POST json dictionary

Question

I\'m trying the following : A model with a dictionary inside send it on the first ajax request then take the result serialize it again and send it back to the controller.

Answer 1

Due to the way JsonValueProviderFactory is implemented binding dictionaries is not supported.

Answer 2

An unfortunate workaround:

data.dictionary = {
    'A': 'a',
    'B': 'b'
};

data.dictionary = JSON.stringify(data.dictionary);

. . .

postJson('/mvcDictionaryTest', data, function(r) {
    debugger;
}, function(a,b,c) {
    debugger;
});

postJSON js lib function (uses jQuery):

function postJson(url, data, success, error) {
    $.ajax({
        url: url,
        data: JSON.stringify(data),
        type: 'POST',
        contentType: 'application/json; charset=utf-8',
        dataType: 'json',
        success: success,
        error: error
    });
}

The ViewModel object being posted (presumably has a lot more going on than a dictionary):

public class TestViewModel
{
    . . .
    //public Dictionary<string, string> dictionary { get; set; }
    public string dictionary { get; set; }
    . . .
}

The Controller method being posted to:

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Index(TestViewModel model)
{
    var ser = new System.Web.Script.Serialization.JavascriptSerializer();
    Dictionary<string, string> dictionary = ser.Deserialize<Dictionary<string, string>>(model.dictionary);

    // Do something with the dictionary
}

Answer 3

Using ASP.NET 5 and MVC 6 straight out of the box I'm doing this:

jSON:

{
    "Name": "somename",
    "D": {
        "a": "b",
        "b": "c",
        "c": "d"
    }
}

Controller:

[HttpPost]
public void Post([FromBody]Dictionary<string, object> dictionary)
{
}

This is what shows up when it comes through (Name and D are the keys):

Answer 4

Post the complex object as a string and deserialize at the other end. There is no type-safety however for this. Here is a dictionary with string key and string array values.

js:

var data = { 'dictionary': JSON.stringify({'A': ['a', 'b'] }) };

$.ajax({
    url: '/Controller/MyAction',
    data: JSON.stringify(data),
    type: 'POST',
    contentType: 'application/json',
    dataType: 'json'
});

c# controller:

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult MyAction(string dictionary)
{
    var s = new System.Web.Script.Serialization.JavaScriptSerializer();
    Dictionary<string, string[]> d = s.Deserialize<Dictionary<string, string[]>>(dictionary);
    return View();
}