Question

I am doing a simple $.ajax request:

$.ajax({              
    type: "POST",

    url: "/Run/" + param1 + "/" + param2,

    dataType: 'html',

    error: function(error) {

    },

    success: function(html) {

    }
});

If my param2 value is like http://localhost/pub/file?val1=Some Text&val2=Some Text then encoding done using escape(param2), encodeURI(param2), encodeURIComponent(param2) doesn’t help. And I get following ERROR –>

HTTP Error 400.0 – Bad Request
ASP.NET detected invalid characters in the URL

My Questions –>

1. How should I encode param2 ?
2. What is the maximum length of request URL in $.ajax call ?
3. Is request URL max length dependent on type of browser from which request is made ?
4. I have observed that if I use Ajax.ActionLink then I do not need to encode the parameters passed to action and I can pass parameters with length > 10,000 characters as well. But I do not know how to make an explicit call using Ajax.ActionLink from my java script. I need to click on that actionlink to make call through Ajax.ActionLink.

Benefits of Ajax.actionLink–>
Please see the length of parameter categoryName passed to action using Ajax.ActionLink (This is mine observation)

Answer 1

Such big parameters should be posted and not sent in the URL.

$.ajax({              
    type: 'POST',
    url: '/Run',
    data: { param1: param1, param2: param2 },
    dataType: 'html',
    error: function(error) {
    },
    success: function(html) {
    }
});

This will automatically handle parameter encoding. If you absolutely insist on sending them in the url you may declare a global javascript variable that will hold the url to call:

<script type="text/javascript">
    var url = '<%= Url.Action("Run"), new { param1 = "value1", param2 = "value2" } %>';
    $(function() {
        $.ajax({              
            type: 'POST',
            url: url,
            dataType: 'html',
            error: function(error) {
            },
            success: function(html) {
            }
        });
    });
</script>