Accessing ASP.NET MVC server-side data on selection of item in jsTree

Question

I am using jsTree to display a tree structure of hierarchical data within my ASP.NET MVC application. So far, I am able to access the data (through a controller method which returns JSON data) and display the tree. I am also able to select nodes in the tree and that works correctly. Here is the jsTree code for doing this:

$('#tree').
    bind('select_node.jstree', function(event, data) {
        alert("Node is selected.");
    }).
    jstree({
        "core": {},
        "json_data": {
            "ajax": {
                type: 'POST',
                url: '/Scenario/TreeData',
                data: "id=" +  <%= Model.Scenario.ScenarioID %>,
                success: function(data, textStatus, xhr) {
                    if(data.failed) {
                        window.location.href = data.redirectToUrl;
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "themes": {
            "theme": "default",
            "dots": true,
            "icons": true
        },
        "ui": {
            "select_limit": 1
        },
        "plugins": ["themes", "ui", "json_data"]
    });

Here is my TreeData action:

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult TreeData(int id)
{
    var tree = new JsTreeModel();

    Scenario scenario = repository.GetScenario(id);
    if (scenario != null)
    {
        tree.data = new JsTreeData();

        // [snip] Do the work to build the tree. [/snip]

        return Json(tree);
    }

    var jsonData = new
    {
        failed = true,
        redirectToUrl = Url.Action("NotFound")
    };
    return Json(jsonData);
}

Where I am getting stuck is, once I click on a node, I am unsure of how to retrieve the data for that specific node from my application (via the Controller), display it (presumably in a partial view - all of which I have created at this time - strongly-typed partial views), and then offer the option to submit that partial view back to the server to update the data.

I'm not really sure where to begin. One thought I had is to expand my TreeModel class (C# model which makes it easier to build the JSON data for the tree) to take more parameters in the "data" value which may allow me to know which model I am attempting to retrieve. However, this doesn't seem that elegant.

Am I missing something obvious? Does anybody have any other suggestions? Thank you!

JasCav · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-14 18:37:04Z

I ended up figuring this out and wanted to share in case anybody else wants to do the same thing.

I first bound the select_node.jstree event to my tree and then built the tree (all done client-side, of course).

$('#tree').
bind('select_node.jstree', function(event, data) {
    var id = 1; // TODO - Get the ID from the current model.
    var url = data.rslt.obj.children("a:eq(0)").attr("href");
    $.ajax({
        type: 'POST',
        url: '/Scenario/' + url,
        data: 'id=' + id,
        success: function(data) {
            $('#ajaxcontent').html(data);
        }
    });
}).jstree({
    "core": {},
    "json_data": {
        "ajax": {
            type: 'POST',
            url: '/Scenario/TreeData',
            data: "id=" + <%= Model.Scenario.ScenarioID % > ,
            success: function(data, textStatus, xhr) {
                if (data.failed) {
                    window.location.href = data.redirectToUrl;
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "ui": {
        "select_limit": 1
    },
    "plugins": ["themes", "ui", "json_data"]
});

Notice that I am grabbing the URL value from the node. I had to change my JsTreeModel so that I could change the href value on the node. (JSON data representation is - data.attr.href) I set this value when I build my Scenario. Each node has its own URL. (I am passing the ID parameter in, so I can retrieve the correct Scenario server-side. That may or may not be necessary depending on your needs.)

I then create an action for each URL in my Controller. I do what I need to do with the data, and then return it back to the page (via the AJAX call shown previously). It's actually a fairly simple solution now that I know what I am doing. But, due to a bit of lack of documentation, it was a bit tricky to first figure out.

Hope this can help someone else!

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