Returning HttpStatusCodeResult in method that returns PartialViewResult - asp.net-mvc

Question

I have an MVC5 application that has a method populates and returns a partial view. Since the method accepts an ID as a parameter, Id like to return an error if it is not supplied.
[HttpGet] public PartialViewResult GetMyData(int? id)
{
if (id == null || id == 0)
{
// I'd like to return an invalid code here, but this must be of type "PartialViewResult"
return new HttpStatusCodeResult(HttpStatusCode.BadRequest); // Does not compile
}
var response = MyService.GetMyData(id.Value);
var viewModel = Mapper.Map<MyData, MyDataViewModel>(response.Value);
return PartialView("~/Views/Data/_MyData.cshtml", viewModel);
}
What is the proper way to report an error for a method that returns a PartialViewResult as its output?

Answer 1

You could create a friendly error partial and do the following:
[HttpGet]
public PartialViewResult GetMyData(int? id)
{
if (id == null || id == 0)
{
// I'd like to return an invalid code here, but this must be of type "PartialViewResult"
return PartialView("_FriendlyError");
}
var response = MyService.GetMyData(id.Value);
var viewModel = Mapper.Map<MyData, MyDataViewModel>(response.Value);
return PartialView("~/Views/Data/_MyData.cshtml", viewModel);
}
This way there is a better user experience rather than just throwing them anything. You can customise that error partial to include some details that they did wrong etc.

Answer 2

You can use manual Exception
if (id == null || id == 0)
{
throw new Exception("id must have value");
}
if you work with ajax, you can handle error by error callback function
$.ajax({
type: 'POST',
url: '/yourUrl',
success: function (response) {
// call here when successfully // 200
},
error: function (e) {
// handle error in here
}
})

Answer 3

While you cannot return HttpStatusCodeResult as a PartialViewResult to set the response status code for you, you can certainly still do the manual labour yourself to achieve the same result.
Using the OP's example:
[HttpGet]
public PartialViewResult GetMyData(int? id)
{
if (id == null || id == 0)
{
// Return an invalid code here
HttpContext.Response.StatusCode = HttpStatusCode.BadRequest;
// Optionally set the description as well
HttpContext.Response.StatusDescription = "Bad Request";
// Return null as it doesn't matter anymore
return null;
}
var response = MyService.GetMyData(id.Value);
var viewModel = Mapper.Map<MyData, MyDataViewModel>(response.Value);
return PartialView("~/Views/Data/_MyData.cshtml", viewModel);
}
Success, by setting the status code directly on HttpContext.Response which is accessible from the base class Controller, and what HttpStatusCodeResult would've done anyway.
nJoy!