'keep viewdata on RedirectToAction

[AcceptVerbs(HttpVerbs.Post)]
public ActionResult CreateUser([Bind(Exclude = "Id")] User user)
{
        ...
        db.SubmitChanges();
        ViewData["info"] = "The account has been created.";
        return RedirectToAction("Index", "Admin");
}

This doesnt keep the "info" text in the viewdata after the redirectToAction. How would I get around this issue in the most elegant way?

My current idea is to put the stuff from the Index controlleraction in a [NonAction] and call that method from both the Index action and in the CreateUser action, but I have a feeling there must be a better way.

Thanks.

Solution 1:^[1]

Use ViewData if your data should be accessible in View during "this" request. Use `TempData' if your data is for "next" request (for example POST-REDIRECT-GET design pattern).

Solution 2:^[2]

If you need this more than once, a nice workaround would be creating ActionFilterAttributes which export/import the tempdata to viewdata and vice-versa. You can pass your ModelState in this way very nicely as well (demonstrated here - #13). With a few adjustments to that piece of code you would have a clean solution, I think.

Solution 3:^[3]

You could use the TempData controller property, but it has the disadvantage that it uses the session storage in the background. This means that you'll have extra work getting it to function on a web farm and you'll need to have sessions enabled in your application in the first place.

An alternative is to use cookies if you only need to transport a short message. This does require proper encryption of the cookie. Not relying on the TempData property also allows you to set messages in a non MVC context, for example in a classic ASHX page.

Take a look at FlashMessage which can save you some work implementing this yourself.

Solution 4:^[4]

Since TempData appears to use storage, and any form of ITempDataProvider that is not "in-process", requires the object to be Serializable, TempData seems woefully inadequate in web farm situations... (ViewDataDictionary isn't itself serializable...) Does anyone have any suggestions for this?

Solution 5:^[5]

The answer is TempData. The usage difference for clarification is as the following:

TempData = from Action to Action

ViewData = from Action to View

Sources

This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Overflow and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Source: Stack Overflow

Solution	Source
Solution 1	eu-ge-ne
Solution 2	Leon
Solution 3
Solution 4	Novox
Solution 5	Wael Moughrbel

'keep viewdata on RedirectToAction

Solution 1:[1]

Solution 2:[2]

Solution 3:[3]

Solution 4:[4]

Solution 5:[5]