I have a model with a collection
public class Model
{
IEnumerable<ModelPart> Parts {get;set;}
}
public class Parts
{
public string Prop1 {get;set;}
public string Prop2 {get;set;}
}
But the comming in url is quite nasty.
It has this form
dhxGridObj_d3BIc6JfDidc_1_0=&dhxGridObj_d3BIc6JfDidc_1_1=sssss&dhxGridObj_d3BIc6JfDidc_1_2=ssssss&
dhxGridObj_d3BIc6JfDidc_2_0=&dhxGridObj_d3BIc6JfDidc_2_1=aaaa&dhxGridObj_d3BIc6JfDidc_2_2=aaaaa
It has three parts separated with underscore
dhxGridObj_d3BIc6JfDidc_2_1
Some id dhxGridObj_d3BIc6JfDidc
Row id 2
Cell id 1
I'm wondering what would be the best way bind this to my model.
I was thinking of renaming this dhxGridObj_d3BIc6JfDidc_2_1 to model[2].Prop1 Where would be the best place to do this ?
Oh yeah, that's a hell of an ugly request string. A custom model binder is the way to parse this beast until you find a real solution to this problem which of course is fixing the system sending this crap to conform to the default model binder syntax.
And here's an example of some scratch code that might put you on the right track:
public class MyModelBinder : DefaultModelBinder
{
private const string Prefix = "dhxGridObj_d3BIc6JfDidc";
public override object BindModel(ControllerContext controllerContext, ModelBindingContext bindingContext)
{
var model = base.BindModel(controllerContext, bindingContext) as Model;
var request = controllerContext.HttpContext.Request;
model.Parts = request
.Params
.Keys
.OfType<string>()
.Select(key => Regex.Match(key, Prefix + "_([0-9]+)_([0-9]+)"))
.Where(x => x.Success)
.Select(x => new
{
Row = x.Groups[1].Value,
Col = x.Groups[2].Value
})
.GroupBy(x => x.Row)
.Select(x => new Parts
{
Prop1 = request[string.Format("{0}_{1}_{2}", Prefix, x.Key, x.ElementAt(0).Col)],
Prop2 = request[string.Format("{0}_{1}_{2}", Prefix, x.Key, x.ElementAt(1).Col)],
});
return model;
}
}
which will be registered in Application_Start:
ModelBinders.Binders.Add(typeof(Model), new MyModelBinder());
You should not use query string parameters in url of your MVC application. the best for this is Url routes. you can find a good article for routes in MVC here :
http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2007/12/03/asp-net-mvc-framework-part-2-url-routing.aspx
Related
I am working in MVC4 and want to define a model using an Uppercase attribute. The idea would be that the presence of the Uppercase attribute would cause the model value to be converted to uppercase when it arrived at the server.
At the moment I have the following code within the model:
[Required]
[Display(Name="Account Code")]
[StringValidation(RegExValidation.AccountCode, Uppercase=true)]
public string Account
{
get { return _account; }
set
{
if (value != null)
_account = value.ToUpper();
}
}
But what I would really like is this:
[Required]
[Display(Name="Account Code")]
[StringValidation(RegExValidation.AccountCode)]
[Uppercase]
public string Account { get; set; }
I think that I may need to create the Uppercase attribute as a ValidationAttribute to ensure it gets fired when the model hits the server. But that seems a bit wrong, as I'm not really validating the data. Is there a better way?
Also, is there any way to ensure the invocation order on the attributes? I really want to convert the data to uppercase before the custom StringValidation attribute fires, as this checks the case of the text in the regex pattern.
To add a bit of background to this, I want to reduce the need to add code to uppercase the data. The nirvana would be a single attribute, which updates the data on the way into the server, either in the model binding or validation stage. This attribute can then be referenced in the StringValidation attribute to amend the RegEx value used in its checks. I can also then lookup this attribute in a custom TextBoxFor helper method, such that I can add text-transform: uppercase so it looks correct on the client side.
Does anyone have any ideas out there?
I have managed to get this working, to a point, so here's my solution for others to appraise.
Once point to note was that the full solution couldn't be achieved because I couldn't get the Modelmetadata inside the StringValidation.IsValid() attribute. The particular issue I had here was that I could get the Metadata, however I could not get the PropertyName from it, only the DisplayName. There were multiple options out there, but the fact that some of my properties have the same DisplayName means that I couldn't be sure that the ProprtyName was the one I was actually validating.
Here's the code for the ValidationAttribute:
public class StringValidationAttribute : ValidationAttribute, IClientValidatable, IMetadataAware {
private bool _uppercase;
public StringValidationAttribute(bool uppercase = false) {
_uppercase = uppercase;
}
...
public void OnMetadataCreated(ModelMetadata metadata)
{
metadata.AdditionalValues["Uppercase"] = _uppercase;
}
}
I then created a new IModelBinder implementation:
public class StringBinder : IModelBinder
{
public object BindModel(ControllerContext controllerContext, ModelBindingContext bindingContext)
{
ValueProviderResult result = bindingContext.ValueProvider.GetValue(bindingContext.ModelName);
if (result == null)
return null;
if (bindingContext.ModelMetadata.AdditionalValues.ContainsKey("Uppercase")) {
if ((bool)bindingContext.ModelMetadata.AdditionalValues["Uppercase"]])
return result.AttemptedValue.ToUpper();
}
return result.AttemptedValue;
}
}
And registered that in myGlobal.asax file:
ModelBinders.Binders.Add(typeof(string), new StringBinder());
The code so far will cause any string input coming into MVC to be converted to Uppercase if it has StringValidationAttribute attached to it on the model, and where the uppercase indicator has been set.
Next, to achieve my desire of making the html forms be uppercase too, I implemented a new EditorTemplate named string.cshtml. In this view I added:
RouteValueDictionary htmlAttributes = new RouteValueDictionary();
if ((bool)ViewData.ModelMetadata.AdditionalValues["Uppercase"]) {
htmlAttributes.Add("class", "Uppercase");
}
#Html.TextBox("", Model, htmlAttributes)
With the CSS as;
.Uppercase {
text-transform: uppercase;
}
Hope this post helps some others out there.
For Web API purpose it is better to convert the incoming json to uppercase or lowercase.
public class ToUpperCase : JsonConverter
{
public override bool CanConvert(Type objectType)
{
return objectType == typeof(string);
}
public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, object existingValue, JsonSerializer serializer)
{
return reader.Value.ToString().ToUpper();
}
}
[Display(Name = "PNR NAME")]
[JsonConverter(typeof(Annotations.ToUpperCase))]
public string PNR { get; set; }
OR Globally;
protected void Application_Start()
{
AreaRegistration.RegisterAllAreas();
//.......... others
JsonMediaTypeFormatter jsonFormatter = GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Formatters.JsonFormatter;
JsonSerializerSettings jSettings = new Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializerSettings();
jSettings.Converters.Add(new UpperCaseStringConverter());
jsonFormatter.SerializerSettings = jSettings;
}
You're right, ValidationAttribute is not the right fit. It seems like doing this at the Model Binding stage would be a better idea. See this article for a detailed explanation of how to customize this behavior.
Based on the information provided there, I believe you should be able to create an attribute based on CustomModelBinderAttribute like this:
[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Property)]
public class UppercaseAttribute : CustomModelBinderAttribute
{
public override IModelBinder GetBinder()
{
return new UppercaseModelBinder();
}
private class UppercaseModelBinder : DefaultModelBinder
{
public override object BindModel(
ControllerContext controllerContext,
ModelBindingContext bindingContext)
{
var value = base.BindModel(controllerContext, bindingContext);
var strValue = value as string;
if (strValue == null)
return value;
return strValue.ToUpperInvariant();
}
}
}
I have not tested this. Let me know if it works or not.
NOTE:
I'm adding on to this post because until I discovered the approach I now use, I read this and tried all above unsuccessfully.
I generally use a two part process when dealing with forcing text data to be formatted as uppercase. 1. at the view and 2. at the controller
At the view layer so that the user knows data is going to be used in the uppercase form. This can be down through htmlAttributes used in the EditorFor HTML helper.
#HTML.EditorFor(model => model.Access_Code, new { htmlAttributes = new Style= "text-transform:uppercase"}})
Now this only forces the data seen and entered by the user to uppercase and not the data sent to the server. To do that requires some code in the associated method in the controller.
I add the ToUpper() method to the target attribute of the object being passed back to the contoller. Here is hypothetical example showing this.
public ActionResult verify(int? id)
{
var userData = db.user.Where (i=> i.userID == id).Single();
userData.Access_Code = userData.Access_Code.ToUpper();
...
}
I'm using Web API within ASP .NET MVC 4 RC, and I have a method that takes a complex object with nullable DateTime properties. I want the values of the input to be read from the query string, so I have something like this:
public class MyCriteria
{
public int? ID { get; set; }
public DateTime? Date { get; set; }
}
[HttpGet]
public IEnumerable<MyResult> Search([FromUri]MyCriteria criteria)
{
// Do stuff here.
}
This works well if I pass a standard date format in the query string such as 01/15/2012:
http://mysite/Search?ID=1&Date=01/15/2012
However, I want to specify a custom format for the DateTime (maybe MMddyyyy)... for example:
http://mysite/Search?ID=1&Date=01152012
Edit:
I've tried to apply a custom model binder, but I haven't had any luck applying it to only DateTime objects. The ModelBinderProvider I've tried looks something like this:
public class DateTimeModelBinderProvider : ModelBinderProvider
{
public override IModelBinder GetBinder(HttpActionContext actionContext, ModelBindingContext bindingContext)
{
if (bindingContext.ModelType == typeof(DateTime) || bindingContext.ModelType == typeof(DateTime?))
{
return new DateTimeModelBinder();
}
return null;
}
}
// In the Global.asax
GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Services.Add(typeof(ModelBinderProvider), new DateTimeModelBinderProvider());
The new model binder provider is created, but GetBinder is only called once (for the complex model parameter, but not for each property within the model). This makes sense, but I would like to find a way to make it to use my DateTimeModelBinder for DateTime properties, while using the default binding for non-DateTime properties. Is there a way to override the default ModelBinder and specify how each property is bound?
Thanks!!!
Consider setting your view-model's Date property to type string
Then either write a utility function to handle the mapping between the viewmodel type and the domain-model type:
public static MyCriteria MapMyCriteriaViewModelToDomain(MyCriteriaViewModel model){
var date = Convert.ToDateTime(model.Date.Substring(0,2) + "/" model.Date.Substring(2,2) + "/" model.Date.Substring(4,2));
return new MyCriteria
{
ID = model.ID,
Date = date
};
}
or use a tool like AutoMapper, like this:
in Global.asax
//if passed as MMDDYYYY:
Mapper.CreateMap<MyCriteriaViewModel, MyCriteria>().
.ForMember(
dest => dest.Date,
opt => opt.MapFrom(src => Convert.ToDateTime(src.Date.Substring(0,2) + "/" src.Date.Substring(2,2) + "/" src.Date.Substring(4,2)))
);
and in the controller:
public ActionResult MyAction(MyCriteriaViewModel model)
{
var myCriteria = Mapper.Map<MyCriteriaViewModel, MyCriteria>(model);
// etc.
}
From this example it might not seem that AutoMapper is providing any added value. It's value comes when you are configuring several or many mappings with objects that generally have more properties than this example. CreateMap will automatically map properties with the same name and type, so it saves lots of typing and it's much DRYer.
I'm working on my project in MVC 3 and searching for a way, which can add this functionality to all my Html.TextboxFor:
When user type "foo" and submit form, in controller level I get it by model as "fuu" for example.
I need this feature to replace some Unicode characters by some others.
Let I show my code in View and Controller:
View:
#Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.Title) // user will type "foo", in TitleTexbox!
Controller:
[HttpPost]
public virtual ActionResult Create(MyModel model)
{
var x = model.Title;
//I need variable x have 'fuu' instead of 'foo', replaceing "o" by "u"
//...
}
Should I write an override for Html.TextboxFor?
as i understood from your code , you expect from your model to be ready(processed) when it passed to your controller action.and for accomplishing this the only way is using model-binding.
but this approach is limited to particular type/class/model/viewmodel or whatever you name it.
you can create your own modelBinder as:
public class MyCustomModelBinder : DefaultModelBinder
{
public override object BindModel(ControllerContext controllerContext, ModelBindingContext bindingContext)
{
var request = controllerContext.HttpContext.Request;
var myModel= (MyModel ) base.BindModel(controllerContext, bindingContext) ?? new MyModel ();
myModel.Title.Replace('o','u');
return myModel;
}
}
and then you most register your Custom Model Binder in Global.asax
ModelBinders.Binders.Add(typeof(MyModel),new MyCustomModelBinder());
make change in your action like this:
[HttpPost]
public virtual ActionResult Create([ModelBinder(typeof(MyCustomModelBinder))] MyModel model)
{
var x = model.Title;
//here you will have the modified version of your model
//...
}
good luck.
I'm using code first and trying to do a simple query, on a List property to see if it contains a string in the filtering list. However I am running into problems. For simplicity assume the following.
public class Person
{
public List<string> FavoriteColors { get; set; }
}
//Now some code. Create and add to DbContext
var person = new Person{ FavoriteColors = new List<string>{ "Green", "Blue"} };
dbContext.Persons.Add(person);
myDataBaseContext.SaveChanges();
//Build
var filterBy = new List<string>{ "Purple", "Green" };
var matches = dbContext.Persons.AsQueryable();
matches = from p in matches
from color in p.FavoriteColors
where filterBy.Contains(color)
select p;
The option I am considering is transforming this to a json serialized string since I can perform a Contains call if FavoriteColors is a string. Alternatively, I can go overboard and create a "Color" entity but thats fairly heavy weight. Unfortunately enums are also not supported.
I think the problem is not the collection, but the reference to matches.
var matches = dbContext.Persons.AsQueryable();
matches = from p in matches
from color in p.FavoriteColors
where filterBy.Contains(color)
select p;
If you check out the Known Issues and Considerations for EF4 this is more or less exactly the case mentioned.
Referencing a non-scalar variables,
such as an entity, in a query is not
supported. When such a query executes,
a NotSupportedException exception is
thrown with a message that states
"Unable to create a constant value of
type EntityType.
Also note that it specifically says that referencing a collection of scalar variables is supported (that's new in EF 4 imo).
Having said that the following should work (can't try it out right now):
matches = from p in dbContext.Persons
from color in p.FavoriteColors
where filterBy.Contains(color)
select p;
I decided to experiment by creating a "StringEntity" class to overcome this limitation, and used implicit operators to make nice easy transformations to and from strings. See below for solution:
public class MyClass
{
[Key, DatabaseGenerated(DatabaseGenerationOption.Identity)]
public Guid Id { get; set; }
public List<StringEntity> Animals { get; set; }
public MyClass()
{
List<StringEntity> Animals = List<StringEntity>();
}
}
public class StringEntity
{
[Key, DatabaseGenerated(DatabaseGenerationOption.Identity)]
public Guid Id { get; set; }
public string Value { get; set; }
public StringEntity(string value) { Value = value; }
public static implicit operator string(StringEntity se) { return se.Value; }
public static implicit operator StringEntity(string value) { return new StringEntity(value); }
}
public class MyDbContext : DbContext
{
public DbSet<MyClass> MyClasses { get; set; }
protected override void OnModelCreating(ModelBuilder modelBuilder)
{
modelBuilder.Entity<MyClass>()
.HasMany(x => x.Animals)
.WithMany()
.Map(x =>
{
x.MapLeftKey(l => l.Id, "MyClassId");
x.MapRightKey(r => r.Id, "StringEntityId");
});
}
}
...Everything looked like it was working perfectly with some testing(Albeit heavy), and then I implemented for its original purpose, a Multiselect ListBox in an MVC3 view. For reasons unknown to me, IF the ListBox is assigned the same NAME as an Entity Collection Property, none of your selected items will be loaded.
To demonstrate the following did NOT work:
//Razor View Code
string[] animalOptions = new string[] {"Dog", "Cat", "Goat"};
string[] animalSelections = new string[] {"Dog", "Cat"};
Html.ListBox("Animals", Multiselect(animalOptions, animalSelections));
To get around this limitation, I needed to do four things:
//#1 Unpluralize the ListBox name so that is doesn't match the name Model.Animals
var animalOptions = new string[] {"Dog", "Cat", "Goat"};
#Html.ListBox("Animal", new MultiSelectList(animalOptions, Model.Animals.Select(x => x.Value)))
//#2 Use JQuery to replace the id and name attribute, so that binding can occur on the form post
<script type="text/javascript">
jQuery(function ($) {
$("select#Animal").attr("name", "Animals").attr("id", "Animals");
});
</script>
//#3 Create a model binder class to handle List<StringEntity> objects
public class StringEntityListBinder : IModelBinder
{
public object BindModel(ControllerContext controllerContext, ModelBindingContext bindingContext)
{
var stringArray = controllerContext.HttpContext.Request.Params.GetValues(bindingContext.ModelName);
return stringArray.Select(x => new StringEntity(x)).ToList();
}
}
//#4 Initialize the binder in your Global.asax setup.
ModelBinders.Binders.Add(typeof(List<StringEntity>), new StringEntityListBinder ());
Note, that the Listbox bug did NOT occur when the property was a List of strings, it just didn't like it when it was a List of entities.
What is the best practice for submitting forms in ASP.NET MVC? I have been doing code like this below, but I have a feeling there is a better way.
[AcceptVerbs(HttpVerbs.Post)]
public ActionResult AddNewLink(FormCollection collection_)
{
string url = collection_["url"].ToString();
string description = collection_["description"].ToString();
string tagsString = collection_["tags"].ToString();
string[] tags = tagsString.Replace(" ","").Split(',');
linkRepository.AddLink(url, description, tags);
You can use the parameters directly; the parameters will automatically get parsed and casted to its correct type. The parameter names in the method must match the parameter names that are posted from your form.
[AcceptVerbs(HttpVerbs.Post)]
public ActionResult AddNewLink(string url, string description, string tagsString)
{
string[] tags = tagsString.Replace(" ","").Split(',');
linkRepository.AddLink(url, description, tags);
}
This generally works on more complex objects as well, as long as its properties can be set, and as long as your form keys are in the format objectName.PropertyName. If you need anything more advanced, you should look into model binders.
public class MyObject
{
public int Id {get; set;}
public string Text {get; set;}
}
[AcceptVerbs(HttpVerbs.Post)]
public ActionResult AddNewLink(MyObject obj)
{
string[] tags = obj.Text.Replace(" ","").Split(',');
linkRepository.AddLink(url, description, tags);
}
In my opinion, the Model Binder is cleaner. You can learn more at OdeToCode.com
Basically, You wrap your input from a FormCollection to a desirable model as well as validation.
public class LinkModelBinder : IModelBinder
{
public object BindModel(ControllerContext controllerContext, ModelBindingContext bindingContext)
{
var link = new Link();
link.Url = GetValue<string>(bindingContext, "url");
// ... and so on for all properties
if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(url.Name))
{
bindingContext.ModelState.AddModelError("Url", "...");
}
return link;
}
private T GetValue<T>(ModelBindingContext bindingContext, string key)
{
ValueProviderResult valueResult;
bindingContext.ValueProvider.TryGetValue(key, out valueResult);
return (T)valueResult.ConvertTo(typeof(T));
}
}
In the controller
public ActionResult AddNewLink(Link link)