Here is what i am trying
Layout
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<title>WebApp Name</title>
<meta charset="utf-8" />
</head>
<body>
<div id="menuContainer">
@{Html.RenderPartial("~/Views/CustomPartials/_MainMenuPartial.cshtml");} @*Works*@
@*@{Html.RenderAction("GetMenuStructure", "Custom");}*@ @*Not working*@
</div>
<div>
@RenderBody()
</div>
</body>
</html>
Controller and Action method
namespace Webappl.Controllers
{
[Authorize]
public class CustomController : Controller
{
[AllowAnonymous]
[ChildActionOnly]
public ActionResult GetMenuStructure()
{
return PartialView("~/Views/CustomPartials/_MainMenuPartial.cshtml");
}
}
}
_MainMenuPartial.cshtml
<ul id="ul_MainMenuStructure">
<li><a href="#">Guest Pg1</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Guest Pg2</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Guest Pg3</a></li>
</ul>
The problem is
@{Html.RenderPartial("~/Views/CustomPartials/_MainMenuPartial.cshtml");}
Renders the contents of _MainMenuPartial.cshtml into the layout perfectly.
While
@{Html.RenderAction("GetMenuStructure", "Custom");}
Does nothing. No errors. No exceptions. Just blank. If i place a break-point at
return PartialView("~/Views/CustomPartials/_MainMenuPartial.cshtml");
The break-point is getting hit. I press F5 and it goes forward without any error/exceptions but menu structure does not get rendered in the layout. All I have is a blank
<div id="menuContainer">
</div>
in the final rendered page when I view it in the browser.
I need to do it through the action method for certain custom logic to be executed. Thats why a render partial is not sufficient.
I was not able to find similar behavior reported any where including stackoverflow. It could be bad binging/googling skills.
Some help will be so greatly appreciated. Banging my head on it for 3 days now.
I simply changed
To