ASP MVC, mutiple models with single controller / view with EF - asp.net-mvc

Question

Can someone explain to me how to use multiple models with a single view in which each of the models represent a DB table?
What I've currently done is created a model file for each model.
Example Model:
[Table("Order")]
public class OrderModel
{
[Key, Column(Order = 0)]
[DatabaseGeneratedAttribute(DatabaseGeneratedOption.Identity)]
public int OrderID { get; set; }
[Key, Column(Order = 1)]
public int UserID { get; set; }
public UserProfile Account { get; set; }
public DateTime Date { get; set; }
public int ShipLocation { get; set; }
public string PONumber { get; set; }
public int StatusID { get; set; }
public StatusModel Status { get; set; }
}
Here is the other model that encompases all the models to use in a single controller / view.
public class OrderPlacementModel
{
public OrderModel OrderChild { get; set; }
public OrderItemsModel OrderItemsChild { get; set; }
public StatusModel StatusChild { get; set; }
public MaterialsModel MaterialsChild { get; set; }
public CategoryModel CategoryChild { get; set; }
public PackModel PackChild { get; set; }
}

Answer 1

public ActionResult PlaceOrder()
{
var viewModel = new OrderPlacementModel
{
OrderChild = new OrderModel(),//or fetch this object from your data source
OrderItemsChild = new OrderItemsChild(),
//...etcetera
};
return View(viewModel);
}
Edit
Or, if you've strongly typed your view to a List<OrderPlacementModel> instead of a single instance, you could do something similar to this:
public ActionResult PlaceOrder()
{
var viewModel = new List<OrderPlacementModel>();
var model = new OrderPlacementModel
{
OrderChild = new OrderModel(),//or fetch this object from your data source
OrderItemsChild = new OrderItemsChild(),
//...etcetera
};
viewModel.Add(model);
//lather, rinse, repeat for however many instances you need to send to your view.
return View(viewModel);
}

Answer 2

Ideally, you should create a view model for the view that encompasses the fields from each model that you need to expose via the view. You can then map these in your controller. I would keep your mapping classes completely ignorant of your view models. Keep your views independent of your data model.
public class OrderViewModel
{
public int OrderId { get; set; }
public int UserId { get; set; }
public DateTime Date { get; set; }
public int ShippingLocation { get; set; }
public List<ItemViewModel> Items { get; set; }
}
public class ItemViewModel
{
public int ItemId { get; set; }
public int Title { get; set; }
}
Note how I have created a view model for the order and - to allow the order have multiple items - have separated these out into a separate model class. Now, you can type your view to OrderViewModel and use as many instances of ItemViewModel as your require.
You can then map your viewmodels to database entities from your controller:
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult ConfirmOrder (OrderViewModel model)
{
if (ModelState.IsValid)
{
foreach (ItemViewModel item in model.Items)
{
/* Create instance of OrderItemsModel (or whatever your
DB mapping class is), populate with appropriate data
from 'item' and commit to database. */
}
OrderModel order = new OrderModel();
order.OrderId = model.OrderId;
order.UserId = model.UserId;
order.Date = model.Date;
order.ShipLocation = model.ShippingLocation;
/* TODO: Commit new order to database */
}
}
Doing things this way adds a little overhead to your initial development time but allows you a great deal more flexibility as you aren't forced to mould all of your views to the shape of your entity classes.