Post multiple parameters to MVC Controller using jQuery.post

Question

I have a controller defined as:

        [AcceptVerbs(HttpVerbs.Post)]
        public JsonResult PostMoreData(DataContracts.Address address, DataContracts.GeoLocation geoLocation)
        {
            return Json("test");
        }

where DataContracts.Address and DataContracts.GeoLocation are complex types.

From my View i'm trying to post using jQuery as such:

        function PostMoreData() {

            var JsonAddress = {

                "Building": $('Building').val(),
                "UnitNumber": $('UnitNumber').val(),
                "StreetNumber": $('StreetNumber').val(),
                "StreetName": $('StreetName').val(),
                "StreetType": $('StreetType').val(),
                "Suburb": $('Suburb').val(),
                "State": $('State').val(),
                "Postcode": $('Postcode').val(),
                "MonthsAtAddress": $('MonthsAtAddress').val()

            };

            var JsonGeoLocation = {
                "Latitude": $('Latitude').val(),
                "Longitude": $('Longitude').val()
            };


            jQuery.post("/AddressValidation/PostMoreData", {address: JsonAddress, geoLocation: JsonGeoLocation}, function(data, textStatus) {
                if (textStatus == "success") {
                    var result = eval(data);
                    if (result.length > 0) {
                        alert(result);
                    }
                }
            }, "json");
        } 

However, on the controller, I get nulls.

---

It works if my Controller takes just 1 argument and I post just one object.

        [AcceptVerbs(HttpVerbs.Post)]
        public JsonResult PostMoreData(DataContracts.Address address)
        {
            return Json("test");
        }

        function PostMoreData() {

            var JsonAddress = {

                "Building": $('Building').val(),
                "UnitNumber": $('UnitNumber').val(),
                "StreetNumber": $('StreetNumber').val(),
                "StreetName": $('StreetName').val(),
                "StreetType": $('StreetType').val(),
                "Suburb": $('Suburb').val(),
                "State": $('State').val(),
                "Postcode": $('Postcode').val(),
                "MonthsAtAddress": $('MonthsAtAddress').val()

            };


            jQuery.post("/AddressValidation/PostMoreData", JsonAddress, function(data, textStatus) {
                if (textStatus == "success") {
                    var result = eval(data);
                    if (result.length > 0) {
                        alert(result);
                    }
                }
            }, "json");
        } 

Any ideas how i can post more than one object?

Answer 1

Note that the "default serialization" that jQuery is doing here isn't going to work no matter what your controller does. jQuery doesn't "traverse" the parameter map below the first level, so the example in the question is likely generating this post data:

address=[object]&geoLocation=[object]

The other, working example does not contain any sub-objects, so it is being translated directly, like this:

Building=value&UnitNumber=value&...&MonthsAtAddress=value

The easiest fix is making the parameter map flat, each key prefixed with either 'Address.' or 'GeoLocation.', depending.

Answer 2

Thank you everyone for your input on this issue.

At this stage, we have departed from using jquery to post complex types to controllers. Instead we use the ms ajax framework to do that. ms ajax post nicely binds the complex types automatically out of the box.

So our solution now uses a mix of jquery and ms ajax framework.

Ash

Answer 3

Your code requires that the way jquery serializes an object is compatible with the MVC default model binder, which I think is unlikely.

If you can build your javascript object so that it serializes as a flat object with dot notation (JsonAddress.Building) that would work, or you can let jquery do the default serialization and then create a custom model binder to deserialize to the action parameter types.