MVC is very clear on how data is sent to the browser. You go to a URL, it runs code to create a model, passes that typed model into a view, which then renders HTML based on the state of the model.
What I’m not finding so clear however is when a user submits a form on the page, how does MVC map that form post back to the model for use in the controller?
I’m guessing the magic happens somewhere in:
@Html.EditorFor(model => model.Title)
But I’m not understanding why….
I’m following Getting started with ASP.NET MVC 3. Which is where the code below is from for easy reference.
Controller:
public ActionResult Edit(int id)
{
Movie movie = db.Movies.Find(id);
return View(movie);
}
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Edit(Movie movie)
{
if (ModelState.IsValid)
{
db.Entry(movie).State = EntityState.Modified;
db.SaveChanges();
return RedirectToAction("Index");
}
return View(movie);
}
View:
@model MvcMovie.Models.Movie
@{
ViewBag.Title = "Edit";
}
<h2>Edit</h2>
<script src="@Url.Content("~/Scripts/jquery.validate.min.js")" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="@Url.Content("~/Scripts/jquery.validate.unobtrusive.min.js")" type="text/javascript"></script>
@using (Html.BeginForm()) {
@Html.ValidationSummary(true)
<fieldset>
<legend>Movie</legend>
@Html.HiddenFor(model => model.ID)
<div class="editor-label">
@Html.LabelFor(model => model.Title)
</div>
<div class="editor-field">
@Html.EditorFor(model => model.Title)
@Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Title)
</div>
<div class="editor-label">
@Html.LabelFor(model => model.ReleaseDate)
</div>
<div class="editor-field">
@Html.EditorFor(model => model.ReleaseDate)
@Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.ReleaseDate)
</div>
<div class="editor-label">
@Html.LabelFor(model => model.Genre)
</div>
<div class="editor-field">
@Html.EditorFor(model => model.Genre)
@Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Genre)
</div>
<div class="editor-label">
@Html.LabelFor(model => model.Price)
</div>
<div class="editor-field">
@Html.EditorFor(model => model.Price)
@Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Price)
</div>
<p>
<input type="submit" value="Save" />
</p>
</fieldset>
}
<div>
@Html.ActionLink("Back to List", "Index")
</div>
Which generates:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8" />
<title>Edit</title>
<link href="/Content/Site.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
<script src="/Scripts/jquery-1.5.1.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="/Scripts/modernizr-1.7.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<body>
<div class="page">
<header>
<div id="title">
<h1>MVC Movie App</h1>
</div>
...
</header>
<section id="main">
<h2>Edit</h2>
<script src="/Scripts/jquery.validate.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="/Scripts/jquery.validate.unobtrusive.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<form action="/Movies/Edit/4" method="post"> <fieldset>
<legend>Movie</legend>
<input data-val="true" data-val-number="The field ID must be a number."
data-val-required="The ID field is required." id="ID" name="ID" type="hidden" value="4" />
<div class="editor-label">
<label for="Title">Title</label>
</div>
<div class="editor-field">
<input class="text-box single-line" id="Title" name="Title" type="text" value="Rio Bravo" />
<span class="field-validation-valid" data-valmsg-for="Title" data-valmsg-replace="true"></span>
</div>
<div class="editor-label">
<label for="ReleaseDate">ReleaseDate</label>
</div>
<div class="editor-field">
<input class="text-box single-line" data-val="true" data-val-required="The ReleaseDate field is required."
id="ReleaseDate" name="ReleaseDate" type="text" value="4/15/1959 12:00:00 AM" />
<span class="field-validation-valid" data-valmsg-for="ReleaseDate" data-valmsg-replace="true"></span>
</div>
<div class="editor-label">
<label for="Genre">Genre</label>
</div>
<div class="editor-field">
<input class="text-box single-line" id="Genre" name="Genre" type="text" value="Western" />
<span class="field-validation-valid" data-valmsg-for="Genre" data-valmsg-replace="true"></span>
</div>
<div class="editor-label">
<label for="Price">Price</label>
</div>
<div class="editor-field">
<input class="text-box single-line" data-val="true" data-val-number="The field Price must be a number."
data-val-required="The Price field is required." id="Price" name="Price" type="text" value="9.99" />
<span class="field-validation-valid" data-valmsg-for="Price" data-valmsg-replace="true"></span>
</div>
<p>
<input type="submit" value="Save" />
</p>
</fieldset>
</form>
<div>
<a href="/Movies">Back to List</a>
</div>
</section>
<footer>
</footer>
</div>
</body>
</html>
MVC just matches the public properties of a model against values in the FormsCollection object of the same name. If there is a match of name and type, then an instance of the model is created and the values copied into those properties.
This process is called Model Binding, and you can create custom Model Binders.
The process has little to do with EditorFor directly, although EditorFor uses templates that make sure to name the form inputs in a manner that the model binder can understand.