MVC3 - posting byte array to a controller - Database RowVersion - asp.net-mvc

Question

I am working on an MVC3 application. My client side ViewModel contains a SQL Server RowVersion property, which is a byte[]. It is rendered as an Object array on the client side. When I attempt to post my view model to a controller, the RowVersion property is always null.
I am assuming that the Controller serializer (JsonValueProviderFactory) is ignoring the Object array property.
I have seen this blog, however this does not apply, as I am posting JSON and not the form markup:
http://thedatafarm.com/blog/data-access/round-tripping-a-timestamp-field-with-ef4-1-code-first-and-mvc-3/
My view renders my viewmodel like so:
<script type="text/javascript">
var viewModel = #Html.Raw( Json.Encode( this.Model ) );
</script>
I then post the viewModel to the controller like so:
var data = {
'contact': viewModel
};
$.ajax({
type: 'POST',
url: '/Contact/Save',
contentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8",
data: JSON.stringify(data),
dataType: 'json',
success: function (data) {
// Success
},
error: function (XMLHttpRequest, textStatus, errorThrown) {
alert(XMLHttpRequest.responseText);
}
});
Here is my action in the controller:
[HttpPost]
public JsonResult Save(Contact contact) {
return this.Json( this._contactService.Save( contact ) );
}
UPDATE: based on Darin's answer.
I was hoping for a cleaner solution, but since Darin provided the only answer, I will have to add a custom property that will serialize my byte[] "row_version" property to a Base64 string. And when the Base64 string is set to the new custom property, it converts the string back to a byte[]. Below is the custom "RowVersion" property that I added to my model:
public byte[] row_version {
get;
set;
}
public string RowVersion {
get {
if( this.row_version != null )
return Convert.ToBase64String( this.row_version );
return string.Empty;
}
set {
if( string.IsNullOrEmpty( value ) )
this.row_version = null;
else
this.row_version = Convert.FromBase64String( value );
}
}

Answer 1

My client side ViewModel contains a SQL Server RowVersion property, which is a byte[]
Make it so that instead of a byte[] your view model contains a string property which is the base64 representation of this byte[]. Then you won't have any problems roundtripping it to the client and back to the server where you will be able to get the original byte[] from the Base64 string.

Answer 2

Json.NET automatically encodes byte arrays as Base64.
You can use JsonNetResult instead of JsonResult:
from https://gist.github.com/DavidDeSloovere/5689824:
using System;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Mvc;
using Newtonsoft.Json;
using Newtonsoft.Json.Serialization;
public class JsonNetResult : JsonResult
{
public override void ExecuteResult(ControllerContext context)
{
if (context == null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException("context");
}
var response = context.HttpContext.Response;
response.ContentType = !string.IsNullOrEmpty(this.ContentType) ? this.ContentType : "application/json";
if (this.ContentEncoding != null)
{
response.ContentEncoding = this.ContentEncoding;
}
if (this.Data == null)
{
return;
}
var jsonSerializerSettings = new JsonSerializerSettings();
jsonSerializerSettings.DateFormatHandling = DateFormatHandling.IsoDateFormat;
jsonSerializerSettings.ContractResolver = new CamelCasePropertyNamesContractResolver();
var formatting = HttpContext.Current != null && HttpContext.Current.IsDebuggingEnabled ? Formatting.Indented : Formatting.None;
var serializedObject = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(Data, formatting, jsonSerializerSettings);
response.Write(serializedObject);
}
}
Usage:
[HttpPost]
public JsonResult Save(Contact contact) {
return new JsonNetResult { Data = _contactService.Save(contact) };
}