How to get checkbox input value bound to a property of a complex object list in MVC? - model-view-controller

Question

I have searched for this, and found several solutions, but none seem to work for me.
I'm using Razor to build an MVC view.
The model I'm passing in is defined as follows:
public class ActiveProxiesDTO
{
/// <summary> error message returned by the transaction </summary>
public string ErrorMsg { get; set; }
/// <summary> List of proxies returned by the transaction </summary>
public List<ActiveProxiesDetailDTO> ActiveProxies { get; set; }
}
/// <summary> A single proxy </summary>
public class ActiveProxiesDetailDTO
{
/// <summary> Proxie's PERSON id </summary>
public string ProxyId { get; set; }
/// <summary> Proxie's First Name </summary>
public string FirstName { get; set; }
/// <summary> Proxie's Last Name </summary>
public string LastName { get; set; }
/// <summary> Proxie's email address </summary>
public string EmailAddress { get; set; }
/// <summary> Does user want to reset this proxy's password?</summary>
public bool Reset { get; set; }
}
In the action method that invokes the view I set the "Reset" bool to false for all items in the list.
My view is defined as follows:
#model Ellucian.Colleague.Dtos.Base.M32.ActiveProxiesDTO
#using (Html.BeginForm("PostResetProxy", "Core", FormMethod.Post, new { Area = "M32" }))
{
#Html.AntiForgeryToken()
<div class="dataentry">
Proxies:
<br />
<table>
<tr>
<th>Reset?</th> <th>Name</th> <th>Email Address(to send new password)</th>
</tr>
#for (int i = 0; i < Model.ActiveProxies.Count; i++)
{
<tr>
<td>
<!-- make sure all data bind to the model being passed to the next controller action method -->
<input type="hidden" name="ActiveProxies[#i].ProxyId" value="#Model.ActiveProxies[i].ProxyId" />
<input type="hidden" name="ActiveProxies[#i].FirstName" value="#Model.ActiveProxies[i].FirstName" />
<input type="hidden" name="ActiveProxies[#i].LastName" value="#Model.ActiveProxies[i].LastName" />
<!-- checkboxes require both a hidden and non-hidden input element -->
<input type="hidden" name="ActiveProxies[#i].Reset" value="#Model.ActiveProxies[i].Reset" />
<input type="checkbox" name="ActiveProxies[#i].Reset" value="true" />
</td>
<td>
#{ var displayName = Model.ActiveProxies[i].FirstName + " " + Model.ActiveProxies[i].LastName; }
#displayName
</td>
<td>
<input type="text" name="ActiveProxies[#i].EmailAddress" value="#Model.ActiveProxies[i].EmailAddress" />
</td>
</tr>
}
</table>
<br />
<input type="submit" />
...
for now, the action method handling the POST is just:
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult PostResetProxy( ActiveProxiesDTO formData )
{
return Redirect(Url.Action("Index", "Home", new { Area = "" }));
}
I set a breakpoint at the return statement and check the contents of formData.
Everything looks correct: The entire ActiveProxies list is present, If I enter email addresses on the form they post correctly to the proper entry of the list.
The problem is that, whether I check the "reset" box or not, the value is always passed back as false.
I've tried using Html.CheckBox and Html.CheckBoxFor in various ways as described elsewhere in this forum, but with no success. I've tried using string instead of bool for the checkbox value, but that also failed. I'm out of ideas. Anyone see what I'm doing wrong? -- TIA Gus

Answer 1

I found a solution that works for me (it does not involve JavaScript (I'm not yet proficient in it).
Upon return to the method handling the Post request I checked the values in Request.Form[ "ActiveProxies[i].Reset"] and noticed that the value was always ",true" (strange that it has a "," prefix! A bug?) for every row of the table where I had "Reset?" checked, and the empty string wherever I had it unchecked.
So I got around the issue by adding logic at the top of my POST action that corrects the values in my formData argument. The (unfinished) Post method now reads as follows
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult PostResetProxy( ActiveProxiesDTO formData )
{
for ( int i=0 ; i < formData.ActiveProxies.Count ; i++ )
{
string x = Request.Form[ "ActiveProxies["+i+"].Reset"];
formData.ActiveProxies[i].Reset = x.Contains("true") ? true : false;
}
// for the time being, just return to the home page
return Redirect(Url.Action("Index", "Home", new { Area = "" }));
}

Answer 2

I've just discovered a better solution.
I had originally tried the #Html.CheckBox and #Html.CheckBoxFor helpers without success and therefore gave up on using helpers for my checkbox input.
To my surprise, the more general purpose "EditorFor" helper turned out to work where the ones purported to be specifically for a checkbox did not.
I replaced my original lines
<!-- checkboxes require both a hidden and non-hidden input element -->
<input type="hidden" name="ActiveProxies[#i].Reset" value="#Model.ActiveProxies[i].Reset" />
<input type="checkbox" name="ActiveProxies[#i].Reset" value="true" />
with the single line
#Html.EditorFor(m => Model.ActiveProxies[i].Reset)
and ... to my surprise, it worked, allowing me to take the kluge code out of my POST method.