Question

I have a scenario where-in I am trying to use the jQuery template plugin for displaying list of data on my MVC list view. However my list is the default view of my mvc application. I want to use the same action to server both purposes of returning json data as well as returning view.

It is making double trip for getting data. Is there a way that as soon as my action is called, I return Json data and use the template plugin to display data.

Answer 1

You can test if the action has been called with AJAX then return JSON data and if not return a normal view:

public ActionResult Index()
{
    var model = FetchModel();
    if (Request.IsAjaxRequest())
    {
        return Json(model, JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet);
    }
    return View(model);
}

Of course this if makes your controller action ugly. It would be far better to use action filters to avoid repeating this logic in multiple actions:

public class MyFilterAttribute : ActionFilterAttribute
{
    public override void OnActionExecuted(ActionExecutedContext filterContext)
    {
        base.OnActionExecuted(filterContext);
        if (filterContext.HttpContext.Request.IsAjaxRequest())
        {
            var viewResult = filterContext.Result as ViewResultBase;
            if (viewResult != null)
            {
                if (viewResult.Model != null)
                {
                    filterContext.Result = new JsonResult
                    {
                        Data = viewResult.Model,
                        JsonRequestBehavior = JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet
                    };
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

And then decorate your controller with this attribute:

[MyFilter]
public ActionResult Index()
{
    var model = FetchModel();
    return View(model);
}