My objects: (PersonModel must have an address type of AddressOne or AddressTwo (and possibly others), so PersonModel has an object type for the address field.)
public class Person
{
public int PersonId { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Surname { get; set; }
public object Address { get; set; }
}
public class AddressOne
{
public string Street { get; set; }
public string City { get; set; }
}
public class AddressTwo
{
public string Province { get; set; }
public string State { get; set; }
}
models: (I pass the hidden field to typeOfAddress to match the correct address after submitting the form)
public class PersonModel
{
private System.Type _typeOfAddress;
private object _address;
[Required]
public int PersonId { get; set; }
[Required]
public string Name { get; set; }
[Required]
public string Surname { get; set; }
public System.Type typeOfAddress
{
get { return _typeOfAddress; }
set { _typeOfAddress = value; }
}
public object Address
{
get {
return _address;
}
set {
_address = value;
_typeOfAddress = _address.GetType();
}
}
}
public class AddressOneModel
{
[Required]
public string Street { get; set; }
[Required]
public string City { get; set; }
}
public class AddressTwoModel
{
[Required]
public string Province { get; set; }
[Required]
public string State { get; set; }
}
My view (for the address field I have an ad editor template that is not specified in this code):
@using (Html.BeginForm()) {
<ul>
<li>
PersonId: @Html.EditorFor(model => model.PersonId)
</li>
<li>
Name: @Html.EditorFor(model => model.Name)
</li>
<li>
Surname: @Html.EditorFor(model => model.Surname)
</li>
<li>
Address:
</li>
<li>
@Html.HiddenFor(model => model.typeOfAddress)
@Html.EditorFor(model => model.Address)
</li>
</ul>
<button type="submit">Submit</button>
}
and then my controller: (in this example, I am loading AddressOne into the model, but there must be one or two depending on the execution time ...)
[HttpGet]
public ActionResult Index()
{
PersonModel myPerson = new PersonModel();
myPerson.PersonId = 1;
myPerson.Name = "Michael";
myPerson.Surname = "Douglas";
AddressOneModel Address = new AddressOneModel();
Address.Street = "5th Avenue";
Address.City = "New York";
myPerson.Address = Address;
return View(myPerson);
}
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Index([ModelBinder(typeof(PersonModelBinder))]PersonModel myPerson)
{
if (ModelState.IsValid) {
}
return View();
}
then there is a Model Binder for PersonModel:
public class PersonModelBinder : IModelBinder
{
public object BindModel(ControllerContext controllerContext, ModelBindingContext bindingContext)
{
PersonModel bindedModel = new PersonModel();
foreach (var Property in typeof(PersonModel).GetProperties())
{
PropertyInfo info = bindedModel.GetType().GetProperty(Property.Name);
object castedInfo = new object();
var uType = info.PropertyType;
if (uType == typeof(string))
{
castedInfo = bindingContext.ValueProvider.GetValue(Property.Name).AttemptedValue.ToString();
}
else if (uType == typeof(Type))
{
castedInfo = Type.GetType(bindingContext.ValueProvider.GetValue(Property.Name).AttemptedValue.ToString());
}
else if (uType == typeof(object))
{
string objType = bindingContext.ValueProvider.GetValue("typeOfAddress").AttemptedValue;
object address = (object)Activator.CreateInstance(Type.GetType(objType));
}
else
{
object uCasted = (object)Activator.CreateInstance(info.PropertyType);
uCasted = Convert.ChangeType(bindingContext.ValueProvider.GetValue(Property.Name).AttemptedValue, Property.PropertyType);
castedInfo = uCasted;
}
info.SetValue(bindedModel, castedInfo, null);
}
return bindedModel;
}
Is this the right way to implement PersonModel bindings? What about checking in the [Post] controller?
I also saw a way to use DefaultBinder in a way like this:
[ModelBinderType(typeof(PersonModel))]
public class PersonModelBinder : DefaultModelBinder
{
}
ModelBinderType MVC3!! ?