How do I return List or Collection to Controller from View in MVC 3?

Question

Someone please help me return this list properly from my view. I don't see why I'm returning null for my fieldModelList I try to pass to the controller...

Here is my view:

@model List<Regions.SOA.UI.CopyBookSchemaCreator.Models.FieldModel>

<script type="text/javascript" src="~/Scripts/jquery-ui-1.8.11.min.js"></script>

@using (Html.BeginForm("GetResponse", "TestMethods", FormMethod.Post))
{

<table id="tblMethods">
    <tr>
        <th>
            Property Name
        </th>
        <th>
            Request
        </th>
    </tr>

    @foreach (FieldModel fieldModel in Model) 
    {
        <tr>
            <td>
                @Html.DisplayFor(m => fieldModel.PropertyName)
            </td>
            <td>
                @Html.TextBoxFor(m => fieldModel.PropertyValue)
            </td>
        </tr>
    }

</table>

<div>
    <input type="submit"/>       
</div>

and here is my controller:

    [HttpPost]
    public ActionResult GetResponse(List<FieldModel> fieldModelList)
    {
        return GetResponse(fieldModelList);   
    }

I am hitting the HttpPost method but if I place a breakpoint just inside it, I am returning null for the fieldModelList right off the bat, which I was hoping would be a list of the values I entered into the texboxes on the view that is of model FieldModel...

I think something is wrong with my logic versus my syntax, or as maybe as well as my syntax, but basically what I want to do is return back a list of type FieldModel with each corresponding PropertyName and PropertyValue to the controller. I noticed I am not passing any kind of id parameter in my BeginForm statement in the view. Do I need one here?

Just in case, here is my model class for FieldModel:

namespace Regions.SOA.UI.CopyBookSchemaCreator.Models
{
    public class FieldModel
    {
        [Display(Name = "Property")]
        public string PropertyName { get; set; }

    [Display(Name = "Value")]
        public string PropertyValue { get; set; }
    }
}

David Fox · Accepted Answer · 2012-02-09 22:07:26Z

5

Phil Haack wrote an article some time ago explaining how to bind collections (ICollection) to view models. It goes into additional detail about creating an editor template, which you could certainly do as well.

Basically, you need to prefix the HTML elements' name attributes with an index.

<input type="text" name="[0].PropertyName" value="Curious George" />
<input type="text" name="[0].PropertyValue" value="H.A. Rey" />

<input type="text" name="[1].PropertyName" value="Ender's Game" />
<input type="text" name="[1].PropertyValue" value="Orson Scott Card" />

Then, your controller could bind the collection of FieldModel

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult GetResponse(List<FieldModel> fieldModelList)
{
    return GetResponse(fieldModelList);   
}

I'm not 100% sure the following would name the attributes correctly (I'd recommend using the editor template) but you could easily use the htmlAttributes argument and give it a name using the index.

@for(int i = 0;i < Model.Count;i++) 
{
    <tr>
        <td>
            @Html.DisplayFor(m => m[i].PropertyName)
        </td>
        <td>
            @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m[i].PropertyValue)
        </td>
    </tr>
}

Editor Template

If you wanted to go as far as adding an editor template, add a partial view named FieldModel.ascx to /Views/Shared that is strongly typed to a FieldModel

@model Regions.SOA.UI.CopyBookSchemaCreator.Models.FieldModel

@Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.PropertyName) @* This might be a label? *@
@Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.PropertyValue)

And, then the part of your view responsible for rendering the collection would look like:

@for (int i = 0; i < Model.Count; i++) { 
    @Html.EditorFor(m => m[i]);
}

edited Feb 9, 2012 at 22:07

answered Feb 9, 2012 at 21:14

David Fox

10.8k9 gold badges53 silver badges80 bronze badges

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

4 Comments

ob1Jakobi Over a year ago

Thanks, but since this is dynamic due to the following code:

@foreach (FieldModel fieldModel in Model)      {         <tr>             <td>                 @Html.DisplayFor(m => fieldModel.PropertyName)             </td>             <td>                 @Html.TextBoxFor(m => fieldModel.PropertyValue)             </td>         </tr>     }

<br/> How can I do this dynamically? I guess I could use a i=0 counter in my for loop instead of looping through the fieldModels? Probably obvious but I'm not seeing how to do that at the moment...

David Fox Over a year ago

I've already pointed out how to do that using an editor template in my edit. Even if you don't want to use the editor template, you can still "do it dynamically" the way I've shown: by using a counter. Just splice in the HTML where you need it.

ob1Jakobi Over a year ago

sorry, I was trying to format my response so you could read it better and didn't know you had replied yet. That works great, thank you!

Nope Over a year ago

Seems you got it working just as I posted my results.. :) Glad you got it sorted.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How do I return List or Collection to Controller from View in MVC 3?

1 Answer 1

Editor Template

4 Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

Editor Template

4 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related