Question

I am trying to pass a string variable inside asp.net MVC. I use breakpoints so I see that it does go to the correct method in the controller, but the variables posted are equal to null.

My markup:

@{
    ViewBag.Title = "TestForm";
}

<h2>TestForm</h2>

@using (Html.BeginForm()) {
   <input type="text" id="testinput" />

    <input type="submit" value="TestForm" />
}

My controller:

public ActionResult TestForm()
{
    return View();
} 

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult TestForm(string testinput)
{
    Response.Write("[" + testinput + "]");

    return View();
}

I put the breakpoint inside the second TestForm method and testinput is null….
Am I missing something?

Note: I realize that most of the time I will be using the model to pass data around, but I would like to know that I can pass strings as well.

As part of the same question, how do I pass several variables? Would the method in my controller look like this:

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult TestForm(string var1, var2)
{
}

Answer 1

For me it looks like that you set the id not the name. I use MVC3 every day, so i dont reproduce your sample. (I am awake for 20 hours programming 😉 but still motivated to help ) Please tell me if it dont work. But for me it looks like you have to set the “name” property … not the id property. Try that … i am waiting right now to help you if it does not work.

     <input type="text" id="testinput" name="testinput" />