ASP.NET MVC - Implementing Search Functionality

Question

I've implemented a search to filter out records by LastName but it doesn't work; basically it does nothing. I have Googled and tried using several code sample but not been able to use them since I get syntax errors.

How do I get the search to work?

********** Index.cs **********

@model IEnumerable<DEntry.Models.Student>

@{

ViewBag.Title = "Index";

Layout = "~/Views/Shared/_Layout.cshtml";
```}

<h2>Student Administration</h2>

<p>

@Html.ActionLink("Create New", "Create")

@using (Html.BeginForm("Students", "Students", FormMethod.Post))

{

<div>

Last Name:<br>

<input type="text" id="nameToFind" name="nameToFind">

<input type="button" id="submitId" value="submit" />

</div>

<table class="table">

<tr>

<th>

    @Html.DisplayNameFor(model => model.StudentID)

</th>

<th>

    @Html.DisplayNameFor(model => model.FirstName)

</th>

<th>

    @Html.DisplayNameFor(model => model.LastName)

</th>

</tr>

@foreach (var item in Model)

{

<td>

@Html.DisplayFor(modelItem => item.StudentID)

</td>

<td>

@Html.DisplayFor(modelItem => item.FirstName)

</td>

<td>

@Html.DisplayFor(modelItem => item.LastName)

</td>

@Html.ActionLink("Edit", "Edit", new { id = item.Id }) |

@Html.ActionLink("Delete", "Delete", new { id = item.Id })

</td>

}

**********  Student.cs  **********

//------------------------------------------------------------------------------

// <auto-generated>

//     This code was generated from a template.

//

//     Manual changes to this file may cause unexpected behavior in your application.

//     Manual changes to this file will be overwritten if the code is regenerated.

// </auto-generated>

//------------------------------------------------------------------------------

namespace DEntry.Models

{

using System;

using System.Collections.Generic;

using System.ComponentModel;

using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;

public partial class Student

{

public int Id { get; set; }

[Required]

public Nullable<int> StudentID { get; set; }

public string FirstName { get; set; }

public string LastName { get; set; }

}

**********  StudentsController.cs  **********

using System;

using System.Collections.Generic;

using System.Data;

using System.Data.Entity;

using System.Linq;

using System.Net;

using System.Web;

using System.Web.Mvc;

using DEntry.Models;

namespace DEntry.Controllers

{

public class StudentsController : Controller

{

private EISEntities db = new EISEntities();

// GET: Students

public ActionResult Index()

{

    return View(db.Students.ToList());

}

// GET: Students/Details/5

public ActionResult Details(int? id)

{

    if (id == null)

    {

        return new HttpStatusCodeResult(HttpStatusCode.BadRequest);

    }

    Student Student = db.Students.Find(id);

    if (Student == null)

    {

        return HttpNotFound();

    }

    return View(Student);

}

// GET: Students/Create

public ActionResult Create()

{

    return View();

}

// POST: Students/Create

// To protect from overposting attacks, enable the specific properties you want to bind to, for 

// more details see https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=317598.

[HttpPost]

[ValidateAntiForgeryToken]

public ActionResult Create([Bind(Include = "Id,StudentID,FirstName,LastName")] Student Student)

{

    if (ModelState.IsValid)

    {

        db.Students.Add(Student);

        db.SaveChanges();

        return RedirectToAction("Index");

    }

    return View(Student);

}

// GET: Students/Edit/5

public ActionResult Edit(int? id)

{

    if (id == null)

    {

        return new HttpStatusCodeResult(HttpStatusCode.BadRequest);

    }

    Student Student = db.Students.Find(id);

    if (Student == null)

    {

        return HttpNotFound();

    }

    return View(Student);

}

// POST: Students/Edit/5

// To protect from overposting attacks, enable the specific properties you want to bind to, for 

// more details see https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=317598.

[HttpPost]

[ValidateAntiForgeryToken]

public ActionResult Edit([Bind(Include = "Id,StudentID,FirstName,LastName")] Student Student)

{

    if (ModelState.IsValid)

    {

        db.Entry(Student).State = EntityState.Modified;

        db.SaveChanges();

        return RedirectToAction("Index");

    }

    return View(Student);

}

// GET: Students/Delete/5

public ActionResult Delete(int? id)

{

    if (id == null)

    {

        return new HttpStatusCodeResult(HttpStatusCode.BadRequest);

    }

    Student Student = db.Students.Find(id);

    if (Student == null)

    {

        return HttpNotFound();

    }

    return View(Student);

}

// POST: Students/Delete/5

[HttpPost, ActionName("Delete")]

[ValidateAntiForgeryToken]

public ActionResult DeleteConfirmed(int id)

{

    Student Student = db.Students.Find(id);

    db.Students.Remove(Student);

    db.SaveChanges();

    return RedirectToAction("Index");

}

//Get Action for rendering view

public ActionResult SearchAct()

{

    return View();

}

[HttpPost]

public ActionResult SearchAct(string nameToFind)

{

    ViewBag.SearchKey = nameToFind;

    return View();

}

protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)

{

    if (disposing)

    {

        db.Dispose();

    }

    base.Dispose(disposing);

}

}

Answer 1

Hi @Malam Malam,

You wrote wrong parameters in Html.BeginForm, and you need to change button type to submit.

@using (Html.BeginForm("SearchAct", "Students", FormMethod.Post))
{
    <div>
        Last Name:<br>
        <input type="text" id="nameToFind" name="nameToFind">      
        <input type="submit" id="submitId" value="submit" />
    </div>
}

Best regards,
Lan Huang

---

If the answer is the right solution, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".
Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.