How can I pass and access an array of objects on the server-side using AJAX in the C#.net Web-Pages with WebMatrix environment?

Question 1

I think you'll find your data in the Request.InputStream. Try the following:

var reader = new StreamReader(Request.InputStream);
var json = reader.ReadToEnd();
var objArray= Json.Decode(json);

You will need to convert your Javascript object to JSON first by using JSON.stringify on it:

 data: JSON.stringify(jsonArr),

Question 2

Okay, I think I've finally got it.

I decided to try something I had tried previous to posting this question: JSON.stringify in the AJAX call (apparently jQuery doesn't automatically format the data based on contentType nor simply detecting the kind of data that it is).

The problem before was that I had NO idea that I would be able to find my data on the server-side with Request.InputStream. In fact, I am still not clear as to why or when data could be found in this manner or even what determines that it should be stored there as opposed to something that could be called by, say, Request.Form["objectArr"], etc.

So, when I tried to use JSON.stringify this time, I combined that with what Mike had posted in his answer for how to retrieve this server-side (i.e., using the Request.InputStream method).

Once I used both (as well as, removing the identifier in the data: portion of the ajax call), I started to see and even return relevant data.

In short, here is what I have now that works...

The jQuery AJAX code:

$.ajax({
    url: "/AJAX Pages/Compute_Save_Edit_Page.cshtml",
    async: false,
    type: "POST",
    data: JSON.stringify(jsonArr),
    success: function (response) {
        console.log(response);
    },
    error: function (jqXHR, textStatus, error) {
        alert("Oops! It appears there has been an AJAX error.\n\nPlease check the page you were attempting to edit.\n\nError Type: " + error + ".");
    }
});

And here is the server-side (C#) code that simply returns two properties of each object in the array:

@{
   Layout = "";

    if (IsAjax)
    {
        var reader = new StreamReader(Request.InputStream);
        var json = reader.ReadToEnd();
        var objectArr = Json.Decode(json);

        for (var i = 0; i < objectArr.Length; i++)
        {
@:@objectArr[i].objectName - @objectArr[i].objectID
        }
    }
    else
    {
        Context.RedirectLocal("~/");
    }
}

So, if I understand it correctly (and PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong), you CAN'T just send an array of objects to the server with AJAX. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't even send a array, at all. But you CAN send a simple variable like string or int. So, using JSON.stringify, I am using a function that translates the array of objects into one large JSON string, reading the input stream on the other side with C#, and then using another C# method to parse the JSON string back into an array of objects, which was how I wanted the data.

Thanks to all who helped me through this one, and for what it's worth, I really feel like I even learned something about the very purpose of JSON in the web environment today.