excel export issue in telerik mvc grid

Question

i have a telerik mvc grid where the excel export function fails because the read action of the grid has extra parameters. the read action looks like this :

public ActionResult My_ReadAction([DataSourceRequest]DataSourceRequest request, string startDate, string endDate)
    {
        DateTime _startDate, _endDate;
        _startDate = DateTime.ParseExact(startDate, "yyyyMMdd", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
        _endDate = DateTime.ParseExact(endDate, "yyyyMMdd", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);        
        IQueryable<CM_DISTRIBUTION_SCHEDULE> cm_distribution_schedule = db.CM_DISTRIBUTION_SCHEDULE
            .Where(x => x.REF_DATE >= _startDate && x.REF_DATE <= _endDate);  
        DataSourceResult result = cm_distribution_schedule.ToDataSourceResult(request, cM_DISTRIBUTION_SCHEDULE => new
        {
            RECORD_ID = cM_DISTRIBUTION_SCHEDULE.RECORD_ID,
            REF_DATE = cM_DISTRIBUTION_SCHEDULE.REF_DATE,
            BRANCH_ID = cM_DISTRIBUTION_SCHEDULE.BRANCH_ID,
            CURRENCY = cM_DISTRIBUTION_SCHEDULE.CURRENCY,
            FORECAST_AMOUNT = cM_DISTRIBUTION_SCHEDULE.FORECAST_AMOUNT
        });

        return Json(result);
    }

and the grid :

@(Html.Kendo().Grid<MyClass.MyViewModel>().Name("BranchFcast").AutoBind(false)         .HtmlAttributes(new { style = "height: 100%; border: 0;" })
  .Columns(columns =>
  {
    columns.Bound(c => c.REF_DATE).Title("Forecast Date").Format("{0:d}").Width(130);
    columns.ForeignKey(f => f.BRANCH_ID, (System.Collections.IEnumerable)ViewData["branches"], "BranchId", "BranchName").Title("Branch").Width(200);        
    columns.ForeignKey(f => f.CURRENCY, (System.Collections.IEnumerable)ViewData["currencies"], "CurrencyId", "CurrencyName").Title("Currency").Width(150);
    columns.Bound(c => c.FORECAST_AMOUNT).Title("Forecast Amount").Format("{0:c}").Width(150);
    columns.Bound(c => c.TXN_AMOUNT).Title("Amended Forecast").Width(150);        
  })
  .ToolBar(toolbar => {            
        toolbar.Excel();
  }).Excel(excel => excel.FileName("DistSchedule.xlsx").Filterable(true).ProxyURL(Url.Action("Excel_Export_Save", "DistSched")).AllPages(true)) 
  .DataSource(dataSource => dataSource
      .Ajax()
          .PageSize(20)
      .Model(model => 
          {
              model.Id(p => p.RECORD_ID);
              model.Field(p => p.RECORD_ID).Editable(false);
              model.Field(p=> p.REF_DATE).DefaultValue(DateTime.Today);
          }
          )
      .Sort(s => s.Add(f => f.REF_DATE).Descending()).Read(read => read.Action("My_ReadAction", "Controller")))
  )

So when the export button is clicked, it fires My_ReadAction but doesnt pass the parameter, causing the controller action to fail. Is there a way to modify the export events such that i can pass the parameters. Any other workaround is welcome.

Answer 1

Add a .Data() fluent method to the Ajax DataSource settngs and implement a JavaScript function that will return a plain object with the two dates. This is the recommended way to pass custom parameters to the Grid's Read action method.

http://docs.telerik.com/kendo-ui/aspnet-mvc/helpers/grid/binding/ajax-binding#pass-additional-data-to-action-methods