Question

jQuery $.ajax() sends a list of URL parameter values as “params[]=…..”

ASP.NET MVC 3 can’t parse those parameters in controller’s action because they are passed with “params[]” name

The example of such parameter is “targets%5b%5d=486F6D655C486F6D655C50656E6775696E732E6A7067”

I was able to add “traditional: true” to my own $.ajax() calls, but now the ajax calls coming from external plugin that I can’t change.

Is there a way to make ASP.NET MVC3 understand “not traditional” URL parameters that sends a list of values?

UPDATE: I also found another global jQuery property “jQuery.ajaxSettings.traditional = true;” will try it too.

Answer 1

You could write a custom model binder:

public class MyModelBinder : DefaultModelBinder
{
    public override object BindModel(ControllerContext controllerContext, ModelBindingContext bindingContext)
    {
        var values = bindingContext.ValueProvider.GetValue(bindingContext.ModelName + "[]");
        if (values != null)
        {
            return values.RawValue;
        }
        return base.BindModel(controllerContext, bindingContext);
    }
}

and then:

public ActionResult Index([ModelBinder(typeof(MyModelBinder))]string[] targets)
{
    ...
}

or register the model binder globally in Application_Start if you want it to apply to all string array action parameters:

ModelBinders.Binders.Add(typeof(string[]), new MyModelBinder());