MVC3 = >> return EmptyResult() When it's a good idea to return this?

Question

when it's a good idea to return "EmptyResult()" from a Controller

Answer 1

You would basically use it to signify that you are not doing anything with an action's result.

From MSDN:

Represents a result that does nothing, such as a controller action method that returns nothing.

I have personally used on actions defined in an AsyncController, so if you have for instance an async action like:

public void SendMailAsync() { } 

Basically an action in an AsnycController, you'll need a xxxCompleted action as well (by convention)

public virtual ActionResult SendMailCompleted {     // do whatever     return new EmptyResult(); } 

Since this is not an action meant to be called by a user but by a background task, I'm not going to do anything with the result anyway.

Answer 2

I've used it when creating RESTful web services. When doing a POST or DELETE operation, for example, the HTTP status code can convey enough info in itself.