MVC 3 Controller not recognizing JSON passed back by jQuery AJAX

Question

I have an MVC 3 app that is using jQuery AJAX to fire off a controller action to return a partial view.

The client side code:

function getCustomerList(searchCriteria) {
 $.ajax({
 url: 'Home/GetCustomerList',
 type: 'POST',
 data: '{searchString:"' + searchCriteria + '"}',
 success: function (result) {
 $("#customerTabBody").html(result);
 }
 });
};

The Controller code:

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult GetCustomerList(string searchString)
{
 var custService = new CustomerViewModels();
 var custListVM = custService.GetSearchList(searchString);
 return PartialView("GetCustomerList", custListVM);
}

When I fire the client side jQuery I can see via Firebug that the searchString is being sent and appears properly formatted. Here's what Firebug shows as the post message:

{searchString:'ar'}

and Firebug is able to properly parse the JSON. If I put a breakpoint in the controller code and test the value of the searchString parameter is is NULL. However if I just hardcode the JSON:

function getCustomerList(searchCriteria) {
 $.ajax({
 url: 'Home/GetCustomerList',
 type: 'POST',
 data: {searchString:'ar'},
 success: function (result) {
 $("#customerTabBody").html(result);
 }
 });
};

It works perfectly and the controller parameter is correctly populated.

What am I doing wrong such that when I parametrize my JSON string it fails?

Thanks

Answer 1

Try like this:

function getCustomerList(searchCriteria) {
 $.ajax({
 url: 'Home/GetCustomerList',
 type: 'POST',
 data: { searchString: searchCriteria },
 success: function (result) {
 $('#customerTabBody').html(result);
 }
 });
}

This will ensure that the data sent to the controller is properly URL encoded. Also you haven't shown how/where you are calling this getCustomerList function but if it is on the click of some anchor or button make sure that you are cancelling the default action as well.

• BKahuna: Folks - We have a winner! Thanks Darin
• BKahuna: Weird that StackOverflow makes you wait about 12 minutes before you can mark an answer as correct.