Passing Json data to MVC controller - Action Method's JObject Parameter

Question

Sorry for the wrong formatting or spelling. As i am writting this post in hurry. :)

I am passing json data to action method of simple controller (MVC controller). Here is the below sample code for reference.

JS CODE:

var json = {IsInit :true, SearchParam:{ Type:"xx",Name:"xx",sort: ""} };

    Nx$(document).ready(function () {

        Nx$.ajax({
            async: true,
            contentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8",
            type: "POST",
            url: "Home/Data",
            dataType: "json",
            data: JSON.stringify(json),
            success: function (msg) {
                alert('success');
            },
            error: function (jqxhr, textStatus, error) {
                alert('fail');
            }
        });

Action Method :

<HttpPost>
        <Route("Data")>
        Function GetData(ByVal IsInit As Boolean, ByVal SearchParam As Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JObject) As ActionResult
            Return Nothing
        End Function

Now, above action doesn't call at all. but if you use below code then it makes the call but SearchParam is of type [object] only and you can not use any value of searchParam object.

<HttpPost>
    <Route("Data")>
    Public Function GetData(ByVal IsInit As Boolean, ByVal SearchParam As Object) As Object
        Return Nothing
    End Function

I think that it does not able to pass multiple parameter in POST request with complex json object.

How can i get JSON data passed to MVC controller's action method so that SearchParam Json data converted to JObject it self. ie initial first Action method signature should be used with out any major method signature changes.

Few Observation :

1. if i turned above action method as api in API Controller; it start working but having said that you need to follow the below method signature. below approach is not working for MVC controller. Don't know why ?? However, For Some reason; i can not go with API controller.

     <HttpPost> <Route("Data")> Function GetData(ByVal req As Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JObject) As ActionResult Return Nothing End Function 

Thanks !!

Answer 1

Better to never use JOBject for this. Instead it is much more practical and highly recommended to create and use a Model class . MVC Web API will then bind the incoming JSON to a Model object, all for free.

Example:

Public Class MyData
    Public Property IsInit As Boolean
    Public Property Type As String
    Public Property Name As String
    Public Property Sort As String
End Class

Note that here I piled everything into one Class. If you want to keep the IsInit separate from the rest then you can split it like this:

Public Class Param
    Public Property Type As String
    Public Property Name As String
    Public Property Sort As String
End Class

Public Class MyData
    Public Property IsInit As Boolean
    Public Property SearchParam as Param
End Class

Then change your Action Method like this:

Function GetData(<FromBody()> ByVal data As MyData) As ActionResult
    ...
End Function

Finally you probably need to use data: json in your call, so without calling JSON.stringify() .

Answer 2

Thanks Peter!! Your comment gave me direction. Below code snippet used to wrap JSON data to Dictionary Object. Here i understand your point for not using JObject and instead rely on Model object. But for some reason; i have to use dictionary object to get JSON due to dynamic JSON nature from other end point.

Public Class MyData
            Public Property IsInit As Boolean
            Public Property SearchParam As Dictionary(Of Object, Object)
        End Class

Thanks a lot !!