Determining which submit button was used to POST a form in asp.net MVC

Question

Hello.

I have a view in asp.net MVC that has two submit buttons. I would like to know which button was pressed. The buttons work GREAT so there is no issue there, I just need to do slightly different things depending on which button. I have checked the Request.Form[] collection and that doesn't contain anything.

Here is my view code....

<%@ Control Language="C#" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewUserControl<Data.TempPerson>" %>
<div class="phonePerson">
    <% using (Ajax.BeginForm("Create", new AjaxOptions
       {
           UpdateTargetId = "divList",
           HttpMethod = "Post",
           OnSuccess = "RedoLayout"
       }))
       { %>
    <label for="Name">
        Name:</label>
    <%= Html.TextBox("Name")%>
    <input type="submit" name="Button" id="Save" value="Save" class="btnSave" />
    <div id="phoneList" class="phoneList">
        <table>
            <% foreach (var item in Model.Phones)
               { %>
                 ... Stuff omitted for space ....
            <% } %>
            <tr>
                <td colspan="2">
                    <input type="submit" id="Add" name="Button" value="Add another phone" class="btn_AddPhone" />
                </td>
            </tr>
        </table>
        <% } %>
    </div>
</div>

Answer 1

Two ways:

First, a string parameter to your "Create" function named "Button"

public ActionResult Create(string Button)//and other fields
{
if (Button == value1) then
    //do stuff
else if (Button == value2) then
   //do stuff
end if 
//return
}

Where value1 = "Add another phone"

If you are passing it in with the form collection, then it would be

if (formcollection["Button"] == value1)....

Answer 2

I'd be tempted to add that I'd have used two forms, each one with a single submit button to ensure that each form only had a single responsibility. That would aid the separation of concerns and make the app more testable.