Question

I am really confused by looking at so many approaches the way JQuery and AJAX are used with MVC and there is no proper documentation I found.

I have a very common scenario in my applications where I have a Form which is a partial view user will submit which will be stored to database if its valid and if not than show user same form again and show an error on the page.

Whats simplest way to do this ? Can I achieve this using simple AJAXForm or I will have to use JSON and JQuery as well ?

 <script type="text/javascript">

        function successContactList() {
               alert("Success.");
      }

        function failureContactList() {
            alert("Error.");
        }

    </script>


    <% using (Ajax.BeginForm("SaveMailingList", "Contacts", new AjaxOptions { OnFailure = "failureContactList", OnComplete = "successContactList", UpdateTargetId = "ContactArea" })) { %>
    <div id="ContactArea">

        <%: Html.EditorFor(Model => Model)  %>
         <input type="submit" value="Save" />
    </div>
    <% } %>



    [HttpPost]
        public ActionResult SaveMailingList(IEnumerable<ContactsInMailingListsViewModel>  contactInMailing) {
            var mailingList = contactInMailing.FirstOrDefault();
            var contact = repository.GetContactById(mailingList.ContactId);
            repository.UpdateMailingList(contactInMailing,contact);
            contactInMailing.FirstOrDefault().EndDate = new DateTime(2077,1,1);
            return PartialView(contactInMailing);

        }

Answer 1

I see two problems with your question.

1. Have you researched your terms? jQuery is often used for doing AJAX manipulations, and MVC stands for Model-View-Controller, which is one way for your server side code structuring (separation of view and service code). JSON can be used for data exchange and manipulation (a bit like XML, only simpler), and is not required when you’re using forms.
2. You haven’t told us what is your server side technology. Although forms are basic parts of html specification, you still have to handle them somehow on the server side.