MVC3 :: Create a view to handle multiple types

Question

I have a situation where I am wanting an 'Add' View to accept an int from the controller but return a different type to the HttpPost controller method. Confusing, I know. The 'Add' View is used to create an object typed as a Widget, but I need to pass in the ID of the WidgetCategory. So in my WidgetController, I would have a method something like:

public ActionResult Add(int id) // 'id' is the WidgetCategoryID
{
    return View(id);
}

However, in the view, since in it's intended to return a Widget to be added would start like this:

@using MyProject.Models
@model Widget
@{
    ViewBag.Title = "My Title";
    Layout = "~/Views/Shared/_MyLayout.cshtml";
}
@using (Html.BeginForm())
{
    // Insert markup here ...
}

My question is, how do I pass the WidgetCategoryID into the controller if it's typed to return a Widget? I was hoping to add it as a hidden field inside the form like so:

@Html.Hidden(id)

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

I'd suggest changing the name on the parameter from id to widgetCategoryId. If you need a comment to tell me what the variable stands for you haven't named it well. — Brian Cauthon
– Brian Cauthon, Commented May 22, 2012 at 14:53
The fact that most of the answers assumed your id parameter on Add(int id) was meant for Widget.Id instead of Widget.WidgetCategoryId proves my earlier point that you need to rename it instead of relying on the comment. — Brian Cauthon
– Brian Cauthon, Commented May 22, 2012 at 17:27

Shyju · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-22 14:49:13Z

2

Assuming your ViewModel Widget has a WidgetCategoryId property

public class Widget
{
  public int ID  { set;get;}
  public int WidgetCategoryId { set;get;}
  //Other properties
}

Send that to the Add View (HttpGet)

public ActionResult Add(int id)
{
  Widget objModel=new Widget{ WidgetCategoryId =id} ;
  return View(objModel);
}

Now in your Add View, Keep that in a hiddden variable using the HiddenFor HTML helper method.

@using MyProject.Models
@model Widget
@{
    ViewBag.Title = "My Title";   
}
@using (Html.BeginForm())
{
    @Html.HiddenFor(m=>m.WidgetCategoryId);
    <input type="submit" value="Save" />
}

Now you will have it in your HTTPPost action method when you submit.

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Add(Widget model)
{
  //  check model.WidgetCategoryId and Have fun with it
}

answered May 22, 2012 at 14:49

Shyju

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Comments

BigMike · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-22 14:45:33Z

1

default model binder checks for request parameters by name and attempts to set properties on model according. If you need something more evolute, you can take a look to custom model binding. Btw, you can change your action to:

public ActionResult Add(Widget widget) // Widget class has one property named Id with public set
{
    return View(widget);
}

or

public ActionResult Add(int id) // 'id' is the WidgetCategoryID
{
    Widget widget = new Widget();
    widget.Id = id;
    return View(widget);
}

I slightly prefer the second form for creations, but I guess it's a matter of tastes

Btw, your view's form shall have inputs for each "important" property of the Widget object. (Hidden or text) via:

@Html.HiddenFor (m => m.Id);

edited May 22, 2012 at 14:45

answered May 22, 2012 at 14:39

BigMike

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Comments

CraigTP · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-22 15:04:13Z

Within your view code, you're not only specifying that the view will return a Widget type, but specifying that the entire model for that view is a Widget type. Basically, that data passed both into and out of the View via its @model is of type Widget.

What you can do here is to retain the strong-typing of the View to a Widget, but where you need to pass in simply an ID value (a simple int), you can use either the ViewData or the ViewBag

For example, in the controller:

public ActionResult Add(int id) // 'id' is the WidgetCategoryID
{
    // All properties of a ViewBag are completely dynamic!
    ViewBag.WidgetID = id;

    // You're still returning a View strongly-typed to a Widget, but not 
    // actually supplying a Widget instance.
    return View();
}

And in the View:

@using MyProject.Models
@model Widget
@{
    ViewBag.Title = "My Title";
    Layout = "~/Views/Shared/_MyLayout.cshtml";
}
@using (Html.BeginForm())
{
    // Retrieve the WidgetID from the ViewBag
    var WidgetID = ViewBag.WidgetID;

    // Do something with the WidgetID, for example:
    @Html.Hidden(WidgetID)
}

Note that ViewData and ViewBag are very similar mechanisms by which "non-model" data can be passed into a view. ViewBag is newer (MVC 3) and is based upon the dynamic features of C#4.0, whereas ViewData is the older method based upon a collection of key/value pairs.

MikeTWebb · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-22 14:50:25Z

0

In the Add Action in the Controller you can set a ViewBag property to the id and them in the View do html.Hidden() using the ViewBag property. I.e.,

public ActionResult Add(int id) // 'id' is the WidgetCategoryID 
{     
   Widget widget = new Widget();     
   widget.Id = id;     
   ViewBag.categoryId = id;
   return View(widget); 
}

In the View

@Html.Hidden(@:ViewBag.categoryId)

edited May 22, 2012 at 14:50

answered May 22, 2012 at 14:44

MikeTWebb

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