So, I put all this logic in my view, thinking it would be helpful to follow the DRY principle.
Basically, this replicates a paper form, and in my view model, I have pairs of properties named like XXXCondition and XXXComment which put together form an InspectionDetail in my actual model.
<table>
<% string secname ="";
foreach (PropertyInfo p in typeof(InspectionFormModel).GetProperties()) {
object[] sec = p.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(InspectionSection), false);
object[] name = p.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DisplayNameAttribute), false);
string propname = p.Name;
/* Display a row for all view model properties having InspectionSection Attribute */
if ( sec.Length > 0) {
/* New Subheading */
if (((InspectionSection)sec[0]).Section.ToString() != secname) {
secname = ((InspectionSection)sec[0]).Section.ToString();
var secdesc = typeof(InspectionDetail.DetailTypes).GetMember(secname)[0].GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DescriptionAttribute), false);
string ssecdesc = (secdesc.Length == 0) ? secname : ((DescriptionAttribute)secdesc[0]).Description;
%> <tr><th><%= ssecdesc %></th><th>Condition</th><th>Remarks</th></tr><%
}
/* Use DisplayName attribute for item instead of property name if specified */
if (name.Length > 0)
{
propname = ((DisplayNameAttribute)name[0]).DisplayName;
}%>
<tr>
<td><label for="<%= p.Name %>"><%= propname %></label></td>
<td><%= Html.DropDownList(p.Name, (IEnumerable<SelectListItem>)ViewData["ItemConditions"]) %></td>
<td><%= Html.TextBox(p.Name.Replace("Condition", "Comment"), null, new {Class ="comment"}) %></td>
</tr>
<% } } %>
</table>
All this code in the view seems like a definite anti-pattern. Would there be a better place to hide this? Or is it foolish to rely on the order properties are defined in a view model at all?
Have you looked at things like MVC templates: http://bradwilson.typepad.com/blog/2009/10/aspnet-mvc-2-templates-part-1-introduction.html?
You should probably also create a custom view model and initialize it in your controller/action method from the various attributes etc.