Can I pass viewdatadictionary(mymodel) into an mvc view? How then to access it?

Question

I feel really daft asking this, sure I'm missing something really simple, but I just can't get it to work!

I've created a ViewDataDictionary like this in the controller:

public ActionResult Index()
{
        var recipient = new Recipient() { 
            FullName = "John Brown",
            Company = "FP",
            Email = "name@website.com"
        };
        ViewData = new ViewDataDictionary(recipient);

        UserMailer.OnEventBook().Send();

        return View();
}

But I can't work out how to access the data in the view.

I've tried:

@ViewData["FullName"]

@ViewData.recipient["FulName"]

@ViewData[recipient.FullName]

@Model.FullName

@recipient.FullName

...and a number of similar combinations. Can anybody point me in the right direction?

Update

I realise I could just pass it through using ViewBag or ViewData["recipient"]. But I'm curious about this way of doing it.

The below is from the docs for MvcMailer, and the guy who wrote it seems to know his stuff, so I figured it must be a valid way of passing data through.

var comment = new Comment {From = me, To = you, Message = "Great Work!"};
ViewData = new ViewDataDictionary(comment);

Update 2

Doh, I got it wrong.

The MvcMailer makes a call to an action within an action, and I should have been setting the ViewData in the sub action (OnEventBook() in the code above).

ssimeonov · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-19T16:03:33.507

3

First change your controller code to:

var recipient = new Recipient() { 
    FullName = "John Brown",
    Company = "FP",
    Email = "name@website.com"
};
ViewData["Recipient"] = recipient;

Then in you view use the following code:

@((Recipient)ViewData["Recipient"]).FullName

Anyway if you want a to use a specific object to the View use a Strongly-typed view.

Update

If you still want to use ViewDataDictionary you should use the following code to access the model in your view:

@ViewData.Model.FullName

edited Feb 19 '14 at 16:03

answered Feb 19 '14 at 15:19

ssimeonov

1,416
12
13

Thanks for taking the time to answer. Is it possible to do it the other way as well? Just going to update the question with some details. – Martin Hansen Lennox Feb 19 '14 at 15:33
`@ViewData.Model.FullName` gives me a runtime binding on null reference exception. If I add a `@model` directive to the view I get a standard null ref exp. But I shouldn't need to because it's being passed as ViewData, is that right? – Martin Hansen Lennox Feb 19 '14 at 16:12
I've just double checked it and it's working. You'll have to update your question with the Controller and View code. – ssimeonov Feb 19 '14 at 16:20
Ok will do. Because it's using MvcMailer it's not a regular view call. If you would be kind as to check there's nothing obviously wrong... – Martin Hansen Lennox Feb 19 '14 at 16:29
I just realised what my error was. The action sending the mailer actually calls another action from within. (I updated the question to show it.) I should have been setting the ViewData inside of the OnEventBook() action instead of the Index() action. Thanks for your help, much appreciated :) – Martin Hansen Lennox Feb 19 '14 at 16:45

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 19 '14 at 15:45

you can transfer the recipient data as "Model" from the controller to the view
CONTROLLERS:

public ActionResult Index()
{

   var recipient = new Recipient()
   {
       FullName = "John Brown",
       Company = "FP",
       Email = "name@website.com"
   };


 return view(recipient); //return the recipient as obj model
}

VIEWS:

@model YourNameSpace.YourRecipientModelFolder.Recipient
@{
  ViewBag.Title = "Home Index";
}
<div>Model:</div>
<div>@Model.FullName</div>
<div>@Model.Company</div>
<div>@Model.Email</div>

Note: YourNameSpace.YourRecipientModelFolder.Recipient is something like this MyMVC.Models.Recipient

Thanks for your time to answer. I'm sorry I wasn't so clear in the original version of the question, I'm wondering if the way I posted was valid, and if so how to access it. — Martin Hansen Lennox, Feb 19 '14 at 16:14

Can I pass viewdatadictionary(mymodel) into an mvc view? How then to access it?

2 Answers2