ASP.Net MVC (1) - how can I pass JSON to view but not as separate ajax call...

Question

I have some data that I want to pass into the View (.aspx page) in JSON format.

I could add an async ajax call and load it that way, but since I have the data upfront, why not just dump it into the view.

I could pass a C# object as the model and in Javascript manually iterate through it to fill out a Javascript object, but this seems like something someone has done before and there may well be a tool to do it already...

Thanks in advance, Chris

Answer 1

You could convert the data into the JSON using Json.net and then pass the Json.net object to the view model as a string.

viewModel.JsonToUse = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(object).ToString();
// Or build the Json up manually using a JOBject.

return View("ViewName", viewModel);

Answer 2

You could serialise it using System.Web.Script.Serialization.JavaScriptSerializer.

ViewData["JSONData"] = new JavaScriptSerializer().Serialize(myObject);

You could then render this into a hidden field or wherever on the view.