I need to pass a complex object representing a data filter to an action using GET which returns a filtered data set in a csv file.
The filter object is something like this on the client (much more complex in actuality, simplified for brevity):
var filter = {
Folders = [
{ Positive: true, Reference: { Id: 19, Name: "Container" } },
{ Positive: true, Reference: { Id: 37, Name: "Bullseye" } },
]
}
The corresponding server side classes look something like this:
public class MyFilter
{
public List<MyComparison> Folders { get; set; }
}
public class MyComparison
{
public bool Positive { get; set; }
public MyReference Reference { get; set; }
}
public class MyReference
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name {get; set; }
}
My action looks like this:
[HttpGet]
public FileContentResult Export(MyFilter filter, string sort, bool sortAscending)
{
string data = GetCsvData(filter, sort, sortAscending);
return this.File(StrToByteArray(data), "text/csv", "Data.csv");
}
I have tried calling this action from javascript like this:
function exportFilter(aFilter) {
var params = { filter: aFilter, sort: "Name", sortAscending: true };
var destination = "MyController/Export?" + decodeURIComponent($.param(params));
document.location = destination;
}
Within the action, both the sort and sortAscending parameters are properly populated. The filter is an object of type MyFilter, but its Folders property is null.
Is ASP.NET MVC incapable of properly deserializing complex parameters in this way (ie in the context of a GET)? What is the correct way to address this problem?
It can bind complex objects/parameters, the problem is the way the params are being sent. For example, you’re sending:
But the MVC model binder expects this format:
I’m not sure of the easiest way to build a string matching that pattern from a javascript object though.