MVC is very clear on how data is sent to the browser. You go to a URL, it runs code to create a model, passes that typed model into a view, which then renders HTML based on the state of the model.
What I'm not finding so clear however is when a user submits a form on the page, how does MVC map that form post back to the model for use in the controller?
I'm guessing the magic happens somewhere in:
@Html.EditorFor(model => model.Title)
But I'm not understanding why....
I'm following Getting started with ASP.NET MVC 3. Which is where the code below is from for easy reference.
Controller:
public ActionResult Edit(int id)
{
Movie movie = db.Movies.Find(id);
return View(movie);
}
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Edit(Movie movie)
{
if (ModelState.IsValid)
{
db.Entry(movie).State = EntityState.Modified;
db.SaveChanges();
return RedirectToAction("Index");
}
return View(movie);
}
View:
@model MvcMovie.Models.Movie
@{
ViewBag.Title = "Edit";
}
<h2>Edit</h2>
<script src="@Url.Content("~/Scripts/jquery.validate.min.js")" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="@Url.Content("~/Scripts/jquery.validate.unobtrusive.min.js")" type="text/javascript"></script>
@using (Html.BeginForm()) {
@Html.ValidationSummary(true)
<fieldset>
<legend>Movie</legend>
@Html.HiddenFor(model => model.ID)
<div class="editor-label">
@Html.LabelFor(model => model.Title)
</div>
<div class="editor-field">
@Html.EditorFor(model => model.Title)
@Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Title)
</div>
<div class="editor-label">
@Html.LabelFor(model => model.ReleaseDate)
</div>
<div class="editor-field">
@Html.EditorFor(model => model.ReleaseDate)
@Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.ReleaseDate)
</div>
<div class="editor-label">
@Html.LabelFor(model => model.Genre)
</div>
<div class="editor-field">
@Html.EditorFor(model => model.Genre)
@Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Genre)
</div>
<div class="editor-label">
@Html.LabelFor(model => model.Price)
</div>
<div class="editor-field">
@Html.EditorFor(model => model.Price)
@Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Price)
</div>
<p>
<input type="submit" value="Save" />
</p>
</fieldset>
}
<div>
@Html.ActionLink("Back to List", "Index")
</div>
Which generates:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8" />
<title>Edit</title>
<link href="/Content/Site.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
<script src="/Scripts/jquery-1.5.1.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="/Scripts/modernizr-1.7.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<body>
<div class="page">
<header>
<div id="title">
<h1>MVC Movie App</h1>
</div>
...
</header>
<section id="main">
<h2>Edit</h2>
<script src="/Scripts/jquery.validate.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="/Scripts/jquery.validate.unobtrusive.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<form action="/Movies/Edit/4" method="post"> <fieldset>
<legend>Movie</legend>
<input data-val="true" data-val-number="The field ID must be a number."
data-val-required="The ID field is required." id="ID" name="ID" type="hidden" value="4" />
<div class="editor-label">
<label for="Title">Title</label>
</div>
<div class="editor-field">
<input class="text-box single-line" id="Title" name="Title" type="text" value="Rio Bravo" />
<span class="field-validation-valid" data-valmsg-for="Title" data-valmsg-replace="true"></span>
</div>
<div class="editor-label">
<label for="ReleaseDate">ReleaseDate</label>
</div>
<div class="editor-field">
<input class="text-box single-line" data-val="true" data-val-required="The ReleaseDate field is required."
id="ReleaseDate" name="ReleaseDate" type="text" value="4/15/1959 12:00:00 AM" />
<span class="field-validation-valid" data-valmsg-for="ReleaseDate" data-valmsg-replace="true"></span>
</div>
<div class="editor-label">
<label for="Genre">Genre</label>
</div>
<div class="editor-field">
<input class="text-box single-line" id="Genre" name="Genre" type="text" value="Western" />
<span class="field-validation-valid" data-valmsg-for="Genre" data-valmsg-replace="true"></span>
</div>
<div class="editor-label">
<label for="Price">Price</label>
</div>
<div class="editor-field">
<input class="text-box single-line" data-val="true" data-val-number="The field Price must be a number."
data-val-required="The Price field is required." id="Price" name="Price" type="text" value="9.99" />
<span class="field-validation-valid" data-valmsg-for="Price" data-valmsg-replace="true"></span>
</div>
<p>
<input type="submit" value="Save" />
</p>
</fieldset>
</form>
<div>
<a href="/Movies">Back to List</a>
</div>
</section>
<footer>
</footer>
</div>
</body>
</html>