Mapping empty values to null using ASP.NET MVC v2 Preview 1

Question

I have a POCO class for an edit model

class PersonEditModel {
  public string ScreenName{get;set;}
}

It's common for ScreenName to be null when my domain model is converted into this PersonEditModel.

When I present this in MVC 2 form using the html helpers I get back an empty string (if the user didn't add anything into screenname), because the model binder can't tell the difference between empty and null string value.

Is there a way to tell the model binder to automap a particular string value to null?

So, instead of getting back ScreenName as "", I would get back null. When I persist this back to the Domain model, it's alot cleaner for the data model.

This guy has the same issue but doesn't have an answer - stackoverflow.com/questions/1105131/… — CVertex
– CVertex, Commented Aug 12, 2009 at 18:00

Chris Woolum · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-21 23:31:53Z

0

Have you tried adding this attribute? It should be true by defualt but something might be different with your configuration.

[ConvertEmptyStringToNull=true]
public string ScreenName{get;set;}

Another option that is less clean is to put a private variable behind ScreenName and if its value is an empty string, then return null on the get.

answered Mar 21, 2012 at 23:31

Chris Woolum

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