Using AJAX with MVC 5 and Umbraco - ajax

Question

I need to use ajax in a partial view to call a function in a mvc controller to return a calculation.
FYI, I am using MVC 5 and Umbraco 7.
I currently have the ajax code within the partial view (will want to move this to a js file at some point).
Here is the ajax code:
function GetTime(name) {
var result = "";
$.ajax({
url: '/TimeDifference/GetTimeDifference',
//url: '#Url.Action("GetTimeDifference", "TimeDifference")',
type: 'GET',
//data: JSON.stringify({ location: name }),
data: ({ location: name }),
contentType: 'application/json; charset=utf-8',
dataType: 'json',
async: false,
cache: false,
success: function (msg) {
result = msg;
},
error: function (xhr, ajaxOptions, thrownError) {
alert(xhr.status);
}
});
return result;
}
Here is the Controller:
public class TimeDifferenceController : Controller
{
public ActionResult Index()
{
return View();
}
[HttpGet]
public JsonResult GetTimeDifference(string location)
{
DateTime utc = DateTime.UtcNow;
string timeZoneName = GetTimeZoneName(location);
TimeZoneInfo gmt = TimeZoneInfo.FindSystemTimeZoneById("GMT Standard Time");
TimeZoneInfo local = TimeZoneInfo.FindSystemTimeZoneById(timeZoneName);
TimeSpan utcOffset = gmt.GetUtcOffset(utc);
TimeSpan localOffset = local.GetUtcOffset(utc);
TimeSpan difference = localOffset - utcOffset;
return Json(Convert.ToInt16(difference.TotalMinutes),JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet);
}
}
The above code gives me a 404 Not Found Error:
Request URL:http://localhost:100/TimeDifference/GetTimeDifference?location=BVI&_=1511949514552
Request Method:GET
Status Code:404 Not Found
Remote Address:[::1]:100
If I use:
url: '#Url.Action("GetTimeDifference", "TimeDifference")'
The #Url.Action("GetTimeDifference", "TimeDifference") is Null so it doesn't go anywhere.
I have also tried:
#Html.Hidden("URLName", Url.Action("GetTimeDifference", "TimeDifference"))
...
url: $("#URLName").val()
Url is still Null.
I have added entries in to the Global.asax.cs for routing i.e.
routes.MapRoute(
"Default", // Route name
"{controller}/{action}/{id}", // URL with parameters
new { controller = "TimeDifference", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional } // Parameter defaults
);
This doesn't seem to do anything.
I have gone through a lot of the questions raised previously and amended as per suggestions but nothing seems to work.
As I am new to this I'm sure it something very simple I am missing.
Many thanks,
HH

Answer 1

Your controller won't be wired automatically, and I don't think the global.asax.cs file will work either. You can either register a custom route for your controller in an Umbraco Startup Handler: https://our.umbraco.org/documentation/reference/routing/custom-routes or you can create your controller as an Umbraco WebApi Controller, which is designed for stuff like this: https://our.umbraco.org/documentation/Reference/Routing/WebApi/.
Umbraco WebAPI controllers get wired in automatically and will return either JSON or XML automatically depending on what the calling client asks for.