Unencode server side string when rendering in Javascript

Question

I am returning a model from my controller that displays a grid. Works fine. I also need to use that same data to produce points on a google map. I have the following code set up in my prototype that I needed to replace:

            var locationsAll = [
                ["Pretty", 40.1508, -83.21],
                ["Little", 40.1308, -83.11],
                ["Smug", 40.001, -83.01],
                ["Troublemaker", 40.109, -83.291],
                ["Smallest", 40.08, -83.20]
                ];

            PlotpointsonMap(locationsAll);

So far so good. That works so I am converting this to javascript like so:

                @{
                    var locations = "[";
                   foreach (var gmap in Model.MapPoints )
                   {
                       locations += "['" + gmap.EventStringData + "'," + gmap.Latitude + "," + gmap.Longitude + "],";
                   }

                    locations = locations.TrimEnd(',') + "]";

                }

            var myLocations = @locations;
            PlotpointsonMap(myLocations);

However, this half works. I am getting the following code in my javascript block when I view the source generated:

var myLocations = [[&quot;update&quot;,40.080398,-83.139141]

I need it to render like so:

var myLocations = [["update",40.080398,-83.139141]

Any ideas on how to accomplish this are greatly appreciated. I tried:

var myLocations = @Server.HtmlDecode(locations);

and it gave me the same result :(

possible duplicate of [ASP.NET MVC Razor - output HTML string non escaped](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4281424/asp-net-mvc-razor-output-html-string-non-escaped) — millimoose, Jul 02 '12 at 16:17
Sorry :) After researching for hours and not finding an answer I posted this question and then found the answer :) I am new to Razor and MVC, a lot to learn :) The solution was to use the HTML.Raw command like so: var myLocations = @Html.Raw(locations); Sorry about that, but maybe this will help someone else :) — Brian Ross, Jul 02 '12 at 16:17
@BrianRoss, no, that's not the solution. Your code should entirely be replaced. You should absolutely never do manual JSON building as you did. You should use an existing JSON parser. Don't reinvent wheels, please. See my answer for the correct way to do this. — Darin Dimitrov, Jul 02 '12 at 16:24

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 02 '12 at 16:21

Wooow, no! No manual JSON manipulation please. No commas, no quotes, no trims, no brackets please. That hearts.

Simply use a JSON parser:

<script type="text/javascript">
    var locationsAll = @Html.Raw(Json.Encode(
        Model.MapPoints.Select(x => new object[] 
        { 
            x.EventStringData, x.Latitude, x.Longitude 
        })
    ));
    PlotpointsonMap(locationsAll);
</script>

The JSON parser guarantees you now that no matter what data you have in this MapPoints it will always be properly encoded.

Sorry, just getting back to this now :) After having learned a little more about MVC your answer does make sense and will clean up my code quite a bit. Thanks. — Brian Ross, Nov 06 '12 at 17:14

Unencode server side string when rendering in Javascript

1 Answers1