asp.net mvc2 - two (or more) views using same controller? - asp.net-mvc-2

Question

Is it possible that two different views use the same controller?
I have very complex controller that displays some data. Now I need to display this data (which is retrieved using ajax) in two partial views because I want to place them on different positions in layout.

Answer 1

the View() function can be passed arguments, for instance:
return View(); // The view with the same name as the action.
return View("MyView") // The view named "MyView"
There are a few more overloads too. Does this fit the bill?
If not, why not partial views, for instance, given this model:
public class BlogItem
{
public string Title { get; set; }
public int Id { get; set; }
}
And this action:
public ActionResult Index()
{
var items = new List<BlogItem>
{
new BlogItem { Title = "Test Blog Item", Id = 1 }
};
return View(items);
}
And this view:
<%# Page Language="C#" MasterPageFile="~/Views/Shared/Site.Master" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewPage<List<BlogItem>>" %>
<asp:Content ContentPlaceHolderID="MainContent" runat="server">
<% Html.RenderPartial("List", Model); %>
<% Html.RenderPartial("Icon", Model); %>
</asp:Content>
I can have two partial views using the same model:
List:
<%# Control Language="C#" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewUserControl<List<BlogItem>" %>
<ul>
<% foreach (var item in Model) { %>
<li><%= item.Title %></li>
<% } %>
</ul>
Icon:
<%# Control Language="C#" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewUserControl<List<BlogItem>" %>
<div>
<% foreach (var item in Model) { %>
<div class="icon"><img src="..." /></div>
<div class="text"><%= item.Title %></div>
<% } %>
</div>
Would that work?

Answer 2

Based on my understanding so far, you want one controller action to return two views. I somehow think that this is not possible.
You have mentioned that the views are used to display identical data is different ways. My suggestion would to return a JsonResult from the controller action and build the view client side.