Populating CheckBox in ASP.NET MVC from SQL Server

Question

I am working on a ASP.NET MVC3 code to bind the CheckBoxes using the data from the column of my SQL Database present in App_Data directory.

My table SysUser3 contains two columns with values as follows:

 ProductName    ||        ProductId

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Model:

public class StoreModel
{
    public List<ProductModel> Products { get; set; }
}

public class ProductModel
{
    public string ProductName { get; set; }
    public bool Selected { get; set; }
}

Controller:

    [HttpGet]
    public ActionResult CheckView()
    {
        var model = new StoreModel
        {
            Products = m.GetCheckBoxes()
        };

        return View(model);
    }

//GetCheckBoxes method()

    public IList<ProductModel> GetCheckBoxes()
    {
        IList<ProductModel> items = new List<ProductModel>();
        using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(@"Data Source=.\SQLEXPRESS;Integrated Security=SSPI;AttachDBFilename=|DataDirectory|DeveloperReport.mdf;User Instance=true"))
        {
            con.Open();

            string cmdString = "SELECT ProductName FROM SysUser3";
            using (SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(cmdString, con))
            {
                using (SqlDataReader dataRead = cmd.ExecuteReader())
                {
                    while (dataRead.Read())
                    {
                        items.Add(new ProductModel
                        {

                            Text = dataRead["ProductName"].ToString()
                        });
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        return items;
    }

View:

     @using (Html.BeginForm())
     {

      <div>
        @Html.HiddenFor(x => x.ProductName)
        @Html.CheckBoxFor(x => x.Selected)
        @Html.LabelFor(x => x.Selected, Model.ProductName) 
      </div>

      }

However, my code isn't working fine and I am not able to see the binding taking place. I just get a empty checkbox when I run the code.

Can someone tell me what am I doing wrong

Thanks in advance

B. Clay Shannon-B. Crow Raven · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-18 21:51:36Z

3

In your DAL you seem to be defining the item variable to be an List<ProductModel>() and inside the while clause you seem to be adding elements of type RoleModel to this list assigning only the Text property and not the Selected property which is what the checkbox is bound to. You seem to be selecting only the ProductName (SELECT ProductName FROM SysUser3).

There doesn't seem to be a Selected boolean column in your table, so you cannot populate properly this property and thus the generated checkbox in the view will never be checked.

I guess you will have to rethink your database design. But that's another topic.

As far as ASP.NET MVC is concerned, as long as you provide a valid view model to the view:

public ActionResult CheckView()
{
    var model = new StoreModel
    {
        Products = new[]
        {
             new ProductModel { ProductName = "product 1", Selected = true },
             new ProductModel { ProductName = "product 2", Selected = false },
             new ProductModel { ProductName = "product 3", Selected = true },
        }.ToList()
    };

    return View(model);
}

no matter where this data comes from, the corresponding checkboxes in the view will be properly bound:

@model StoreModel
@using (Html.BeginForm())
{
    @Html.EditorFor(x => x.Products)
    <button type="submit">OK</button>
}

and in the corresponding editor template (~/Views/Shared/EditorTemplates/ProductModel.cshtml) which will be rendered for each element of the Products collection of your view model:

@model ProductModel
<div>
    @Html.HiddenFor(x => x.ProductName)
    @Html.CheckBoxFor(x => x.Selected)
    @Html.LabelFor(x => x.Selected, Model.ProductName) 
</div>

And then obviously you will have the corresponding POST action which will take your view model as argument and call the underlying DAL to do some processing:

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult CheckView(StoreModel model)
{
    // the model.Products collection will be properly bound here
    // with the values that the user selected in the form
    ...
}

edited Apr 18, 2016 at 21:51

B. Clay Shannon-B. Crow Raven

10.7k158 gold badges507 silver badges908 bronze badges

answered Dec 19, 2011 at 13:15

Darin Dimitrov

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5 Comments

Parth Doshi Over a year ago

Thanks for the quick response!! That means I need to modify my database and add a column of Boolean Type in my table? Yes, I was initially adding RoleModel in the while loop..so changed it now

Parth Doshi Over a year ago

Yes I understand your code. You have hard coded the values, for me to bind it dynamically I have to select two columns one my productname and 2nd a boolean column with default value false, am i right?

Darin Dimitrov Over a year ago

@Parth_90, I have hardcoded the values because in your database design you are lacking them. You have a good view model (containing the product name and selected properties) but you haven't populated it properly. My point was that ASP.NET MVC doesn't really care where the data comes from as long as it is properly populated.

Parth Doshi Over a year ago

what if I need to get them from the column? The way I am doing it using the SqlConnection seems a bit less efficient to me. Is there any better way?

Darin Dimitrov Over a year ago

@Parth_90, I think that here you are asking how to perform SQL queries and design your database and how to use ADO.NET. This has nothing to do with ASP.NET MVC. Please ask a separate question. Also notice that using plain ADO.NET is the fastest you could get in terms of speed compared to using ORMs such as NHibernate or EF.

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