Question

Hey all
I am attempting to learn MVC 2 and ASP etc through the MVC Music Store. At the same time I am attempting to conform what it is doing to a solution I am developing at work. The overall structure is an IT Help Desk ticket system and I am working on the very broad admin functions of creating, editing, and deleting tickets. I have followed the tutorial very closely but have hit a brick wall, when attempting to use values that should be getting posted to controller methods, and theyre not getting there.

For the create section my create.aspx looks like

<h2>Create</h2>
<% Html.EnableClientValidation(); %>
<% using (Html.BeginForm()) {%>
    <%: Html.ValidationSummary(true) %>

    <fieldset>
        <legend>Create New Request</legend>
        <%: Html.EditorFor(model => model.request,
               new {Softwares = Model.SoftwareName, Systems = Model.SystemIDNo}) %>

        <p>
            <input type="submit" value="Create" />
        </p>
    </fieldset>

<% } %>

<div>
    <%: Html.ActionLink("Back to List", "Index") %>
</div>

the partial view its calling is workRequest.ascx

<p> 
    <%= Html.LabelFor(model => model.Medium)%> 
    <%= Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.Medium)%>
    <%= Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Medium)%> 
</p> 
<p> 
    <%= Html.LabelFor(model => model.Summary)%> 
    <%= Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.Summary)%> 
    <%= Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Summary)%> 
</p> 
<p> 
    <%= Html.LabelFor(model => model.Details)%> 
    <%= Html.TextAreaFor(model => model.Details)%> 
    <%= Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Details)%> 
</p>
<p> 
    <%= Html.LabelFor(model => model.WorkHalted)%> 
    <%= Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.WorkHalted)%>  
    <%= Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.WorkHalted)%> 
</p>
<p> 
    <%= Html.LabelFor(model => model.Frequency)%> 
    <%= Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.Frequency)%>
    <%= Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Frequency)%> 
</p>
<p> 
    <%= Html.LabelFor(model => model.StartDate)%> 
    <%= Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.StartDate, String.Format("{0:g}", Model.StartDate))%> 
    <%= Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.StartDate)%> 
</p>
<p>
    <%= Html.LabelFor(model => model.SoftwareID) %>
    <%= Html.DropDownList("SoftwareID", new SelectList(ViewData["Softwares"] as IEnumerable, Model.SoftwareID)) %>
</p>
<p>
    <%= Html.LabelFor(model => model.SystemID) %>
    <%= Html.DropDownList("SystemID", new SelectList(ViewData["Systems"] as IEnumerable, Model.SystemID)) %>
</p>

and the post create controller looks like

[HttpPost]
    public ActionResult Create(WorkRequest newRequest)
    {
        try
        {
            storeDB.AddToWorkRequests(newRequest);
            storeDB.SaveChanges();

            return RedirectToAction("Index");
        }
        catch
        {
            return View();
        }

    }

I put a break point in the try and checked the values coming into newRequest and everything in newRequest is null, like nothing is getting passed.

A similar situation occurs on the edit side of things as well, nothing is getting sent from the partial view to the controller at all.

Anyways I am sure its something fairly simple, I am new to MVC, ASP, C#, pretty much all of it. I dont normally ask other people for much, but I have been looking at this problem for quite some time and could use some fresh eyes on this one.

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Try using the same view model type as parameter that you used to render the view and to which it is strongly typed:

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Create(ViewModelUsedToStronglyTypeTheView model)
{
    //model.request should be properly bound here
    try
    {
        storeDB.AddToWorkRequests(model.request);
        storeDB.SaveChanges();
        return RedirectToAction("Index");
    }
    catch
    {
        return View(model);
    }
}

Or using a prefix:

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Create([Bind(Prefix = "request")] WorkRequest newRequest)
{
    //model.request should be properly bound here
    try
    {
        storeDB.AddToWorkRequests(newRequest);
        storeDB.SaveChanges();
        return RedirectToAction("Index");
    }
    catch
    {
        return View();
    }
}