Ajax Binding

You can configure the Grid component extension for Ajax binding.

When configured for Ajax binding, the Grid for ASP.NET MVC makes Ajax requests when doing paging, sorting, filtering, grouping, or when saving data. For a runnable example, refer to the demo on Ajax binding of the Grid.

The Ajax-bound mode has the following features:

• The Grid retrieves only the data (in JSON format) representing the current page. As a result, only the Grid is updated.
• All Grid templates (column, detail) are executed client-side. They follow the Kendo UI for jQuery template definition rules and may contain embedded JavaScript code.

To configure the Grid for ASP.NET MVC to do Ajax binding to the Products table of a sample database:

1. Create a new ASP.NET MVC web application. Follow the steps from the introductory article to add Telerik UI for ASP.NET MVC to the application.

If you have installed the Telerik UI for ASP.NET MVC Visual Studio Extensions, create a Telerik UI for ASP.NET MVC application using the New Project Wizard.

1. Add a new Entity Framework Data Model. Right-click the ~/Models folder in the solution explorer and pick Add new item. Choose Data > ADO.NET Entity Data Model in the Add New Item dialog. Name the model SampleModel and click Next. This starts the Entity Data Model Wizard.

2. Pick the EF Designer from database option and click Next. Configure a connection to the Northwind database. Click Next.

   

3. Choose the Products table in the Which database objects do you want to include in your model? section. Leave all other options as they are by default. Click Finish.

   

4. Open the HomeController.cs and add a new action method which will return the Products as JSON. The Grid makes Ajax requests to this action.

   public ActionResult Products_Read()
   {
   }
   

5. Add a new parameter of type Kendo.Mvc.UI.DataSourceRequest to the action. It will contain the current Grid request information—page, sort, group, and filter. Decorate that parameter with the Kendo.Mvc.UI.DataSourceRequestAttribute. This attribute will populate the DataSourceRequest object from the posted data. Now import the Kendo.Mvc.UI namespace.

   public ActionResult Products_Read([DataSourceRequest]DataSourceRequest request)
   {
   }
   

6. Use the ToDataSourceResult extension method to convert the Products to a Kendo.Mvc.UI.DataSourceResult object. This extension method will page, filter, sort, or group your data using the information provided by the DataSourceRequest object. To use the ToDataSourceResult extension method, import the Kendo.Mvc.Extensions namespace.

   public ActionResult Products_Read([DataSourceRequest]DataSourceRequest request)
   {
       using (var northwind = new SampleEntities())
       {
           IQueryable<Product> products = northwind.Products;
           DataSourceResult result = products.ToDataSourceResult(request);
           return Json(result);
       }
   }
   

7. Return DataSourceResult as JSON. Alternatively, you can use an asynchronous action and return ToDataSourceResultAsync as JSON.

   public ActionResult Products_Read([DataSourceRequest]DataSourceRequest request)
   {
       using (var northwind = new SampleEntities())
       {
           IQueryable<Product> products = northwind.Products;
           DataSourceResult result = products.ToDataSourceResult(request);
           return Json(result);
       }
   }
   
   The asynchronous `ToDataSourceResultAsync` counterpart:
   
   public async Task<ActionResult> Products_Read([DataSourceRequest]DataSourceRequest request)
   {
       using (var northwind = new SampleEntities())
       {
           IQueryable<Product> products = northwind.Products;
           DataSourceResult result = await products.ToDataSourceResultAsync(request);
           return Json(result);
       }
   }
   

8. In the view, configure the Grid to use the action method created in the previous steps.

    @(Html.Kendo().Grid<TelerikMvcApp1.Models.Product>()
          .Name("grid")
          .DataSource(dataSource => dataSource //Configure the Grid data source.
              .Ajax() //Specify that Ajax binding is used.
              .Read(read => read.Action("Products_Read", "Home")) // Set the action method which will return the data in JSON format.
           )
          .Columns(columns =>
          {
              //Create a column bound to the ProductID property.
              columns.Bound(product => product.ProductID);
              //Create a column bound to the ProductName property.
              columns.Bound(product => product.ProductName);
              //Create a column bound to the UnitsInStock property.
              columns.Bound(product => product.UnitsInStock);
          })
          .Pageable() // Enable paging
             .Sortable() // Enable sorting
    )

1. Build and run the application.

To download a Visual Studio Project, refer to this GitHub repository.

See Also

• DataSource Overview
• Grid FAQs
• Custom Ajax Binding by the Grid HtmlHelper for ASP.NET MVC (Demo)
• Knowledge Base Section
• Server-Side API