In this article I will explain with an example, how to fetch jQuery AutoComplete TextBox data in Key Value pairs using JSON object in ASP.Net MVC Razor.
The data from database will be fetched using Entity Framework and will be returned as JSON array with Key Value pairs will be returned to the jQuery AutoComplete plugin.
This article also illustrates, how to fetch the Key and Value of the selected AutoComplete item on Form submission in ASP.Net MVC Razor.
Note: For beginners in ASP.Net MVC, please refer my article ASP.Net MVC Hello World Tutorial with Sample Program example.
 
 
Database
Here I am making use of Microsoft’s Northwind Database. You can download it from here.
 
 
Creating an Entity Data Model
The very first step is to create an ASP.Net MVC Application and connect it to the Northwind Database using Entity Framework.
Note: For more details, please refer my article ASP.Net MVC: Simple Entity Framework Tutorial with example.
 
Following is the Entity Data Model of the Customers Table of the Northwind Database which will be used later in this project.
jQuery AutoComplete JSON Key Value Pair example in ASP.Net MVC
 
 
Controller
The Controller consists of three Action methods.
Action method for handling GET operation
Inside this Action method, simply the View is returned.
 
Action method for handling the jQuery AutoComplete
This Action method accepts a parameter named “prefix”. When this method is accessed by the jQuery AutoComplete plugin, the records of the Customers Table of the Northwind database are fetched using the Entity Framework.
The fetched records are then filtered and returned back to the View as JSON.
 
Action method for handling POST operation
This Action method handles the Form submission and displays the Customer Name and CustomerId of the selected item in jQuery AutoComplete using ViewBag object.
Note: For more details on displaying message from Controller to View, please refer my article Display (Pass) String Message from Controller to View in ASP.Net MVC.
 
public class HomeController : Controller
{
    // GET: Home
    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        return View();
    }
 
    [HttpPost]
    public JsonResult AutoComplete(string prefix)
    {
        NorthwindEntities entities = new NorthwindEntities();
        var customers = (from customer in entities.Customers
                         where customer.ContactName.StartsWith(prefix)
                         select new
                         {
                             label = customer.ContactName,
                             val = customer.CustomerID
                         }).ToList();
 
        return Json(customers);
    }
 
    [HttpPost]
    public ActionResult Index(string CustomerName, string CustomerId)
    {
        ViewBag.Message = "CustomerName: " + CustomerName + " CustomerId: " + CustomerId;
        return View();
    }
}
 
 
View
The View consists of an HTML Form which has been created using the Html.BeginForm method with the following parameters.
ActionName – Name of the Action. In this case the name is Index.
ControllerName – Name of the Controller. In this case the name is Home.
FormMethod – It specifies the Form Method i.e. GET or POST. In this case it will be set to POST.
The Form consists of three elements i.e. a TextBox (implemented as AutoComplete), a Hidden Field (for saving the Value part of the Autocomplete Item) and a Submit Button.
The jQuery AutoComplete plugin has been applied to the TextBox and the URL of the plugin is set to the AutoComplete Action method.
@{
    Layout = null;
}
 
<!DOCTYPE html>
 
<html>
<head>
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width"/>
    <title>Index</title>
</head>
<body>
    <script src="https://ajax.aspnetcdn.com/ajax/jQuery/jquery-1.10.0.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
    <script src="https://ajax.aspnetcdn.com/ajax/jquery.ui/1.9.2/jquery-ui.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
    <link href="https://ajax.aspnetcdn.com/ajax/jquery.ui/1.9.2/themes/blitzer/jquery-ui.css"
          rel="Stylesheet" type="text/css"/>
    <script type="text/javascript">
        $(function () {
            $("#txtCustomer").autocomplete({
                source: function (request, response) {
                    $.ajax({
                        url: '/Home/AutoComplete/',
                        data: "{'prefix': '" + request.term + "'}",
                        dataType: "json",
                        type: "POST",
                        contentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8",
                        success: function (data) {
                            response($.map(data, function (item) {
                                return item;
                            }))
                        },
                        error: function (response) {
                            alert(response.responseText);
                        },
                        failure: function (response) {
                            alert(response.responseText);
                        }
                    });
                },
                select: function (e, i) {
                    $("#hfCustomer").val(i.item.val);
                },
                minLength: 1
            });
        });
    </script>
    @using (Html.BeginForm("Index", "Home", FormMethod.Post))
    {
        <input type="text" id="txtCustomer" name="CustomerName"/>
        <input type="hidden" id="hfCustomer" name="CustomerId"/>
        <br /><br />
        <input type="submit" id="btnSubmit" value="Submit"/>
        <br /><br />
        @ViewBag.Message
    }
</body>
</html>
 
 
Screenshot
jQuery AutoComplete JSON Key Value Pair example in ASP.Net MVC
 
 
Downloads
Download Code