Question

I have a Controller listed below:

//
// GET: /Customer/Details/5
public ActionResult Details(short id)
{
    ActionResult actionResult = null;

    if (HttpContext.User.IsInRole("Admin"))
    {
        // this is the logic that is getting executed
        YeagerTechWcfService.Customer cust = db.GetCustomerID(Convert.ToInt16(id));
        actionResult = View("Details", cust);           }
    else
    {
        HttpCookie cn = Request.Cookies["strCookieName"];
        if (cn != null)
        {
            YeagerTechWcfService.Customer cust = db.GetCustomerID(Convert.ToInt16(id));
            actionResult = View("Details", cust);
        }
        else
        {
            TempData["ErrCode"] = "CustView";
            actionResult = RedirectToAction("Index", "Home");
        }
    }

    return actionResult;
}

I have a View (where the ActionLink is) like below:

columns.Template(
    @<text>
    @Ajax.ActionLink("Detail", "Details", "Customer", new { id = item.CustomerID },
    new AjaxOptions { InsertionMode = InsertionMode.Replace, UpdateTargetId = "detailCustomer" })
    </text>
).Width(70); 

The rendered output is now as follows:

<a data-ajax="true" data-ajax-mode="replace" data-ajax-update="#detailCustomer" href="/Customer/Details/2">Detail</a> 

If I click on the link from within the source view of the browser, I get to my new View just fine.

However, if I try and click on the ActionLink, the View doesn’t come up. I can verify during debugging, that I’m stepping thru the Details View after I hit that controller code. The present view just stays in place without switching to the new View.

Moreover, I can see that if I click on the ActionLink, it executes the same exact code (during debugging) as when I paste it into the address bar:

http://localhost:4514/Customer/Details/2

When I click on the ActionLink, even though the same code is executed, the address url doesn’t change to the above. and the View is not being rendered.

What am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

even though the same code is executed, the address url doesn’t change
to the above

You are using an Ajax.ActionLink meaning that it will send an AJAX request. The whole point of AJAX is to stay on the same page and not redirect.

You indicate UpdateTargetId = "detailCustomer" so make sure that in your page you have a container with this id:

<div id="detailCustomer"></div>

which will be updated with the results of the AJAX call. Also make sure that you have properly included the jquery.unobtrusive-ajax.js script to your page in order for the Ajax.ActionLink helper to do anything useful.

On the other hand if you want to perform a full postback and change the url of your browser you probably need a standard link:

Html.ActionLink("Detail", "Details", "Customer", new { id = item.CustomerID }, null)