ASP.NET MVC partial views: input name prefixes

Question

Suppose I have ViewModel like

public class AnotherViewModel
{
   public string Name { get; set; }
}
public class MyViewModel
{
   public string Name { get; set; }
   public AnotherViewModel Child { get; set; }
   public AnotherViewModel Child2 { get; set; }
}

In the view I can render a partial with

<% Html.RenderPartial("AnotherViewModelControl", Model.Child) %>

In the partial I'll do

<%= Html.TextBox("Name", Model.Name) %>
or
<%= Html.TextBoxFor(x => x.Name) %>

However, the problem is that both will render name="Name" while I need to have name="Child.Name" in order for model binder to work properly. Or, name="Child2.Name" when I render the second property using the same partial view.

How do I make my partial view automatically recognize the required prefix? I can pass it as a parameter but this is too inconvenient. This is even worse when I want for example to render it recursively. Is there a way to render partial views with a prefix, or, even better, with automatic reconition of the calling lambda expression so that

<% Html.RenderPartial("AnotherViewModelControl", Model.Child) %>

will automatically add correct "Child." prefix to the generated name/id strings?

I can accept any solution, including 3-rd party view engines and libraries - I actually use Spark View Engine (I "solve" the problem using its macros) and MvcContrib, but did not find a solution there. XForms, InputBuilder, MVC v2 - any tool/insight that provide this functionality will be great.

Currently I think about coding this myself but it seems like a waste of time, I can't believe this trivial stuff is not implemented already.

A lot of manual solutions may exists, and all of them are welcome. For example, I can force my partials to be based off IPartialViewModel<T> { public string Prefix; T Model; }. But I'd rather prefer some existing/approved solution.

UPDATE: there's a similar question with no answer here.

Answer 1

You could add a helper for the RenderPartial which takes the prefix and pops it in the ViewData.

    public static void RenderPartial(this HtmlHelper helper,string partialViewName, object model, string prefix)
    {
        helper.ViewData["__prefix"] = prefix;
        helper.RenderPartial(partialViewName, model);
    }

Then a further helper which concatenates the ViewData value

    public static void GetName(this HtmlHelper helper, string name)
    {
        return string.Concat(helper.ViewData["__prefix"], name);
    }

and so in the view ...

<% Html.RenderPartial("AnotherViewModelControl", Model.Child, "Child.") %>

in the partial ...

<%= Html.TextBox(Html.GetName("Name"), Model.Name) %>

Answer 2

so far, i was searching for the same thing I have found this recent post:

http://davybrion.com/blog/2011/01/prefixing-input-elements-of-partial-views-with-asp-net-mvc/

<% Html.RenderPartial("AnotherViewModelControl", Model.Child, new ViewDataDictionary
{
    TemplateInfo = new System.Web.Mvc.TemplateInfo { HtmlFieldPrefix = "Child1" }
})
%>

Answer 3

PartailFor for asp.net Core 2 in case someone needs it.

    public static ModelExplorer GetModelExplorer<TModel, TResult>(this IHtmlHelper<TModel> htmlHelper, Expression<Func<TModel, TResult>> expression)
    {
        if (expression == null)
            throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(expression));
        return ExpressionMetadataProvider.FromLambdaExpression(expression, htmlHelper.ViewData, htmlHelper.MetadataProvider);
    }

    public static IHtmlContent PartialFor<TModel, TResult>(this IHtmlHelper<TModel> helper, Expression<Func<TModel, TResult>> expression, string partialViewName, string prefix = "")
    {
        var modelExplorer = helper.GetModelExplorer(expression);
        var viewData = new ViewDataDictionary(helper.ViewData);
        viewData.TemplateInfo.HtmlFieldPrefix += prefix;
        return helper.Partial(partialViewName, modelExplorer.Model, viewData);
    }

Answer 4

My answer, based on the answer of Mahmoud Moravej including the comment of Ivan Zlatev.

    public static MvcHtmlString PartialFor<TModel, TProperty>(this HtmlHelper<TModel> helper, System.Linq.Expressions.Expression<Func<TModel, TProperty>> expression, string partialViewName)
    {
            string name = ExpressionHelper.GetExpressionText(expression);
            object model = ModelMetadata.FromLambdaExpression(expression, helper.ViewData).Model;
            StringBuilder htmlFieldPrefix = new StringBuilder();
            if (helper.ViewData.TemplateInfo.HtmlFieldPrefix != "")
            {
                htmlFieldPrefix.Append(helper.ViewData.TemplateInfo.HtmlFieldPrefix);
                htmlFieldPrefix.Append(name == "" ? "" : "." + name);
            }
            else
                htmlFieldPrefix.Append(name);

            var viewData = new ViewDataDictionary(helper.ViewData)
            {
                TemplateInfo = new System.Web.Mvc.TemplateInfo
                {
                    HtmlFieldPrefix = htmlFieldPrefix.ToString()
                }
            };

        return helper.Partial(partialViewName, model, viewData);
    }

Edit: The Mohamoud's answer is incorrect for nested partial rendering. You need to append the new prefix to the old prefix, only if it is necessary. This was not clear in the latest answers (:

Answer 5

I came across this issue also and after much pain i found it was easier to redesign my interfaces such that i didn't need to post back nested model objects. This forced me to change my interface workflows: sure i now require the user to do in two steps what i dreamed of doing on one, but the usability and code maintainability of the new approach is of greater value to me now.

Hope this helps some.

Answer 6

This is an old question, but for anyone arriving here looking for a solution, consider using EditorFor, as suggested in a comment in https://stackoverflow.com/a/29809907/456456. To move from a partial view to an editor template, follow these steps.

1. Verify that your partial view is bound to ComplexType.

2. Move your partial view to a subfolder EditorTemplates of the current view folder, or to the folder Shared. Now, it is an editor template.

3. Change @Html.Partial("_PartialViewName", Model.ComplexType) to @Html.EditorFor(m => m.ComplexType, "_EditorTemplateName"). The editor template is optional if it's the only template for the complex type.

Html Input elements will automatically be named ComplexType.Fieldname.