Can a ViewBag.Something transport data from view to the controller as well?

Question

I have the following case:

@model MvcApp.Models.MyAppModel
@{ ViewBag.ActionName = this.Context.Request.RequestContext.RouteData.Values["action"]; }

using the debugger i checked and i am certain that Viewbag.ActionName recieves its value. However in the controller ViewBag is always empty. WHY? i am using this between these requests only ( meaning that i always respect this order, from this view i click an actionlink that always takes me to delete. Please enlighten me. Cheers.

[HttpGet]
public ActionResult Delete(int id)
{
    string actionName = ViewBag.ActionName;

any details you need just ask.

Answer 1

The data in the view bag is only valid for the duration of a single request. But your talking about two requests: the first one renders the page and the second one processes the Delete action. That's why the view bag is initially empty in the controller.

Answer 2

The flow of a request is: First the controller, then the View.

So the answer is no, what you do in the view, can not carry over to the action/controller.