I have a basic ViewModel with a property that is a List of complex types. When binding, I seem to be stuck with getting either the list of values, OR the other model properties depending on the posted values (i.e. the view arrangement).
The view model:
public class MyViewModel
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Property1 { get; set; }
public string Property2 { get; set; }
public List<MyDataItem> Data { get; set; }
}
public class MyDataItem
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public int ParentId { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Value { get; set; }
}
The controller actions:
public ActionResult MyForm()
{
MyViewModel model = new MyViewModel();
model.Id = 1;
model.Data = new List<MyDataItem>()
{
new MyDataItem{ Id = 1, ParentId = 1, Name = "MyListItem1", Value = "SomeValue"}
};
return View(model);
}
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult MyForm(MyViewModel model)
{
//...
return View(model);
}
Here is the basic view (without the list mark-up)
@using (Html.BeginForm()) {
@Html.ValidationSummary(true)
<fieldset>
<legend>My View Model</legend>
@Html.HiddenFor(model => model.Id)
<div class="editor-label">
@Html.LabelFor(model => model.Property1)
</div>
<div class="editor-field">
@Html.EditorFor(model => model.Property1)
@Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Property1)
</div>
<div class="editor-label">
@Html.LabelFor(model => model.Property2)
</div>
<div class="editor-field">
@Html.EditorFor(model => model.Property2)
@Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Property2)
</div>
<p>
<input type="submit" value="Save" />
</p>
</fieldset>
}
When posted back to the controller, I get the 2 property values and a null value for the 'Data' property as expected.
If I add the mark-up for the List as follows (based on the information in this Scott Hanselman post and Phil Haack's post):
<div class="editor-field">
@for (int i = 0; i < Model.Data.Count(); i++)
{
MyDataItem data = Model.Data[i];
@Html.Hidden("model.Data[" + i + "].Id", data.Id)
@Html.Hidden("model.Data[" + i + "].ParentId", data.ParentId)
@Html.Hidden("model.Data[" + i + "].Name", data.Name)
@Html.TextBox("model.Data[" + i + "].Value", data.Value)
}
</div>
The 'Data' property of the model is successfully bound but the other properties are null.
The form values posted are as follows:
Id=1&Property1=test1&Property2=test2&model.Data%5B0%5D.Id=1&model.Data%5B0%5D.ParentId=1&model.Data%5B0%5D.Name=MyListItem1&model.Data%5B0%5D.Value=SomeValue
Is there a way to get both sets of properties populated or am I just missing something obvious?
EDIT:
For those of you who are curious. Based on the answer from MartinHN, the original generated mark-up was:
<div class="editor-field">
<input id="model_Data_0__Id" name="model.Data[0].Id" type="hidden" value="1" />
<input id="model_Data_0__ParentId" name="model.Data[0].ParentId" type="hidden" value="1" />
<input id="model_Data_0__Name" name="model.Data[0].Name" type="hidden" value="MyListItem1" />
<input id="model_Data_0__Value" name="model.Data[0].Value" type="text" value="SomeValue" />
</div>
The new generated mark-up is:
<div class="editor-field">
<input id="Data_0__Id" data-val="true" name="Data[0].Id" type="hidden" value="1" data-val-number="The field Id must be a number." data-val-required="The Id field is required." />
<input id="Data_0__ParentId" name="Data[0].ParentId" type="hidden" value="1" data-val="true" data-val-number="The field ParentId must be a number." data-val-required="The ParentId field is required." />
<input id="Data_0__Name" name="Data[0].Name" type="hidden" value="MyListItem1" />
<input id="Data_0__Value" name="Data[0].Value" type="text" value="SomeValue" />
</div>
Which results in the following posted values:
Id=1&Property1=test1&Property2=test2&Data%5B0%5D.Id=1&Data%5B0%5D.ParentId=1&Data%5B0%5D.Name=MyListItem1&Data%5B0%5D.Value=SomeValue
Notice there's no 'model.' in the name and posted values...