Question

I’ve got the sample code below from an article written by Scott Mitchell on using Google Maps with ASP.NET MVC:

@{

   var locations = new List<string>();
   var infoWindowContents = new List<string>();

   foreach (var store in Model) {

       locations.Add(string.Format(
         @"{{ 
               title: ""Store #{0}"", 
               position: new google.maps.LatLng({1}, {2})
         }}",
         store.StoreNumber,
         store.Latitude,
         store.Longitude));

      infoWindowContents.Add(string.Format(
         @"{{ 
            content: ""<div class=\""infoWindow\""><b>Store #{0}</b><br />{1}<br />{2}, {3} {4}</div>""
         }}",
         store.StoreNumber,
         store.Address,
         store.City,
         store.Region,
         store.PostalCode)
      );
   }
 }

However, when the page renders the following is showing (I added a space between “&” and “quot;”

{ 
    title: & quot;Store #893& quot;, 
    position: new google.maps.LatLng(32.7178080, -117.1611020)
}

Most probably related to JSON encoding, but I’m still a beginner in ASP.NET MVC.

Answer 1

When outputting the location, don’t just use the variable, but wrap it in @Html.Raw(i). This way the render engine knows that it doesn’t have to escape possibly dangerous characters, like quotes. In code it should look something like

@for(var location in locations)
{
    Html.Raw(location);
}

Also look at JsonResult. Is is far easier and cleaner to use than creating your own json strings.