ViewBag, ViewData and TempData

Could any body explain, when to use

TempData
ViewBag
ViewData

I have a requirement, where I need to set a value in a controller one, that controller will redirect to Controller Two and Controller Two will render the View.

I have tried to use ViewBag, the value gets lost by the time I reach Controller Two.

Can I know when to use and advantages or disadvantages?

Thanks

Solution 1:

1)TempData

Allows you to store data that will survive for a redirect. Internally it uses the Session as backing store, after the redirect is made the data is automatically evicted. The pattern is the following:

public ActionResult Foo()
{
    // store something into the tempdata that will be available during a single redirect
    TempData["foo"] = "bar";

    // you should always redirect if you store something into TempData to
    // a controller action that will consume this data
    return RedirectToAction("bar");
}

public ActionResult Bar()
{
    var foo = TempData["foo"];
    ...
}

2)ViewBag, ViewData

Allows you to store data in a controller action that will be used in the corresponding view. This assumes that the action returns a view and doesn't redirect. Lives only during the current request.

The pattern is the following:

public ActionResult Foo()
{
    ViewBag.Foo = "bar";
    return View();
}

and in the view:

@ViewBag.Foo

or with ViewData:

public ActionResult Foo()
{
    ViewData["Foo"] = "bar";
    return View();
}

and in the view:

@ViewData["Foo"]

ViewBag is just a dynamic wrapper around ViewData and exists only in ASP.NET MVC 3.

This being said, none of those two constructs should ever be used. You should use view models and strongly typed views. So the correct pattern is the following:

View model:

public class MyViewModel
{
    public string Foo { get; set; }
}

Action:

public Action Foo()
{
    var model = new MyViewModel { Foo = "bar" };
    return View(model);
}

Strongly typed view:

@model MyViewModel
@Model.Foo

After this brief introduction let's answer your question:

My requirement is I want to set a value in a controller one, that controller will redirect to ControllerTwo and Controller2 will render the View.

public class OneController: Controller
{
    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        TempData["foo"] = "bar";
        return RedirectToAction("index", "two");
    }
}

public class TwoController: Controller
{
    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        var model = new MyViewModel
        {
            Foo = TempData["foo"] as string
        };
        return View(model);
    }
}

and the corresponding view (~/Views/Two/Index.cshtml):

@model MyViewModel
@Html.DisplayFor(x => x.Foo)

There are drawbacks of using TempData as well: if the user hits F5 on the target page the data will be lost.

Personally I don't use TempData neither. It's because internally it uses Session and I disable session in my applications. I prefer a more RESTful way to achieve this. Which is: in the first controller action that performs the redirect store the object in your data store and user the generated unique id when redirecting. Then on the target action use this id to fetch back the initially stored object:

public class OneController: Controller
{
    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        var id = Repository.SaveData("foo");
        return RedirectToAction("index", "two", new { id = id });
    }
}

public class TwoController: Controller
{
    public ActionResult Index(string id)
    {
        var model = new MyViewModel
        {
            Foo = Repository.GetData(id)
        };
        return View(model);
    }
}

The view stays the same.

Solution 2:

TempData

Basically it's like a DataReader, once read, data will be lost.

Check this Video

Example

public class HomeController : Controller
{
    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        ViewBag.Message = "Welcome to ASP.NET MVC!";
        TempData["T"] = "T";
        return RedirectToAction("About");
    }

    public ActionResult About()
    {
        return RedirectToAction("Test1");
    }

    public ActionResult Test1()
    {
        String str = TempData["T"]; //Output - T
        return View();
    }
}

If you pay attention to the above code, RedirectToAction has no impact over the TempData until TempData is read. So, once TempData is read, values will be lost.

How can i keep the TempData after reading?

Check the output in Action Method Test 1 and Test 2

public class HomeController : Controller
{
    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        ViewBag.Message = "Welcome to ASP.NET MVC!";
        TempData["T"] = "T";
        return RedirectToAction("About");
    }

    public ActionResult About()
    {
        return RedirectToAction("Test1");
    }

    public ActionResult Test1()
    {
        string Str = Convert.ToString(TempData["T"]);
        TempData.Keep(); // Keep TempData
        return RedirectToAction("Test2");
    }

    public ActionResult Test2()
    {
        string Str = Convert.ToString(TempData["T"]); //OutPut - T
        return View();
    }
}

If you pay attention to the above code, data is not lost after RedirectToAction as well as after Reading the Data and the reason is, We are using TempData.Keep(). is that

In this way you can make it persist as long as you wish in other controllers also.

ViewBag/ViewData

The Data will persist to the corresponding View

Solution 3:

ViewBag, ViewData, TempData and View State in MVC

http://royalarun.blogspot.in/2013/08/viewbag-viewdata-tempdata-and-view.html

ASP.NET MVC offers us three options ViewData, VieBag and TempData for passing data from controller to view and in next request. ViewData and ViewBag are almost similar and TempData performs additional responsibility.

Similarities between ViewBag & ViewData :

Helps to maintain data when you move from controller to view. Used to pass data from controller to corresponding view. Short life means value becomes null when redirection occurs. This is because their goal is to provide a way to communicate between controllers and views. It’s a communication mechanism within the server call.

Difference between ViewBag & ViewData:

ViewData is a dictionary of objects that is derived from ViewDataDictionary class and accessible using strings as keys. ViewBag is a dynamic property that takes advantage of the new dynamic features in C# 4.0. ViewData requires typecasting for complex data type and check for null values to avoid error. ViewBag doesn’t require typecasting for complex data type.

ViewBag & ViewData Example:

public ActionResult Index()

{  
    ViewBag.Name = "Arun Prakash";
    return View();    
}

public ActionResult Index()  
{
    ViewData["Name"] = "Arun Prakash";
    return View(); 
}

In View, we call like below:

@ViewBag.Name   
@ViewData["Name"]

TempData:

Helps to maintain data when you move from one controller to other controller or from one action to other action. In other words when you redirect, “Tempdata” helps to maintain data between those redirects. It internally uses session variables. TempData is meant to be a very short-lived instance, and you should only use it during the current and the subsequent requests only

The only scenario where using TempData will reliably work is when you are redirecting. This is because a redirect kills the current request (and sends HTTP status code 302 Object Moved to the client), then creates a new request on the server to serve the redirected view.

It requires typecasting for complex data type and check for null values to avoid error.

public ActionResult Index()
{   
   var model = new Review()  
   {  
      Body = "Start",  
      Rating=5  
   };  

    TempData["ModelName"] = model;    
    return RedirectToAction("About");   
} 

public ActionResult About()       
{  
    var model= TempData["ModelName"];  
    return View(model);   
}