How to disable validation before calling UpdateModel in MVC3 Controller

Question

I'm looking to enable "saving" of form data prior to submission.

I want users to be able to save form progress, even when the form is in an invalid state, and then come back to it at a later time.

Now, my only problem is that I want to be able to use UpdateModel method to update my model. However, as the form is potentially invalid or just partially complete, this will throw an error.

Is there a way to annotate the following method such that validation is ignored in the SAVE instance?

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Save(Model values)
{
var model = new Model();
UpdateModel(model);
}

I want to save having to write a 1-1 mapping for the elements being saved - which is my fallback option, but isn't very maintainable.

dazbradbury · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-05 23:53:08Z

1

Give TryUpdateModel(model) a try, should fit your needs.

This won't throw an exception, and it will update the model and then return false if there are validation errors.

If you care about the errors, you check the ModelState in the false instance.

Hence, you can use it as so to always save changes:

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Save(Model values)
{
var model = new Model();
TryUpdateModel(model);

model.saveChanges();

}

edited Apr 5, 2012 at 23:53

dazbradbury

5,7595 gold badges37 silver badges40 bronze badges

answered Apr 5, 2012 at 18:05

Adam Tuliper

30.2k4 gold badges56 silver badges71 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

3 Comments

dazbradbury Over a year ago

Thanks! Initially I thought TryUpdateModel(model) just returned false and did nothing. HOWEVER, it does still update the model. That was the part I was missing. Essentially, I want to suppress any validation errors, and now I can do that by just ignoring the return value from TryUpdateModel. Perfect!

Erik Funkenbusch Over a year ago

Be aware, if you have client-side validation enabled, then you won't be able to submit the form. You could, however, disable the validation prior to submitting in a "Save" button.

dazbradbury Over a year ago

@MystereMan - That's what I've already implemented. I simply do a form submission via ajax, and I can provide some visual feedback based on the response. This makes sure to ignore client-side validation, and allows saving of the form extremely simply. Validation will occur before any of the data is actually used, and any attempts at injection can be tested against.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How to disable validation before calling UpdateModel in MVC3 Controller

1 Answer 1

3 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

3 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related