Make Ajax call before page loads - ajax

Question

Before the page loads, I need to run a check on the user's security level. This will determine which elements of our nav bar they are able to see. I have tried two methods at running this ajax call, both inside the $(document).ready function.
(the div named container encompasses the ul in the html below)
$(document).ready(function ($) {
//First attempt
$('#container').load(
$.ajax({
type: 'GET',
url: '#Url.Action("CheckSecurity","Home")'
})
);
//Second attempt
window.onload = function () {
$.ajax({
type: 'GET',
url: '#Url.Action("CheckSecurity","Home")'
});
};
});
Since this is an ASP MVC 3 site, I've set a breakpoint in the CheckSecurity method. I can tell neither call is working due to the fact it is never fired.
The controller method is listed below
public ActionResult CheckSecurity()
{
ViewBag.UserName = Security.GetUserName(User);
ViewBag.Admin = Security.IsAdmin(User);
ViewBag.ITsupport = Security.IsItSupport(User);
ViewBag.Read = Security.IsViewer(User);
ViewBag.Modify = Security.IsModifier(User);
return View();
}
This is supposed to check the user's security level, place the boolean value in the ViewBag, and then determine whether or not to display the Admin Features drop down item below
<li class="dropdown">
<a href="#"
class="dropdown-toggle"
data-toggle="dropdown"
data-hover="dropdown">
Admin
<b class="caret"></b>
</a>
<ul class="dropdown-menu">
<li>#Html.MenuLink("Products", "Index", "Product")</li>
<li>#Html.MenuLink("Product Training", "Index", "Course")</li>
<li>#Html.MenuLink("Continuing Ed", "Index", "ContEdCourse")</li>
#if (ViewBag.Admin)
{
<li>#Html.MenuLink("Admin Features", "Index", "DropDownValues")</li>
}
</ul>
</li>
When the page attempts to load, it instead crashes with this error pointing to the #if (ViewBag.Admin) line:
Cannot convert null to 'bool' because it is a non-nullable value type
Any help/suggestions greatly appreciated. Thx!

Answer 1

/ViewBags just work in the same View. Which means this:
If you are in
public ActionResult Index()
{
ViewBag.Index
}
and then you execute by ajax
public ActionResult OtherAction()
{
ViewBag.Other
}
The ViewBag.Other will not be visible in Index
public ActionResult Index()
{
ViewBag.Index
ViewBag.Other//erro other is null cuz because bellows to OtherAction view
}
So, you could return a list instead.