Question

In the past, when writing my code, I always assumed that the model should just consist of a bunch of auto properties populated by the controller. But I recently came across code like this and want to know if it’s valid for MVC:

public class SomeModel
{

    public BusinessInfo BusinessInfo { get; set; }
    public IList<BusinessService> BusinessServices { get; set; }
    public IList<BusinessHour> BusinessHours { get; set; }


    public BusinessService GetBusinessServiceByServiceId(int serviceId)
    {
        return BusinessServices.FirstOrDefault(businessService =>
                        businessService.Service.ServiceId == serviceId);
    }
} 

Is having a method like GetBusinessServiceByServiceId legitimate in this case?

EDIT:
This model is used as a strongly typed model for an ASP.NET MVC page, so it essentially acts like a ViewModel

Answer 1

I’d say no. If a ViewModel requires a BusinessService object it should be given it by the Controller; finding a BusinessService object by its id is the job of a Repository class, which a ViewModel is not. Also, in the example given, BusinessServices should be injected into the Controller in its constructor and accessed via in an interface rather than statically; the code example you’ve got there would be pretty difficult to test.

I personally use ViewModels as data holders containing model data and properties indicating if a View should display certain elements.