I have an MVC3 project I’m working on that has a View with an associated strongly typed view model. I’ve been tasked with adding an optional section to this view that would contain the data for a second model, about half of which is shared with the first model.
My question is, what is the best way to implement this? Should I just add the object that the optional model represents to the view model and try to map values from there?
If I do it this way, how can I associate the editors with both models?
Adding the optional model to the view model is the best choice, because, unlike ViewBag, it’s type safe and you can still leverage the html helpers. Just remember to check the second model for null reference before you render it (since it’s optional).
For sharing properties, your view model can have special getters/setters that would mantain both models synchronized internally.