Asp.net mvc what is the best practice of rebuilding ViewModel? - asp.net-mvc

Question

On POST , if validation failed and before sending back the ViewModel to the same View with Model State errors, do you rebuild ViewModel for all SelectLists, ReadOnly fields etc?
right now I have separate methods for Fill First Time(for GET Edit-Method) / Rebuild ViewModels from domain objects, what is the best practice so I can be DRY and also not have to change two methods any time I add a new readonly property to ViewModel?
My Solution: Followed this Pattern
Followed pattern suggested here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/2775656/57132
In IModelBuilder Implementation
Build(..)
{
var viewModel = new ViewModel();
// and Fill all Non-ReadOnly fields
...
...
call CompleteViewModel(viewModel)
}
CompleteViewModel(ViewModel viewModel)
{
//Fill all ReadOnly & SelectLists
...
}
The reason I went with this solution is because I don't want to store stuff on server to retrieve across the HTTP Requests

Answer 1

I don't rebuild it, because I don't stay at POST. I follow POST-REDIRECT-GET pattern, so if I post to /User/Edit/1 using POST HTTP method, I get redirected to /User/Edit/1 uasing GET.
ModelState is transferred to TempData to follow Post-Redirect-Get and be availabe at GET call. View model is built in one place, at GET call. Example:
[HttpPost]
[ExportModelStateToTempData]
public ActionResult Edit(int id, SomeVM postedModel)
{
if (ModelState.IsValid) {
//do something with postedModel and then go back to list
return RedirectToAction(ControllerActions.List);
}
//return back to edit, because there was an error
return RedirectToAction(ControllerActions.Edit, new { id });
}
[ImportModelStateFromTempData]
public ActionResult Edit(int id)
{
var model = //create model here
return View(ControllerActions.Edit, model);
}
This is code for attributes importing/exporting ModelState:
public abstract class ModelStateTempDataTransferAttribute : ActionFilterAttribute
{
protected static readonly string Key = typeof(ModelStateTempDataTransferAttribute).FullName;
}
public class ExportModelStateToTempDataAttribute : ModelStateTempDataTransferAttribute
{
public override void OnActionExecuted(ActionExecutedContext filterContext)
{
//Only export when ModelState is not valid
if (!filterContext.Controller.ViewData.ModelState.IsValid)
{
//Export if we are redirecting
if ((filterContext.Result is RedirectResult) || (filterContext.Result is RedirectToRouteResult))
{
filterContext.Controller.TempData[Key] = filterContext.Controller.ViewData.ModelState;
}
}
base.OnActionExecuted(filterContext);
}
}
public class ImportModelStateFromTempDataAttribute : ModelStateTempDataTransferAttribute
{
public override void OnActionExecuted(ActionExecutedContext filterContext)
{
ModelStateDictionary modelState = filterContext.Controller.TempData[Key] as ModelStateDictionary;
if (modelState != null)
{
//Only Import if we are viewing
if (filterContext.Result is ViewResult)
{
filterContext.Controller.ViewData.ModelState.Merge(modelState);
}
else
{
//Otherwise remove it.
filterContext.Controller.TempData.Remove(Key);
}
}
base.OnActionExecuted(filterContext);
}
}

Answer 2

The simplest solution would be to pass in you viewModel to the method and account for null
private MyViewModel BuildViewModel(MyViewModel model = null)
{
model = model ?? new MyViewModel();
model.ReadOnlyList = new .....
.
.
return model;
}
for Create:
var model = BuildViewModel();
for rebuild:
model = buildViewModel(model);

Answer 3

I like #LukLed's answer above - it looks very interesting. If you want another option, here's what I currently do.
In my service layer, I have a method to build my view model. I call that on GET and return the the view model to the view. On POST, I build the model from the incoming ID and then TryUpdateModel(model). From there, you can do whatever you like (save, check model state, etc.). With this method, you only have 1 build method and only have to update it once if your model changes (i.e. add/remove properties in the future, etc.).
[HttpGet]
public ActionResult AssessFocuses(int apaID)
{
var model = this.apaService.BuildAssessFocusesViewModel(apaID);
return this.View(model);
}
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult AssessFocuses(int apaID, string button)
{
var model = this.apaService.BuildAssessFocusesViewModel(apaID);
this.TryUpdateModel(model);
switch (button)
{
case ButtonSubmitValues.Back:
case ButtonSubmitValues.Next:
case ButtonSubmitValues.Save:
case ButtonSubmitValues.SaveAndClose:
{
try
{
this.apaService.SaveFocusResults(model);
}
catch (ModelStateException<AssessFocusesViewModel> mse)
{
mse.ApplyTo(this.ModelState);
}
if (!this.ModelState.IsValid)
{
this.ShowErrorMessage(Resources.ErrorMsg_WEB_ValidationSummaryTitle);
return this.View(model);
}
break;
}
default:
throw new InvalidOperationException(string.Format(Resources.ErrorMsg_WEB_InvalidButton, button));
}
switch (button)
{
case ButtonSubmitValues.Back:
return this.RedirectToActionFor<APAController>(c => c.EnterRecommendationsPartner(model.ApaID));
case ButtonSubmitValues.Next:
return this.RedirectToActionFor<APAController>(c => c.AssessCompetenciesPartner(model.ApaID));
case ButtonSubmitValues.Save:
this.ShowSuccessMessage(Resources.Msg_WEB_NotifyBarSuccessGeneral);
return this.RedirectToActionFor<APAController>(c => c.AssessFocuses(model.ApaID));
case ButtonSubmitValues.SaveAndClose:
default:
return this.RedirectToActionFor<UtilityController>(c => c.CloseWindow());
}
}