MVC Create returns null object

Question

I'm having a problem in my MVC project. When trying to create an object to add it to the db, it always returns null.

public class ListsModel
{
    public EntitiesList EntityList { get; set; }
    public List<string> AllGroups { get; set; }
}

    public ActionResult Create()
    {
        ListsModel model = new ListsModel();
        model.EntityList = new EntitiesList();
        model.AllGroups = managerLists.GetAllListsKeys(); //For droplist

        return View(model);
    }

    [HttpPost]
    [ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
    public ActionResult Create(ListsModel model)
    {
        if (ModelState.IsValid)
        {
            model.EntityList.List_CreatedTime = DateTime.Now;
            managerLists.AddNewObject(model.EntityList);
            return RedirectToAction("Index");
        }

        return View(model);
    }

And a simple cshtml:

@using (Html.BeginForm())
{
    @Html.AntiForgeryToken()
    @Html.ValidationSummary(true)

    <fieldset>
        <legend>EntitiesList</legend>

        <div class="form-group">
            @Html.LabelFor(model => model.EntityList.List_EntitityName)
            @Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.AllGroups, new SelectList(Model.AllGroups),
                                    new { @class = "form-control" })
            <p class="help-block">@Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.EntityList.List_EntitityName)</p>
        </div>

        <div class="form-group">
            @Html.LabelFor(model => model.EntityList.List_EntityValue)
            <input class="form-control" value="@Model.EntityList.List_EntityValue"/>
            <p class="help-block">@Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.EntityList.List_EntityValue)</p>
        </div>

        <div class="form-group">
            @Html.LabelFor(model => model.EntityList.List_OrderByNumber)
            <input class="form-control" value="@Model.EntityList.List_OrderByNumber"/>
            <p class="help-block">@Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.EntityList.List_OrderByNumber)</p>
        </div>

        <div class="form-group">
            @Html.LabelFor(model => model.EntityList.List_Comments)
            <textarea class="form-control" rows="3">@Model.EntityList.List_Comments</textarea>
            <p class="help-block">@Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.EntityList.List_Comments)</p>
        </div>

        <p>
            <input type="submit" value="Create" />
        </p>
    </fieldset>
}

When it's getting to the "model.EntityList.List_CreatedTime = DateTime.Now;" a null reference exception is thrown.

I tried to change the signature to "public ActionResult Create(ListsModel ListsModel)", as suggested here: Create view is posting null objects But I got the same results.

Hope you can help me.

If you debug this what does model contain? Is model null? Is model.EntityList null? Debug is your friend! :) Place break-point on model.EntityList.List_CreatedTime = DateTime.Now; line and look at what everything is at that time. — Belogix
– Belogix, Commented May 19, 2014 at 11:21
Might be unrelated, but you should be using EditorFor, TextAreaFor etc — markpsmith
– markpsmith, Commented May 19, 2014 at 11:34
If you comment model.EntityList.List_CreatedTime = DateTime.Now; then are you still getting an error? — rosko
– rosko, Commented May 19, 2014 at 11:36
Just to clarify, ASP.NET MVC is the web front end, while Entity Framework is the database access stuff. It's a common misunderstanding; they're commonly seen together (and ASP.NET MVC projects include EF as standard) but they are actually separate. I've added the Entity Framework tag accordingly. — anaximander
– anaximander, Commented May 19, 2014 at 11:37

DaniCE · Accepted Answer · 2014-05-19 14:39:37Z

2

I think the problem is the way you define inputs like this:

<input class="form-control" value="@Model.EntityList.List_EntityValue"/>

For ASP MVC can collect form data, inputs should have an Name attribute corresponding with model fields.

Try to generate inputs using the standard:

@Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.EntityList.List_EntityValue)

I suggest you inspect the differences in the html generated (to see how is asp mvc generating inputs).

edited May 19, 2014 at 14:39

answered May 19, 2014 at 11:34

DaniCE

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8 Comments

rosko Over a year ago

IMHO this is not related to his error but worth trying.

Daniel Björk Over a year ago

I think it is related becouse you need a name or id on your input.

rosko Over a year ago

May be true cause there is no name attribute in <input> and there is also no @Model.EntityList.List_CreatedTime field in his view so there can be some problems when trying to do HttpPost...

user2254436 Over a year ago

That seems to do the job, but I'm getting an error: "System.Data.Entity.Validation.DbEntityValidationException: Validation failed for one or more entities. See 'EntityValidationErrors' property for more details." I don;t know if it's related. The drop down return null as a vlue to the model, instead of the string selected, I don't understand why.

Daniel Björk Over a year ago

You should add a variable for the selectedvalue and then use it like this... @Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.SelectedGroup, new SelectList(Model.AllGroups, "GROUP ID COLUMN NAME", "Description COLUMN NAME", Model.SelectedGroup))

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