Mapping of ViewModel with SelectList in MVC3 - c#

Hi I'm struggling to find the correct approach on SO for what I am currently doing, so I thought I would ask.
Here is my simplified code:
The entities are nested types based on using them with EF CodeFirst and the ViewModel is being mapped with AutoMapper.
When posting the form the ModelState is not valid due to the dropdownlist being mapped to model.CourseId and displaying my Course data.. i.e. CourseId = 2, CourseList = Null, but also having the [Required] attribute, really only CourseId is required but I also needed a relevant error message.
I then thought that in my Create GET & POST actions the view should probably just have the CourseId but I still need to display it as a dropdown and populate it and I was unsure as how to do that correctly.
I may also not be understanding how this should be used correctly and if I even need CourseName, i.e. since the Course already exists in the database I just want a foreign key to it, which will still let me show the selected course.
I'm also planning to break out all this mapping and data setting in my controller actions into a separate service layer but at the moment its a small prototype.
// Entities
public class Recipe {
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public Course Course { get; set; }
}
public class Course {
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
}
// View Model
public class RecipeCreateViewModel {
// Recipe properties
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
// Course properties, as primitives via AutoMapper
public int CourseId { get; set; }
public string CourseName { get; set; }
// For a drop down list of courses
[Required(ErrorMessage = "Please select a Course.")]
public SelectList CourseList { get; set; }
}
// Part of my View
#model EatRateShare.WebUI.ViewModels.RecipeCreateViewModel
...
<div class="editor-label">
Course
</div>
<div class="editor-field">
#* The first param for DropDownListFor will make sure the relevant property is selected *#
#Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.CourseId, Model.CourseList, "Choose...")
#Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.CourseId)
</div>
...
// Controller actions
public ActionResult Create() {
// map the Recipe to its View Model
var recipeCreateViewModel = Mapper.Map<Recipe, RecipeCreateViewModel>(new Recipe());
recipeCreateViewModel.CourseList = new SelectList(courseRepository.All, "Id", "Name");
return View(recipeCreateViewModel);
}
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Create(RecipeCreateViewModel recipe) {
if (ModelState.IsValid) {
var recipeEntity = Mapper.Map<RecipeCreateViewModel, Recipe>(recipe);
recipeRepository.InsertOrUpdate(recipeEntity);
recipeRepository.Save();
return RedirectToAction("Index");
} else {
recipe.CourseList = new SelectList(courseRepository.All, "Id", "Name");
return View(recipe);
}
}

I fixed my particular problem just by doing the below.
[Required(ErrorMessage = "Please select a Course.")]
public int CourseId { get; set; }
// public string CourseName { get; set; }
public SelectList CourseList { get; set; }
The view will use the DropDownListFor helper to map the drop down to my CourseId and that's all I really needed.
On to another problem now with AutoMapper and why it is not mapping back to the Recipe entity in the POST Create action.
I probably first need to find a way to store the relevant Course name in the "CourseName" property.

Related

Selected item transfer issue, There is no ViewData item of type

I am building ASP.NET MVC project, All other posts about this topic did not help me. i have 2 models, Client and City.
public class Client
{
[Key]
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Surname { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public City City { get; set; }
}
public class City
{
[Key]
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
}
And when i want to create a client a have an exception There is no ViewData item of type 'IEnumerable' that has the key 'City'.
This is my get and post method
private readonly ApplicationDbContext _context;
private List<City> _cities;
public ClientsController(ApplicationDbContext context)
{
_context = context;
}
// GET: Clients/Create
public IActionResult Create()
{
if (_context.City != null) _cities = _context.City.ToList();
ViewBag.Cities = new SelectList(_cities, "Id", "Name");
return View();
}
// POST: Clients/Create
[HttpPost]
[ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
public async Task<IActionResult> Create([Bind("Id,Surname,Name,Patronymic,Telephone,City,Adress,SeriaNumberPassport,IdentificalCode")]
Client client)
{
if (ModelState.IsValid)
{
_context.Add(client);
await _context.SaveChangesAsync();
return RedirectToAction(nameof(Index));
}
return View(client);
}
And View code:
<div class="form-group" mb-3>
<label asp-for="City" class="control-label"></label>
#Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.City, ViewBag.Cities as SelectList, new { #class = "form-select" })
</div>
The data is displayed correctly, but I cannot create a client.
Think that the ModelState.IsValid is false, hence it returns to Create View rather than redirect to Index view (the flow for successful inserting Client).
While for the failure inserting case, you didn't provide the ViewBag.Cities value before returning to Create View (Check the Create method with [HttpPost]).
Talk about why the ModelState.IsValid was false, there is conflict in the type that you are passing CityId which is int type to City property with City type.
Updated:
Recommend creating and using the ViewModel class instead of Model. The main reason is to we can design the class in which the properties are only required for view, create/edit purposes.
Exposing the Model class is unsafe as the users will know how is your database entity looks like.
But the trouble with using ViewModel will be you need to map the property value from ViewModel to Model manually or with reflection. Of course, there are open-source libraries that can automate the mapping such as AutoMapper.
These are the steps you need to do for the fix:
Model
Add for CityId foreign key property.
public class Client
{
[Key]
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Surname { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public int CityId { get; set; } // Add this foreign key property
public City City { get; set; }
}
Note: If you use Entity Framework Code First approach, you need to create migration and update the database via command for this change.
ViewModel
Create ViewModel class with the properties require for Create Client.
public class CreateClientModel
{
public string Surname { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public int CityId { get; set; }
// Other properties that needed
}
View
2.1. Change the #model to CreateClientModel.
2.2. Use model.CityId instead of model.City. The CityId property is used to pass the selected city's Id.
#model CreateClientModel
<div class="form-group" mb-3>
<label asp-for="CityId" class="control-label"></label>
#Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.CityId, ViewBag.Cities as SelectList, new { #class = "form-select" })
</div>
Controller
3.1. Replace City with CityId in Bind attribute. (To add properties based on CreateClientModel).
3.2. Use CreateClientModel as request body.
3.3. Initialize the ViewBag.Cities value before returning to Create view for the ModelState.IsValid is false case.
public IActionResult Create()
{
if (_context.City != null) _cities = _context.City.ToList();
ViewBag.Cities = new SelectList(_cities, "Id", "Name");
return View(new CreateClientModel());
}
[HttpPost]
[ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
public async Task<IActionResult> Create([Bind("Surname,Name,CityId")]
ClientClientModel client)
{
if (ModelState.IsValid)
{
// Perform mapping from CreateClientModel to
_context.Add(new Client
{
Surname = client.Surname,
Name = client.Name,
CityId = client.CityId
// Other properties
});
await _context.SaveChangesAsync();
return RedirectToAction(nameof(Index));
}
// Initialize ViewBag.Cities value
if (_context.City != null) _cities = _context.City.ToList();
ViewBag.Cities = new SelectList(_cities, "Id", "Name");
return View(client);
}
Suggested have a read and follow this tutorial which is similar to your scenario:
Tutorial: Update related data - ASP.NET MVC with EF Core

Can not access and assign values into composite table of a many to many relationship through front end

I'm trying to develop an ASP.NET MVC application using C# and EF with code-first approach.
I have two classes: Actors and Movies which have many-to-many relationships (an Actor can be in many Movies, a Movie can have many Actors).
Everything is working properly, but I can not access the intermediate (MoviesActors) table through a view (this table is generated automatically as a result of the many-to-many relationship between Actors and Movies). I want to access this table so that I could assign the correct primary keys (For example: I want to assign the correct actor to a movie and vice versa) to determine things like "In which movies does a particular actor have played role?" and "What is the star cast of a particular movie?
These are my models:
public class Actors
{
public Actors()
{
this.mvz = new HashSet<Movies>();
}
public int Id { get; set; }
public string actor_name { get; set; }
public string country { get; set; }
public virtual ICollection<Movies> mvz { get; set; }
}
public class Movies
{
public Movies()
{
this.actz = new HashSet<Actors>();
}
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Movie_title { get; set; }
public string genre { get; set; }
public virtual ICollection<Actors> actz { get; set; }
}
AS you can see both models have many to many relationship in between them and as a result a third table is generated in database that contains the composite keys.
Everything works properly up to this point, But the issue is that i can not assign values to the composite key table via front end, Although i can assign these values manually from the back-end.
I would like to ask if my approach is correct or not, I mean in a real world application do we have to access the composite key table and assign values, or is there any better approach to solve this issue?
Here is the controller:
public ActionResult DataEntry()
{
return View();
}
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Add(??? mva)
{
_context.act.Add(mva.act);
_context.mvz.Add(mva.mvz);
_context.SaveChanges();
return RedirectToAction("Index","Actors");
}
And here is the view:
#model Many_To_Many_Relationship_Latest.ViewModel.MoviesActorsViewModel
#{
ViewBag.Title = "DataEntry";
Layout = "~/Views/Shared/_Layout.cshtml";
}
<h5>Assign Actors to a particular Movie From Here</h5>
#using (Html.BeginForm("Add","MoviesActors"))
{
<div class="form-group">
#Html.LabelFor(a=> a.mvz.Id)
#Html.TextBoxFor(a=> a.mvz.Id, new { #class="forcontrol"})
</div>
<div class="form-group">
#Html.LabelFor(a => a.act.Id)
#Html.TextBoxFor(a => a.act.Id, new { #class = "form-control" })
</div>
<button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary">Save</button>
}
Here is the ViewModel
public class MoviesActorsViewModel
{
public Movies mvz { get; set; }
public IEnumerable<Actors> act { get; set; }
}
If anyone having expertise in this regard is reading this post, kindly guide me with the correct logic or any other approach that helps me get the result.

What is available in the controller from a post action in a dropdownlist

Trying to unpack some inherited code and I am new to ASP.NET. My question:
What is available in the controller from a post action in a dropdownlist in C# (ASP.NET MVC5)?
Here is what I have in the view:
#using (Html.BeginForm("SignUp", "Location", FormMethod.Post))
....
#Html.DropDownListFor(
model => model.Member.PillarId, new SelectList (Model.Pillars, "Id", "Title"))
Here is the MemberViewModel:
public class MemberViewModel : IValidatableObject{
public int? LocationId { get; set; }
public int? PillarId { get; set; }
}
Here is the Member model:
public class Member
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public int? LocationId { get; set; }
public int? PillarId { get; set; }
public String PillarTitle { get; set; }
Here is the Member model constructor(s):
public Member() { }
public Member(MemberViewModel member)
{
PillarId = member.PillarId;
///
}
Here is the Controller
public ActionResult SignUp(MemberViewModel member){///}
My form is correctly pulling the information from the DB to display, as well as posting correctly to the DB via the Controller. I do not want to change the visual options for the user to choose from (i.e. I think ListBox is out?).
Rather, I want to assign both Member.PillarId as well as the Member.Title based on their choice and have it available in the Controller for non-DB operations.
What is currently available in the SignUp method in the Controller? Can I call Model.Pillars.Title? Is it member.PillarId.Pillars.Id? If not, how can I assign it dynamically based on the user choice?
There are views and modelviews flying around in this code, and I am not sure what is available...
SO has a bunch of answers on the DropDownList, so here's a sampling of articles that are somewhat related to what I am getting at...
* This answer
* ListBox
* ListBoxFor: not MVC dynamic
* SelectList Constructor: Not MVC
With a dropdownlist the only value that will come back is the value of the selected item when posting back.
If you want something else to come back you would need a hidden field on the page and bind a change event listener to the dropdown to set the title in the hidden field
public class MemberViewModel : IValidatableObject{
public int? LocationId { get; set; }
public int? PillarId { get; set; }
public string Title { get; set;}
}
#using (Html.BeginForm("SignUp", "Location", FormMethod.Post))
....
#Html.DropDownListFor(
model => model.Member.PillarId, new SelectList (Model.Pillars, "Id", "Title"))
#Html.HiddenFor(model => model.Title);
javascript
$('#idofdropdown').on('change', function()
{
var selectedTitle = $(this).find(":selected").text();
$('#Title').val(selectedTitle);
});
How to get selected title from a drop down list: Get selected text from a drop-down list (select box) using jQuery
Then in your controller your viewmodel will have the title text inside the Title string :)

ASP.NET MVC Dropdownlist Data Does Not Insert

I have two models and I want to insert a row in the database with a foreign key relationship populated in the DropDownList. The Item model's data insert without problems but ManufacturerID does not get inserted (it inserts null). I could not find why.
Update: Uploaded the project to: http://mvcapplication2.codeplex.com/
<div class="editor-label">
#Html.LabelFor(model => model.ManufacturerID,"Manufacturer")
</div>
<div class="editor-field">
#Html.DropDownList("ManufacturerID",string.Empty)
#Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.ManufacturerID)
</div>
public class Item
{
public int ItemID { get; set; }
public string Serial { get; set; }
public string ItemName { get; set; }
public int? ManufacturerID { get; set; }
public Manufacturer Manufacturer { get; set; }
}
public class Manufacturer
{
public int ManufacturerID { get; set; }
public string ManufacturerName { get; set; }
public List<Item> Items { get; set; }
}
public ActionResult Create()
{
ViewBag.ManufacturerID = new SelectList(db.Manufacturers, "ManufacturerID", "ManufacturerName");
return View();
}
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Create(Item ıtem)
{
if (ModelState.IsValid)
{
db.Items.Add(ıtem);
db.SaveChanges();
return RedirectToAction("Index");
}
return View(ıtem);
}
I would prefer to NOT use the domain model in the view. I would create some view models specific to the view. Also, to transfer data from action method (ex : dropdown list), i would use a strongly typed approach, instead of the dynamic viewbag/ viewdata approach.
Create a view model class
public class CreateItemVM
{
public string SerialNumber { set;get;}
public int SelectedManufactureID { set;get;}
public List<SelectListItem> Manufacturers { set;get;}
public CreateItemVM()
{
Manufacturers =new List<SelectListItem>();
}
}
Now in your GET action method, create an object of our viewmodel, initialize the relevant values and send to the view.
public ActionResult Create()
{
var vm=new CreateItemVM();
vm.Manufacturers=GetManufacturerList();
return View(vm);
}
private List<SelectListItem> GetManufacturerList()
{
List<SelectListItem> manuList=new List<SelectListItem>();
manuList=(from p in db.Manufacturers
select new SelectListItem {
Value=p.ID.ToString(),
Text=p.Name}
).ToList();
return manuList;
}
Now in our view, which is strongly typed to our Viewmodel,
#model CreateItemVM
#using(Html.Beginform())
{
#Html.DropDownListfor(x=>x.SelectedManufactureID ,
Model.Manufacturers,"select")
<input type="submit" />
}
And finally in our POST action method, we will read values from our posted viewmodel and assign it as the property values of our domain object and save it. the selected manufacturers ID value will be in the SelectedManufactureID property of our viewmodel.
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Create(CreateItemVM model)
{
if(ModelState.IsValid)
{
Item domainObject=new Item();
domainObject.ManufacturerID =model.SelectedManufactureID ;
//set other relevant properties also
db.Items.Add(ıtem);
db.SaveChanges();
return RedirectToAction("Index");
}
// reload the dropdown before returning to the view
model.Manufacturers=GetManufacturerList();
return View(model);
}
Try to make the relationship more explicit, making properties virtual and adding an attribute:
public class Item
{
...
[ForeignKey("Manufacturer")]
public int? ManufacturerID { get; set; }
public virtual Manufacturer Manufacturer { get; set; }
}
public class Manufacturer
{
...
public virtual List<Item> Items { get; set; }
}
Edit:
And you can use a more tied way of building the drop down:
#Html.DropDownListfor(x=>x.SelectedManufactureID ,
ViewBag.ManufacturerID as SelectList,"Choose one")
Edit 2:
A better approach is to make a specific model for the view (called ViewModel) to represent data and build the view like #Shyju said.
Found the problem. The Viewbag I was sending to the view should be named as ManufacturerID, I was sending Manufacturers and somehow it was not matching although it populated the dropdown.

Creating an auto-generated DropDownList on View from ViewModel

Which I'd expect to be implemented in .NET MVC, but trying to figure out how to actually do it. Currently on my ViewModel, I have (for example):
public class GroupPolicyViewModel
{
public int PolicyId { get; set; }
public int HistoryId{ get; set; }
public SelectList ProductList { get; set; } // tried this
public List<Product> ProductList1 { get; set; } // tried this
}
Whenever I try and auto-generate my View from this ViewModel, the ProductList gets ignored. Is there any way to auto-generate a DropDownList at all from the ViewModel?
With model
public class GroupPolicyViewModel
{
public int PolicyId { get; set; }
public int HistoryId{ get; set; }
public int SelectedProductId{ get; set; }
public List<Product> ProductList { get; set; }
}
You can create DropDownList
#Html.DropDownListFor(m => m.SelectedProductId,
new SelectList(Model.ProductList, "ProductId", "ProductName"))
Or if you have SelectList of products in your model
#Html.DropDownListFor(m => m.SelectedProductId, Model.ProductSelectList)
If you want some generated code, you need to use scaffolding option with providing data context class. Here is nice tutorial MVC Music Store
You can (from VS2010) when creating a new Controller and using Entity Framework. Specify in the wizard to include Entity Framework and Read/Write ops and the wizard will create both the controller and the views.
It'll generate code like this [there is more] in the controller:
public ActionResult Create()
{
ViewBag.CostCentre_ID = new SelectList(db.CostCentres, "ID", "Name");
ViewBag.Location_ID = new SelectList(db.Locations, "ID", "Name");
ViewBag.User_ID = new SelectList(db.UCMUsers, "User_ID", "EmployeeNo");
return View();
}
and this in the view:
<div class="editor-field">
#Html.DropDownList("User_ID", String.Empty)
#Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.User_ID)
</div>

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