MVC 2 simple test fails - why? - asp.net-mvc

Question

I can't find any reason for this unit test to fail, but it does every time.
HomeController.cs:
[HandleError]
public class HomeController : Controller
{
public ActionResult Index()
{
var model = "Whatever";
return View( model );
}
}
HomeControllerTest.cs:
[TestClass]
public class HomeControllerTest
{
[TestMethod]
public void Index()
{
var controller = new HomeController();
var result = controller.Index() as ViewResult;
var model = result.ViewData.Model;
Assert.IsInstanceOfType( model, typeof(string) );
}
}
result is not null, nor is result.ViewData. But result.ViewData.Model is always null.
What in the world is causing this to fail? It's such a simple test...
EDIT
This is even weirder. If I create a class, and use the class as the model, it doesn't fail. It only fails when the model is a string! i.e., this passes:
HomeController.cs:
[HandleError]
public class HomeController : Controller
{
public ActionResult Index()
{
var model = new SomeClass
{
Name = "Whatever"
};
return View( model );
}
}
public class SomeClass
{
public string Name { get; set; }
}
HomeControllerTest.cs
[TestClass]
public class HomeControllerTest
{
[TestMethod]
public void Index()
{
var controller = new HomeController();
var result = controller.Index() as ViewResult;
var model = result.ViewData.Model;
Assert.IsInstanceOfType( model, typeof(SomeClass) );
}
}

Answer 1

The model is null that's why.
When you pass a string as the argument to View(string), the string is actually the view name, not a model.
Cast it as an object to use the overload for the model.
return View((object)model);
View(Object) - Creates a ViewResult object by using the model that renders a view to the response.
View(String) - Creates a ViewResult object by using the view name that renders a view.