Asp.Net MVC3 adding search functionality

Question

I am trying to implement search functionality on a list of customers, the functionality is detailed in this tutorial on the Asp.Net site,

http://www.asp.net/entity-framework/tutorials/sorting-filtering-and-paging-with-the-entity-framework-in-an-asp-net-mvc-application

In my controller i have the following

public ViewResult Index(string sortOrder, string searchString)
    {
        ViewBag.CustomerNameSortParm = String.IsNullOrEmpty(sortOrder) ? "CustomerName desc" : "";
        ViewBag.PrimaryContactNameSortParm = sortOrder == "PrimaryContactName" ? "PrimaryContactName desc" : "PrimaryContactName";
        var cust = repository.Customers;

        if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(searchString))
        {
            cust = cust.Where(c => c.CustomerName.ToUpper().Contains(searchString.ToUpper())
                                   || c.PrimaryContactName.ToUpper().Contains(searchString.ToUpper()));
        }

        switch (sortOrder)
        {
            case "CustomerName desc":
                cust = repository.Customers.OrderByDescending(s => s.CustomerName);
                break;
            case "PrimaryContactName":
                cust = repository.Customers.OrderBy(s => s.PrimaryContactName);
                break;
            case "PrimaryContactName desc":
                cust = repository.Customers.OrderByDescending(s => s.PrimaryContactName);
                break;
            default:
                cust = repository.Customers.OrderBy(s => s.CustomerName);
                break;
        }

        return View(cust.ToList());
    }

The if statement checks the value and should use the LINQ, WHERE statement to filter the list,

I have the textbox setup in the view like

@using (Html.BeginForm())
{
<p>
    Find by name: @Html.TextBox("SearchString") &nbsp;
    <input type="submit" value="Search" /></p>
}

However when i enter a customer name the results are not filtered, i am using SQL Server 2008 R2, has anyone else encountered this issue? is there anything else required to get the Contains method working?

And advice is appreciated?

Liam

Answer 1

In the sort order switch you re-set the cust variable with the repository.Customers. You should use the cust variable instead to apply the sorting on the filtered set.

switch (sortOrder)
        {
            case "CustomerName desc":
                cust = cust.OrderByDescending(s => s.CustomerName);
                break;

Answer 2

when you do your search you have the if statement but it still goes onto the switch statement after, try

    if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(searchString))
    {
        cust = cust.Where(c => c.CustomerName.ToUpper().Contains(searchString.ToUpper())
                               || c.PrimaryContactName.ToUpper().Contains(searchString.ToUpper()));
    }
    else
    {
        switch (sortOrder)
        {
            case "CustomerName desc":
                cust = repository.Customers.OrderByDescending(s => s.CustomerName);
                break;
            case "PrimaryContactName":
                cust = repository.Customers.OrderBy(s => s.PrimaryContactName);
                break;
            case "PrimaryContactName desc":
                cust = repository.Customers.OrderByDescending(s => s.PrimaryContactName);
                break;
            default:
                cust = repository.Customers.OrderBy(s => s.CustomerName);
                break;
        }
    }

that way cust isnt being reassigned after its set

Edit: Since you set cust at the beginning of your method you could also have

    if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(searchString))
    {
        cust = cust.Where(c => c.CustomerName.ToUpper().Contains(searchString.ToUpper())
                               || c.PrimaryContactName.ToUpper().Contains(searchString.ToUpper()));
    }

    switch (sortOrder)
    {
        case "CustomerName desc":
            cust = cust.OrderByDescending(s => s.CustomerName);
            break;
        case "PrimaryContactName":
            cust = cust.OrderBy(s => s.PrimaryContactName);
            break;
        case "PrimaryContactName desc":
            cust = cust.OrderByDescending(s => s.PrimaryContactName);
            break;
        default:
            cust = cust.OrderBy(s => s.CustomerName);
            break;
    }

to still order the cust without reloading it