Is there any generally accepted way to handle the following scenario or have I designed it poorly?
I have some domain models as such:
public class Person
{
public int ID {get;set;}
public string Name{get;set;}
public int? AddressID {get;set;}
}
public class Address
{
public int ID{get;set;}
public string Street {get;set;}
}
Then I have a View Model as such:
public class Personnel
{
public Person Person{get;set;}
public Address Address{get;set;}
}
So then i have a strongly typed view to the Personnel model and say I have something in it like this
#Html.HiddenFor(m => m.Address.ID)
#Html.EditorFor(m => m.Address.Street)
The thing is that when i get my Personnel model, sometimes Address can be null because sometimes a Person doesn't have an address. BUT the UI requires that the input text boxes still be shown. When Address is null, the resulting markup from the view is as such:
<input value name="Address.AddressID" type="hidden">
I have a controller as such
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult EditPersonnel(Personnel model)
{
if (ModelState.IsValid)
{
model.Save() // or whatever
}
return View(model);
}
So when I post back to my controller the value in the form collection for Address.ID has an empty string.
The ModelState is always invalid because the binder cannot convert an empty string into an int.
But I didn't want it to bind anyways because there really isn't any address ( lets say the user didn't enter any information). How do you get the binder to ignore the Address fields?
Realistically, the Address property should never be null if the view requires the model property. If the Person.AddressID is null, assign a "empty" instance of an Address to the Personnel.Address property:
// assuming you have a data object named "person"
if(!person.AddressID.HasValue) // or use person.AddressID == null
{
model.Address = new Address(); // assuming your view model is called "model"
}
try
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult EditPersonnel(Personnel model)
{
if(model.Address.Equals(null))
model.Address = new Address();
if (ModelState.IsValid)
{
model.Save() // or whatever
}
return View(model);
}
Related
I have a ViewModel that has a complex object as one of its members. The complex object has 4 properties (all strings). I'm trying to create a re-usable partial view where I can pass in the complex object and have it generate the html with html helpers for its properties. That's all working great. However, when I submit the form, the model binder isn't mapping the values back to the ViewModel's member so I don't get anything back on the server side. How can I read the values a user types into the html helpers for the complex object.
ViewModel
public class MyViewModel
{
public string SomeProperty { get; set; }
public MyComplexModel ComplexModel { get; set; }
}
MyComplexModel
public class MyComplexModel
{
public int id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Address { get; set; }
....
}
Controller
public class MyController : Controller
{
public ActionResult Index()
{
MyViewModel model = new MyViewModel();
model.ComplexModel = new MyComplexModel();
model.ComplexModel.id = 15;
return View(model);
}
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Index(MyViewModel model)
{
// model here never has my nested model populated in the partial view
return View(model);
}
}
View
#using(Html.BeginForm("Index", "MyController", FormMethod.Post))
{
....
#Html.Partial("MyPartialView", Model.ComplexModel)
}
Partial View
#model my.path.to.namespace.MyComplexModel
#Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.Name)
...
how can I bind this data on form submission so that the parent model contains the data entered on the web form from the partial view?
thanks
EDIT: I've figured out that I need to prepend "ComplexModel." to all of my control's names in the partial view (textboxes) so that it maps to the nested object, but I can't pass the ViewModel type to the partial view to get that extra layer because it needs to be generic to accept several ViewModel types. I could just rewrite the name attribute with javascript, but that seems overly ghetto to me. How else can I do this?
EDIT 2: I can statically set the name attribute with new { Name="ComplexModel.Name" } so I think I'm in business unless someone has a better method?
You can pass the prefix to the partial using
#Html.Partial("MyPartialView", Model.ComplexModel,
new ViewDataDictionary { TemplateInfo = new TemplateInfo { HtmlFieldPrefix = "ComplexModel" }})
which will perpend the prefix to you controls name attribute so that <input name="Name" ../> will become <input name="ComplexModel.Name" ../> and correctly bind to typeof MyViewModel on post back
Edit
To make it a little easier, you can encapsulate this in a html helper
public static MvcHtmlString PartialFor<TModel, TProperty>(this HtmlHelper<TModel> helper, Expression<Func<TModel, TProperty>> expression, string partialViewName)
{
string name = ExpressionHelper.GetExpressionText(expression);
object model = ModelMetadata.FromLambdaExpression(expression, helper.ViewData).Model;
var viewData = new ViewDataDictionary(helper.ViewData)
{
TemplateInfo = new System.Web.Mvc.TemplateInfo
{
HtmlFieldPrefix = string.IsNullOrEmpty(helper.ViewData.TemplateInfo.HtmlFieldPrefix) ?
name : $"{helper.ViewData.TemplateInfo.HtmlFieldPrefix}.{name}"
}
};
return helper.Partial(partialViewName, model, viewData);
}
and use it as
#Html.PartialFor(m => m.ComplexModel, "MyPartialView")
If you use tag helpers, the partial tag helper accepts a for attribute, which does what you expect.
<partial name="MyPartialView" for="ComplexModel" />
Using the for attribute, rather than the typical model attribute, will cause all of the form fields within the partial to be named with the ComplexModel. prefix.
You can try passing the ViewModel to the partial.
#model my.path.to.namespace.MyViewModel
#Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.ComplexModel.Name)
Edit
You can create a base model and push the complex model in there and pass the based model to the partial.
public class MyViewModel :BaseModel
{
public string SomeProperty { get; set; }
}
public class MyViewModel2 :BaseModel
{
public string SomeProperty2 { get; set; }
}
public class BaseModel
{
public MyComplexModel ComplexModel { get; set; }
}
public class MyComplexModel
{
public int id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
...
}
Then your partial will be like below :
#model my.path.to.namespace.BaseModel
#Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.ComplexModel.Name)
If this is not an acceptable solution, you may have to think in terms of overriding the model binder. You can read about that here.
I came across the same situation and with the help of such informative posts changed my partial code to have prefix on generated in input elements generated by partial view
I have used Html.partial helper giving partialview name and object of ModelType and an instance of ViewDataDictionary object with Html Field Prefix to constructor of Html.partial.
This results in GET request of "xyz url" of "Main view" and rendering partial view inside it with input elements generated with prefix e.g. earlier Name="Title" now becomes Name="MySubType.Title" in respective HTML element and same for rest of the form input elements.
The problem occurred when POST request is made to "xyz url", expecting the Form which is filled in gets saved in to my database. But the MVC Modelbinder didn't bind my POSTed model data with form values filled in and also ModelState is also lost. The model in viewdata was also coming to null.
Finally I tried to update model data in Posted form using TryUppdateModel method which takes model instance and html prefix which was passed earlier to partial view,and can see now model is bound with values and model state is also present.
Please let me know if this approach is fine or bit diversified!
I have the following view model:
public class CreateCaseViewModel
{
[Required]
public string Subject { get; set; }
[Required]
[DisplayName("Post Content")]
[UIHint("ForumEditor"), AllowHtml]
[DataType(DataType.MultilineText)]
public string PostContent { get; set; }
// some other dropdown properties
}
The following controller action:
[HttpPost]
[ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
[ValidateInput(false)]
public ActionResult Create(CreateCaseViewModel viewModel, FormCollection collection)
{
// Re-populate dropdowns
viewModel.Categories = _unitOfWork.CategoryRepository.GetCategories();
viewModel.Subject = collection["Subject"];
viewModel.PostContent = collection["Description"];
try
{
if (ModelState.IsValid)
{
// Do stuff
}
}
catch (DataException dex )
{
throw new ApplicationException("Something :", dex);
}
return View(viewModel);
}
I am manually assigning the value to PostContent from a value in FormCollection as you can see from code above. However I still keep getting modelstate is invalid - I'm returned back to the view with the validation error saying `The Post Content field is required'
Why is modelstate invalid?
When you submit the form the model binder will read the posted request data and map it to your method parameter. After that model validation framework will do the validation. It does not look at your FormCollection for doing this. So in your case, your model validation is failing because as per your view model it is expecting a value for PostContent property and it is not available there. Your action method code where you are setting the value of it gets executed later ( by this time model validation already occurred).
Your options are, either standardize the input element name with your view model property name (rename the PostContent to Description or vice versa)
public class CreateCaseViewModel
{
[Required]
public string Subject { get; set; }
[Required]
[DisplayName("Post Content")]
[UIHint("ForumEditor"), AllowHtml]
[DataType(DataType.MultilineText)]
public string Description { get; set; }
}
Now let the model binder maps the request body to your view model parameter. Remove the manual assignment from the FormCollection in your action method
Or you can probably create a new custom model binder which does the custom mapping for you (same as what you did in your action method).
I would go with option one. Let the default model binder takes care of it.
The model is validated before it is passed to your controller action. Modifying the model does not change that.
You need to call ModelState.Clear() followed by Controller.TryValidateModel(model) to re-validate the model and reset the IsValid property.
I thought this should have been an easier task :
Edit:
It seems till this day Asp.Net MVC couldn't provide a neat solution on this case:
If you want to pass a simple string as a model and you don't have to define more classes and stuff to do so...
Any ideas ??
Pass simple string as a model
here I'm trying to have a simple string model.
I'm getting this error :
"Value cannot be null or empty" / "Parameter name: name"
The View :
#model string
#using (Html.BeginForm())
{
<span>Please Enter the code</span>
#Html.TextBoxFor(m => m) // Error Happens here
<button id="btnSubmit" title="Submit"></button>
}
The Controller :
public string CodeText { get; set; }
public HomeController()
{
CodeText = "Please Enter MHM";
}
[HttpGet]
public ActionResult Index()
{
return View("Index", null, CodeText);
}
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Index(string code)
{
bool result = false;
if (code == "MHM")
result = true;
return View();
}
There's a much cleaner way of passing a string as a model into your view. You just need to use named parameters when returning your view:
[HttpGet]
public ActionResult Index()
{
string myStringModel = "I am passing this string as a model in the view";
return View(model:myStringModel);
}
I know you've already accepted an answer here - I'm adding this because there's a general gotcha associated with using a string model.
String as a model type in MVC is a nightmare, because if you do this in a controller:
string myStringModel = "Hello world";
return View("action", myStringModel);
It ends up choosing the wrong overload, and passing the myStringModel as a master name to the view engine.
In general it is easier simply to wrap it in a proper model type, as the accepted answer describes, but you can also simply force the compiler to choose the correct overload of View() by casting the string to object:
return View("action", (object)myStringModel);
The other issue you're having here of using TextBoxFor having issues with an 'unnamed' model - well you shouldn't be surprised by that... The only reason to use TextBoxFor is to ensure the fields are named correctly for binding when the underlying value is a property on a model type. In this case there is no name, because you're passing it as a top-level model type for a view - so you it could be argued that you shouldn't be using TextBoxFor() in the first place.
Either wrap the string in a view model object:
Model:
public class HomeViewModel
{
public string CodeText { get; set; }
}
Controller:
private HomeViewModel _model;
public HomeController()
{
_model = new HomeViewModel { CodeText = "My Text" };
}
[HttpGet]
public ActionResult Index()
{
return View("Index", _model);
}
View:
#Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.CodeText);
Or use EditorForModel:
#Html.EditorForModel()
You can simply use an overload of View() method.
View(string ViewName, object model)
in action method, call View with that signature.
return View("MyView", myString);
in view(.cshtml), define the model type as string
#model string
Then, #Model will return the string (myString).
ASP.Net MVC 4
I am trying to populate a list of Countries (data from Country table in DB) in a dropdownlist. I get the following error:
The model item passed into the dictionary is of type
System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.Int32]', but this dictionary requires a model item of type 'BIReport.Models.Country'.
I am new to ASP.Net MVC and I don't understand that error. What I feel is what Index method is returning doesn't match with the model that I am using in the View.
Model::
namespace BIReport.Models
{
public partial class Country
{
public int Country_ID { get; set; }
public string Country_Name { get; set; }
public string Country_Code { get; set; }
public string Country_Acronym { get; set; }
}
}
Controller::
public class HomeController : Controller
{
private CorpCostEntities _context;
public HomeController()
{
_context = new CorpCostEntities();
}
//
// GET: /Home/
public ActionResult Index()
{
var countries = _context.Countries.Select(arg => arg.Country_ID).ToList();
ViewData["Country_ID"] = new SelectList(countries);
return View(countries);
}
}
View::
#model BIReport.Models.Country
<label>
Country #Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.Country_ID, ViewData["Country_ID"] as SelectList)
</label>
Where am I going wrong?
You are selecting CountryIDs, therefore you will have a list of integers passed into the view.
I think you really want something like this:
public ActionResult Index()
{
var countries = _context.Countries.ToList();
ViewData["Country_ID"] = new SelectList(countries, "Country_ID", "Country_Name");
return View();
}
I'm not really sure why you have single country as a model for your view.
Update:
I'm still not sure why the model is a country, if you are just going to post the ID of the selected country you don't necessarily need a model at all (or just have an integer). This will be just fine though:
View
#model MvcApplication1.Models.Country
#Html.DropDownListFor(m => m.Country_ID, ViewData["Country_ID"] as SelectList)
the problem is in line 1 of your view. change it like this :
#model IEnumerable<BIReport.Models.Country>
also there is no need to pass the model to view if you already did it by :
ViewData["Country_ID"] = new SelectList(countries);
When you say #model BIReport.Models.Country it means your view is expecting a model consisting single country details. On the contrary you need a list of countries to be displayed in the drop-down list. Hence you should tell the view to look for a list of country details instead.
Therefore #model IEnumerable.
I can't seem to get the edit function of my view to work..i have a page that lists, a page that shows specific detail and on that page, i should be able to edit the information of the form..PROBLEM: when i run the application it says:No parameterless constructor defined for this object. What am i doing wrong...?
In the Home Controller i have:
Edit Functions:
[HttpGet]
public ViewResult EditSchoolDetails(int id)
{
var institution = _educationRepository.GetInstititionById(id);
var model = (Mapper.Map<Institution, InstitutionModel>(institution));
return View(model);
}
post
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult EditSchoolDetails( InstitutionModel institutionModel, int id)
{
if (ModelState.IsValid) {
//_get from repository and add to instituion
var institution = _educationRepository.GetInstititionById(institutionModel.Id);
// Map from the view model back to the domain model
var model = Mapper.Map<Institution, InstitutionModel>(institution);
//UpdateModel(model);
SaveChanges();
return RedirectToAction("ViewSchoolDetails", new {institutionModel = institutionModel, id = id});
}
return View(institutionModel);
}
InstitutionModel
public class InstitutionModel {
public InstitutionModel() {
NAABAccreditations = new List<AccreditationModel>();
}
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public bool IsNAAB { get { return NAABAccreditations.Any(); } }
public string Website { get; set; }
public AddressModel Address { get; set; }
public IEnumerable<AccreditationModel> NAABAccreditations { get; set; }
}
Does the Institution class have a parameterless constructor? If not, that will be the problem. You are passing an InstitutionModel to the the edit view, so the post action should probably take an InstitutionModel too, then you can map back to the original Institution model:
public ActionResult EditSchoolDetails(int id, InstitutionModel institutionModel)
{
if (ModelState.IsValid)
{
//add to database and save changes
Institution institutionEntity = _educationRepository.GetInstititionById(institution.Id);
// Map from the view model back to the domain model
Mapper.Map<InstitutionModel, Institution>(institutionModel, institutionEntity);
SaveChanges();
return RedirectToAction("ViewSchoolDetails",);
}
return View(institutionModel);
}
Notice also how it returns the view model back to the view if the model state isn't valid, otherwise you will lose all your form values!
Here's a similar question too which might help: ASP.NET MVC: No parameterless constructor defined for this object
Is it possible you need to pass a parameter to ViewSchoolDetails? I notice in the return statement you commented out that you were passing it an id, but in the return statement you're using, you're not passing in anything.
EDIT
This (from your comment below):
parameters dictionary contains a null entry for parameter 'id' of non-nullable type 'System.Int32' for method 'System.Web.Mvc.ActionResult ViewSchoolDetails(Int32)
...tells me you need to pass a parameter to ViewSchoolDetails
EDIT 2
I saw your edit, and would say this: if the method you are calling is
public ActionResult ViewSchoolDetails(InstitutionModel institutionModel, int id)
Then you MUST pass it an object of type InstitutionModel and an int as parameters or you will get an exception. Meaning, you need
RedirectToAction("ViewSchoolDetails", new {institutionModel = institutionModel, id = id});
Whenever i get this, i have forgotten to create a parameter-less constructor on my view-model. I always add one now just in case it's needed and i forget.
Does InstitutionModel have one?