Question

I have an “Add to Cart” button that if the browser supports JS + Ajax (and doesn’t have it turned off) it POSTS using Ajax back to the site, however if they don’t support it, or have it turned off it does the manual style POST.

What I am hoping to accomplish is two views – one when the user posts back using a regular POST and one when it comes from a AJAX POST. That way I can show an in-line message (partial) or a full screen.

I would prefer not having to duplicate the controller/action code twice, it just seems non-elegant.

Is there any recommended solutions or patterns for this type of issue?

Answer 1

John,

You can use the IsAjaxRequest method on the request to determine this. You would apply it to your scenario thusly:

public ActionResult AddToCart(YourCartViewmodel cartViewmodel)
{
     if (ModelState.IsValid)
     {
         // do the standard/common db stuff here
         if(Request.IsAjaxRequest())
         {
             return PartialView("myPartialView");
         }
         else
         {
             return View("standardView");
         }
     }
     /* always return full 'standard' postback if model error */
     return View(cartViewmodel);   
}

altho not perhaps giving a complete solution, this should give you a good start…