C# ASP.net MVC4 How to get Main View Control Values from a Partial View ActionResult

Question

I have a main view with a textbox and dropdown list:

@using (Ajax.BeginForm("GetResults", "SomeController", new AjaxOptions { HttpMethod = "Post", UpdateTargetId = "PartialDiv" }))

<select name ="dropdown1" onchange="$(this.form).submit();" >
    <option></option>                                                             
    @foreach (var recordrow in ...)                   
    {  
        <option value="@recordrow.Value" >@recordrow.Text</option>
    }
</select>

<select name ="dropdown2" >  
    <option></option>    
    @foreach (var recordrow in ...)
    {  
        <option value="@recordrow.Value" >@recordrow.Text</option>
    }
</select>
@Html.TextBox("textbox1", null, new { size = 10 })

<div id="PartialDiv" class="GroupBoxForeground" >
       @Html.Partial("PartialView")
    </div>

The main view automatically renders a partial view once certain controls on the main view have been filled with values. Inside the Partial View, there is a submit button which calls an ActionResult.

Part of the Partial View:

@using (Ajax.BeginForm("Function1", "SomeController", new AjaxOptions { HttpMethod = "Post", UpdateTargetId = "someDiv" }))
...
<input  type="submit" name="btn_submit"  value="Process" style="width:80px"  />

My ActionResult looks like this:

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Function1(FormCollection formdata, MasterModel MstModel)
{
    ...
}

I am able to successfully bind the values in my Partial View to MasterModel. However, I am unable to get the values of the controls in the Main View while calling the ActionResult. I cannot find the key in the FormCollection and have tried the same method I used in the partial view for model binding.

Both Views are strongly-typed with the MasterModel.

Since the values in the Main View can be changed after the Partial View is rendered, I need to get the values once more when the submit button is clicked in the partial view. Is there a way to access those control values in the Main View inside ActionResult of the Partial View?

Edit: To explain the situation more clearly as suggested in the comments, My main view is basically a search screen with a textbox and one of the dropdown lists which will be used by the partial view for processing later.

My partial view (in a separate form) shows the results of the search along with a submit button inside to process certain tasks based on the results. However, this processing also requires the 2nd dropdown list's value and the textbox's value in the main view. Those 2 controls in the main view can be changed even after the partial view is loaded. Therefore, I am hoping to find some way to get those values in the main view when the submit button is pressed.

are you using multiple form ? if not why don't you declare your form in the main view? the reason you don't get the main view values is because the fields aren't into the submitted form. multiple form case : since your dropdown seems to submit a main form could you past the controller action used to call your partail view — Emmanuel M.
you should not expect to get values on posting form, which are not even inside the form. You are unable to get the values of the controls in the Main View because those controls are not even inside the posted form. It is little unclear what you are trying to achieve. Try to explain clearly, so that people can suggest solutions — Zeeshan
As mentioned by others in comment you cannot get the values of properties which are outside that form. And where does your first(parent) form end? If it ends after your partial view then you are having a form inside the form. You cannot nest forms. can you post some more of the code? — Vishal Ravlani

Zeeshan Zeeshan · Accepted Answer · 2015-03-31T10:21:59

so you mean, you have two separate forms. On posting second form, you also want to post values of the controls, that are in first form. For that purpose, you can take help of jquery, as values outside the form are not posted on submit.

You can create hidden fields in your second form (partial view form), as:

@Html.Hidden("dropdown1value", "", new { @id = "ddl1val" })
@Html.Hidden("dropdown2value", "", new { @id = "ddl2val" })

and then on change event of your dropdown1, you can do like:

//assuming 'dropdown1' is the `id` of your dropdown1
$("#dropdown1").change(function () {
      $("#ddl1val").val($("#dropdown1").val());

});

same way for the second dropdown. Hope you have got the idea.

C# ASP.net MVC4 How to get Main View Control Values from a Partial View ActionResult

1 Answers