ASP.NET MVC - redirecting to a Controller/Action by passing some data

Question

I have actions in different controllers that need to check for a some condition before execution. If the condition is not met, I want the user be redirected to another page with instructions on what to do next (the instructions will include a link that the user must follow).

For example SendMessage() action is located in the Message controller:

public ActionResult SendMessage()
{
    // check if user has enough credit
    if (!hasEnoughCredit(currentUser))
    {
     // redirect to another page that says:

     // "You do not have enough credit. Please go to LinkToAddCreditAction
     // to add more credit."
    }

    // do the send message stuff here 
}

I want to have a single generic action called ShowRequirements() located in Requirements controller.

In SendMessage() action, I would like to set the message that I want to show to the user and then forward the user to ShowRequirements() action. I just don't want the message to appear in the URL of the ShowRequirements action.

Is there any way to communicate this data to ShowRequirements() action?

Answer 1

You can put it in TempData["message"] which is passed to the new action being redirected to.

Answer 2

Okay, I think I was getting it wrong. As John and Andrew mentioned I simply have to pass the data via ViewData to a view.

So I made a RequirementsPage.aspx in the /views/Shared. Now in whichever action I am, I fill in the ViewData dictionary and pass it to the RequirementsPage.aspx like this:

public ActionResult SendMessage()
{
    // check if user has enough credit
    if (!hasEnoughCredit(currentUser))
    {
        // redirect to another page that says:
        ViewData["key1"] = "some message";
        ViewData["key2"] = "UrlToTheAction";
        return View("RequirementsPage");
    }

    // do the send message stuff here 
}