Question

I have an MVC 3 project, that I am starting, using c# and Razor. I have a page, that has about 20 input fields that will be used. I create my ViewModel to pass the data to the View to create the page. I am confused as to, how I get the values of the fields, when the user submits the form.

Does my Controller have to have a parameter for every input field on my page? Is there any way to have the Controller get all the data on the page and then I can parse through it? The parameter list would be huge.

Answer 1

You can just use the same model that you passed to your view as the parameter in your subsequent action.

An example:

//This is your initial HTTP GET request.
public ActionResult SomeAction() {
    MyViewModel model;

    model = new MyViewModel();
    //Populate the good stuff here.

    return View(model);
}

//Here is your HTTP POST request; notice both actions use the same model.
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult SomeAction(MyViewModel model) {
    //Do something with the data in the model object.
}

The model object in the second method will automatically be populated from the data included in the HTTP request (the technical name is “Model Binding”).