Sharing model objects between controller actions in MVC3

Question

I have two actions in a controller. One that displays a form for file upload and another one that displays the results of the upload. I have created a POCO called FileInfo i.e

public class FileInfo
    {
        public string Name { get; set; }
        public int Length { get; set; }
        public string FileType { get; set; }
        public string ErrorMessage { get; set; }

    }

When I submit the form, the Upload action creates and populates the FileInfo object and then redirects to the second action called results. I want to be able to use the same file info object in the results action.

I am able to get around this using TemPData[], but it is limited since it only holds object data for a single request. I presume there must be a better way to share abjects between controller actions.Any help is appreciated!

// Upload Action

 List<FileInfo> fileInfo= new List<FileInfo>();
//populate  the fileInfo object using fi.Add()

if ((status.ToString() == "OK"))
             {
                 TempData["Info"] = fileInfo;
                 return RedirectToAction("Results");

             }
             else
             {
                 return RedirectToAction("Index");
             }

//Results action.

public ActionResult Results()
        {
            List<FileInfo> fi = TempData["Info"] as List<FileInfo>;
            if (fi != null)
            {
                return View(fi);
            }
            else
            {
                return View("Index");
            }
        }

You are storing an instance of `FileInfo` in `TempData`, but trying to retrieve it as `List`. You will alwasy get `null`. — Igor, Dec 19 '12 at 14:47
Possible duplicate of http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3363842/asp-net-mvc-redirect-to-action-need-to-pass-data — Heretic Monkey, Dec 19 '12 at 14:48
Hi Igor, I have edited the code. I Instantiate the fileInfo object in the upload action, pass it into TempData and then use TempData in the results action. This works but I'm wondering if there is a better way around it . — lacoder, Dec 19 '12 at 14:56
Why are you doing `status.ToString() == "OK"`? I'm guessing `status` is an `enum` so you would be better off doing `status == Status.OK` — Trevor Pilley, Dec 19 '12 at 15:14
Thanks Trevor! I'm checking `HttpStatusCode` I just realised that I can do it like this: `status == HttpStatusCode.OK` — lacoder, Dec 19 '12 at 15:25

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 19 '12 at 16:21

0

If you need something to stick around longer then one subsequent request, you will have to put it in Session or in persistent storage (e.g. database).

answered Dec 19 '12 at 16:21

Igor

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Sharing model objects between controller actions in MVC3

1 Answers1