mvc4 form submit deserialization not working on sub items (or at all)

Question

View:

@model My.Data.Section

@using (Html.BeginForm("Save", "Sections"))
{
    @Html.Partial("_Fields", Model.Fields);

    <input type="submit" value="Save">
}

View JS:

@Scripts.Render("~/bundles/jqueryval")
<script type="text/javascript">
    $(function () {
        $('form').submit(function () {
            if ($(this).valid()) {
                $.ajax({
                    url: this.action,
                    type: this.method,
                    data: $(this).serialize(),
                    success: function (result) {
                        // do some stuff with the returned partial
                    }
                });
            }
            return false;
        });
    });
</script>

Model:

Comes from my data layer (EF5/DBContext/unitofwork)

namespace My.Data
{
    using System;
    using System.Collections.Generic;

    public partial class Section
    {
        public Section()
        {
            this.Fields = new HashSet<Field>();
        }

        public int SectionID { get; set; }
        public int FormID { get; set; }
        public string Name { get; set; }
        public Nullable<int> PrevSection { get; set; }
        public Nullable<int> NextSection { get; set; }
        public int SortOrder { get; set; }

        public virtual ICollection<Field> Fields { get; set; }
        public virtual Form Form { get; set; }
    }
}

Controller:

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Save(Section model, FormCollection fc)
{
    // do some fun stuff
    return PartialView("_Section", model);
}

When I debug the controller, the model object is not deserialized, I assume this is because I am not using labelfor & textboxfor ect ?

When I inspect the FormCollection object, this has all the keys I need and all the values, however, I'd like to get some other values from my fields, like data-fieldid-itemid="1", how would I accomplish this? What's the best way to do this?

Is it required that I use LabelFor/TextboxFor ?

I guess what I was expecting was the model object to come through with the data filled in, and the sub items of my model object, particularly public virtual ICollection Fields { get; set; } to also be filled in.

I have a feeling I'm missing some concept here, any ideas?

Thanks!

Erik Funkenbusch · Accepted Answer · 2012-12-10T23:17:11.040

1

First, you shouldn't use Partial views for forms. Instead, you should use EditorTemplates.

Second, you can't get attributes because these are not posted to the server by the browser. MVC is stuck with the mechanisms that the browser supports.

Your options would be, using a submit handler to populate hidden fields with your attributes, put the data in hidden fields to begin with, do an ajax post in which you set all the data you want to post, or simply have your controller "remember" the attributes it set in the GET.

edited Dec 10 '12 at 23:17

answered Dec 10 '12 at 22:51

Erik Funkenbusch

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1) Can you link me to an EditorTemplate example with ajax? First time hearing it. 2) Ok, bummer. 3) What is the standard here? Any examples of this? First time hearing this as well. – Steve Stokes Dec 11 '12 at 19:52
@SteveStokes - I don't know of any examples, these are all advanced scenarios that will be unique to your specific circumstances. data attributes are simply client-side data, if you want to pass this back then it needs to get into a hidden form field, you would write some jquery to do this in a submit handler. – Erik Funkenbusch Dec 11 '12 at 20:15
Ok. I guess my next question is how do I use editorfor(m=>m.item) when that view has an ienumerable of items under Model.Items. Do I foreach through each var item in Model.Items and then how do I use EditorFor() for that var item? – Steve Stokes Dec 11 '12 at 20:34
@SteveStokes - I don't really have time time to teach you MVC, you should get a book, as this is basic MVC functionality that you should know. – Erik Funkenbusch Dec 11 '12 at 20:38
Actually I looked up that issue, and MVC documentation is not very explicit about these types of thing, thus why I ask questions. If you don't like helping people, why are you here? Anyways, found the answer myself here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9125809/aspnet-mvc-3-html-editorfor-a-subcollection-of-my-model-in-a-template Everyone starts somewhere man. I've been stuck in webforms world forever, yes I'm learning and starting with MVC4...so? – Steve Stokes Dec 11 '12 at 21:59
@SteveStokes - I did help you, I just don't have time to teach you things any MVC book will cover, and EditorTemplates are covered in detail in any book. – Erik Funkenbusch Dec 11 '12 at 22:02

mvc4 form submit deserialization not working on sub items (or at all)

1 Answers1