Change html elemts style from Controllers ActionResult in ASP.NET MVC 5

Question

I am making an if check in the controller

if(validDate<DateTime.Now)
{
   //TODO
}

And what I want to do is to hide a specific button in my view if this statement is true, otherwise show it. I am also using jquery in front end. Can someone help me to manipulate the html element, the button, from the controller, example add a style class or something? In this case I need to make the changes from the controller and not from the jquery, but I can use the jquery after if needed.

Answer 1

You need to use models (aka as ViewModel), @thomashaid already gave you a comment with a useful article: Views And ViewModels.

Create a class in the "Models" folder of your MVC Project. Like this:

public class MyViewModel
{
    public bool ShowButton { get; set; }
}

Then in your controller, create an object of your ViewModel class and assign the corresponding value to the ShowButton property. Then pass the ViewModel to the returning view:

public ActionResult MyAction()
{
    var myViewmodel = new MyViewModel();´

    if(validDate < DateTime.Now)
    {
        myViewModel.ShowButton = true;
    }

    return View(myViewModel);
}

Finally, use razor syntax in your view to manipulate the HTML code that will be returned to the client:

@model MyViewModel

@if (Model.ShowButton)
{
    <Button>now you see me</Button>
}