Handling 2 buttons submit Actions in a single View/Form - ASP.NET MVC 2 RTM

Question

I have a View in which the user is able to upload a file to the server.

In this view I also have 2 buttons: one to Upload a file and other to Download the last file imported.

In my Controller I created 2 action methods: Import and Export.

How could I manage to redirect each button click to the proper action method in my Controller?

I have tried Html.ActionLink:

<%= Html.ActionLink("Upload", "Import", "OracleFile")%>
<%= Html.ActionLink("Download", "Export", "OracleFile")%>

Html.ActionLink didn't do the trick. The action links were taking me to the right Action methods but they were generating a GET request. This way Request.Files.Count = 0.

I need a POST request.

Note: the most intriguing part is that the upload was working and all of sudden it stopped working. I've seen that some people are having the same problem with FileUpload tasks in which the Request.Files is always Empty. I think it's empty because you need a post to the server. Isn't it?

Answer 1

maybe this will give u the idea:

view:

<form enctype="multipart/form-data" method="post" action="/Media/Upload/Photo">
    <input type="file" name="file" id="file" /> 
    <input type="submit"  name= "submitImport" value="Upload" />
    <input type="submit" name = "submitExport"  value="Download" />
</form>

controller:

[AcceptVerbs(HttpVerbs.Post)]
public ActionResult Action (FormCollection formCollection)
        {
            if (formCollection["submitImport"] != null)
            {
                return Import(formCollection);
            }
             if (formCollection["submitExport"] != null)
            {
                return Export(formCollection);
            }
        }

the Export and Import are the appropriateactions

Answer 2

You have to use a "multipart/form-data" form, and submit the form. No ActionLink.

<form enctype="multipart/form-data" method="post" action="/Media/Upload/Photo">
    <input type="file" name="file" id="file" /> 
    <input type="submit" value="Upload" />
</form>

Answer 3

To generate a POST request for the upload, use the File Input form element and just post back to the server ala normal.

http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/dom_obj_fileupload.asp

Have a look at this blog post from Scott Hanselman. http://www.hanselman.com/blog/ABackToBasicsCaseStudyImplementingHTTPFileUploadWithASPNETMVCIncludingTestsAndMocks.aspx