
                                            <input type="submit" value="Download Report" class="form_button" /></span>
                                    </td>
                                  }
                                }

Is there any way to do this ?

Answer 1

you can use Ajax.BeginForm this can update just a part of your page with your form content without the need to open a new page.

@using (Ajax.BeginForm("Index", "Download", new AjaxOptions
                    {
                        HttpMethod = "GET",
                        UpdateTargetId = "area", // the div that will have your form contents
                        InsertionMode = InsertionMode.Replace                          
                    }))
{
   // here you can put your form content normally like the 'Html.BeginForm'
}

<div id = "area">
</div>

and make your Action returns a PartialView.