ModelState.IsValid returns false when it should be true - validation

Question

I have a pretty simple MVC 2 form. It has two dropdowns, user and role. The employee dropdown passes validation, and the role dropdown does not, regardless of what I select. There is no default "empty" option although I plan to implement one, which is why I need the validation to work. It fails both client and server validation. I just can't see why one would work and one does not!
The Form:
<% using (Html.BeginForm()) {%>
<%:Html.ValidationSummary(true) %>
<%:Html.EditorFor(model => model.User, new { AllEmployees = Model.AllEmployees, RoleList = Model.RoleList })%>
<p>
<input type="submit" value="Add New User" />
</p>
<% } %>
<% Html.EndForm(); %>
The Editor Template:
<tr>
<td>
<div class="editor-label">
<%: Html.LabelFor(model => model.UserId) %>
<%: Html.RequiredMarkFor(model => model.UserId) %>
</div>
</td>
<td>
<div class="editor-field">
<%: Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.UserId, new SelectList(ViewData["AllEmployees"] as IEnumerable, "UserId", "DisplayName", Model.UserId)) %>
<%: Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.UserId>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<div class="editor-label">
<%: Html.LabelFor(model => model.AccessLevel)%>
<%: Html.RequiredMarkFor(model => model.AccessLevel)%>
</div>
</td>
<td>
<div class="editor-field">
<%: Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.AccessLevel, new SelectList(ViewData["RoleList"] as IEnumerable, Model.AccessLevel))%>
<%: Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.AccessLevel)%>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
The Metadata:
[DisplayName("Employee")]
[Required(ErrorMessage = "Please select an employee.")]
[StringLength(8, ErrorMessage = "User Id must be less than 8 characters.")]
[DisplayFormat(ConvertEmptyStringToNull = false,
HtmlEncode = true)]
[DataType(DataType.Text)]
public object UserId { get; set; }
// Validation rules for Access Level
[DisplayName("Role")]
[Required(ErrorMessage = "Please select the role for this user.")]
[StringLength(15, ErrorMessage = "Role must be under 15 characters.")]
[DisplayFormat(ConvertEmptyStringToNull = false,
HtmlEncode = true)]
[DataType(DataType.Text)]
public object AccessLevel { get; set; }
The Get Action:
List<String> roles = (from o in txDB.Users
select o.AccessLevel).Distinct().ToList();
var viewModel = new UserViewModel
{
User = new User(),
AllEmployees = empList,
RoleList = roles
};
return View(viewModel);
The Post Action:
[HttpPost]
[AuthorizeAttribute(Roles="Administrator")]
public ActionResult Create(User user)
{
if(!ModelState.IsValid)
{
//ModelState is invalid
return View(new User());
}
try
{
//do stuff
}
}
The Required Helper Method (from Define markup for [Required] fields in View in ASP.NET MVC 2.0):
public static string RequiredMarkFor<TModel, TProperty>(this HtmlHelper<TModel> helper, Expression<Func<TModel, TProperty>> expression)
{
if(ModelMetadata.FromLambdaExpression(expression, helper.ViewData).IsRequired)
return "*";
else
return string.Empty;
}

Answer 1

Post method should be as follows to get Server side validation...
[HttpPost]
[AuthorizeAttribute(Roles="Administrator")]
public ActionResult Create(User user)
{
if(!TryUpdateModel(user))
{
// Model is INVALID
return View(user);
}
else
{
// ModelState is VALID
// Do stuff
}
}
The else might be redundant depending on what you're doing but that should get you going.
In the view above your <% using Html.BeginForm() %> you need
<% Html.EnableClientValidation(); %>
You also need to reference the scripts, MicrosoftAjax and MicrosoftMvcValidation I think

Answer 2

First of all: You have two closing form tags
If you use
<% using (Html.BeginForm()) {%>
<% } %>
you dont need to use this
<% Html.EndForm(); %>
Regarding your validation problem you are using an editor only for your User property, which is the only one that get binded by the model binder
<%:Html.EditorFor(model => model.User, new { AllEmployees = Model.AllEmployees, RoleList = Model.RoleList })%>
Try to replace the previous code with an EditorForModel as your Editor Template is for a model class.
So your form should change in
<% using (Html.BeginForm()) {%>
<%:Html.ValidationSummary(true) %>
<table>
<%:Html.EditorForModel()%>
</table>
<p>
<input type="submit" value="Add New User" />
</p>
<% } %>
and you're done!