ASP.NET MVC return empty view

Question

What is the most natural way to return an empty ActionResult (for child action)?

public ActionResult TestAction(bool returnValue)
{
   if (!returnValue)
     return View(EmptyView);

   return View(RealView);
}

One option I can see is to create an empty view and reference it at EmptyView... but may be there is any built-in option?

Doesn't View() hav an option to return just text? If so, send an empty string. — Andy Hunt, Jul 28 '11 at 10:42

archil · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-19T13:09:07.253

234

return instance of EmptyResult class

 return new EmptyResult();

edited Mar 19 '12 at 13:09

answered Jul 28 '11 at 10:43

archil

1

In an action that returns `EmptyResult`, is it the same as doing `return null`? – Robin Maben Aug 08 '12 at 13:08
1

@RobinMaben: No, null would not return an object from the method. EmptyResult however will. – cederlof Jun 17 '13 at 12:26
1

I'd return `null` because internally, it will use the `internal` `EmptyResult.Instance` that you cannot access yourself. This saves repeated instantiation of a stateless object. – Jorrit Schippers Nov 16 '16 at 16:16

score 22 · Answer 2 · edited May 26 '18 at 19:29

22

You can return EmptyResult to return an empty view.

public ActionResult Empty()
{
    return new EmptyResult();
}

public ActionResult Empty()
{
    return null;
}

See MSDN documentation for ActionResult for list of ActionResult types you can return.

edited May 26 '18 at 19:29

KyleMit

answered Mar 23 '15 at 06:29

Nipuna

score 8 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 28 '11 at 10:42

8

if you want to return nothing you can do something like

if (!returnValue)
     return Content("");

   return View(RealView);

answered Jul 28 '11 at 10:42

16

return new EmptyResult(); is the preferred approach – RickAndMSFT Mar 19 '12 at 19:54

3 Answers3