Question

When I pass a model to my View in a form, the fields are pre-populated with default values, especially if the model property is an int data type, is there anyway to prevent this?

For example:

Model:

public class MyModel {
    [Key]
    public int MyKey { get; set; }
    public int MyInt { get; set; }
    public string MyString { get; set; }
}

Controller:

public class MyController : Controller {
    public ActionResult MyAction(int id) {
        return View(context.MyModel.Single(x=>x.MyKey == id));
    }
}

View:

@model MyNamespace.MyModel

@using(Html.BeginForm())
{
    @Html.HiddenFor(x=>x.MyKey)
    @Html.EditorFor(x=>x.MyInt)
    @Html.EditorFor(x=>x.MyString)
    <input type="submit" value="Submit />
}

In the view, the input field for MyInt will be pre-populated with 0 whereas the MyString input will be empty. I want MyInt to be empty too.

Edit:

To clarify, I just wish for the input field to be empty when the page loads and not contain its default value of 0

Answer 1

Use int? instead of int whitch allows you to keep empty values in the inputs.

P.S. Here is related question but with DateTime type: Setting default values for a Model in MVC3