Using Razor to return strings in array

Question

I am taking an string[] from my Model and it has about 25ish strings in it at any given time.

@model PostProcessPartSelectionViewModel

@{
    var i = 0;
    foreach (var part in Model.PartsAllowedAsSeed)
    {
        <input type="checkbox" id="[@i]" name="PartsAllowedAsSeed" value="@part" />
        <span>@part</span>
        <br />
        i++;
    }
}

I set up a @foreach loop in Razor to display a checkbox and label for each string, but when I debug, @part renders to System.Object[]. There are 25 checkboxes with 25 "System.Object[]" labels.

Eventually, I'm going to want to return any checked strings back to the model, but right now I just want to know how I can get Razor to render the actual string value.

The value of the items found in the PartsAllowedAsSeed property is an array of objects, so "System.Object[]" is the actual string value. What are you trying to do with the objects found in those arrays? — StriplingWarrior
– StriplingWarrior, Commented Jul 28, 2014 at 17:43
I should have specified this in the question, but the System.Object[] has strings inside it, but for my needs, I just need to encode each object as a single string. — Misha Griffiths-Prasolova
– Misha Griffiths-Prasolova, Commented Jul 28, 2014 at 17:46
So you're saying that the first part in PartsAllowedAsSeed would be something like {"a", "b", "c"}? In that case, what string do you want it to output in your <span>? — StriplingWarrior
– StriplingWarrior, Commented Jul 28, 2014 at 21:26

Misha Griffiths-Prasolova · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-28 18:27:01Z

2

Don't use foreach in razor, use a for loop so you can directly bind to your model:

@for (int i = 0; i < @Model.PartsAllowedAsSeed.Length; i++)
{
    <input type="checkbox" id="[@i]" name="PartsAllowedAsSeed" />
    <span> @Model.PartsAllowedAsSeed[i] </span>
    <br />
}

as for your System.Object[], you can do string.Join(", ", @Model.PartsAllowedAsSeed[i]) or some equivalent to meet your needs

edited Jul 28, 2014 at 18:27

Misha Griffiths-Prasolova

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answered Jul 28, 2014 at 17:45

Jonesopolis

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1 Comment

Misha Griffiths-Prasolova Over a year ago

I think that in the long run, it is much better for me to use a for instead of a foreach. However, I don't think that string.Join is going to do the trick for me, as it still returns System.Object[].

Misha Griffiths-Prasolova · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-29 20:23:31Z

My case was pretty specific, so I don't think this will apply to anyone. I had a Object[] with objects in it and I wanted to display each child object as a string with Razor. I used a hack to cast the Object[] to a list, then append brackets to each list entry and reported each string back to Razor. For now, I don't need to bind directly to the model, so I opted to just use a foreach.

Razor Code:

@{
    var i = 0;
    @foreach (var item in Model.PartsAllowedAsSeed)
    {
        <input type="checkbox" id="@i" name="PartsAllowedAsSeed" />
        <span>@Html.ConvertToArray(item)</span>
        <br />
        i++;
    }
}

Helper Class:

public static MvcHtmlString ConvertToArray(this HtmlHelper htmlHelper, object source)
        {
            var src = source as IEnumerable;

            if (src == null) return MvcHtmlString.Create(string.Empty);

            var sourceAsList = src.Cast<Object>().ToList();

            var output = new StringBuilder();
            output.Append("[");
            for (var index = 0; index < sourceAsList.Count; index++)
            {
                var item = sourceAsList[index];
                output.Append(item);
                if (index != (sourceAsList.Count - 1)) output.Append(", ");
            }
            output.Append("]");

            return MvcHtmlString.Create(output.ToString());
        }

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