Getting values of check-box from formcollection in asp.net mvc

Question

I viewed some topics here but I still have a problem with getting values from checkboxes.

Part of Model :

public Dictionary<Language, bool> TargetLanguages { get; set; }

Part of View :

    <div class="editor-label">
        <label for="TargetLanguages">select target languages</label>
    </div>
    <div class="editor-field">
        <form>
            @foreach (var item in Model.TargetLanguages)
            {                    
                @Html.CheckBox("TargetLanguages["+item.Key.Name+"]", item.Value)
                @item.Key.Name
            }
        </form>
    </div>

Part of Controller :

    [HttpPost, ActionName("AddDictionary")]
    public ActionResult AddDictionary(FormCollection collection)
    {
     ...
    }

And the problem is I don't get any trace of TargetLanguages in my FormCollection. I tried CheckBoxFor but it wasn't help. I tried write check-box manually also.

EDITED : Okay, I just noticed where the problem was. I've got messed up markers and that was the reason why I can't get data from FormCollection.

Answer 1

Create all the checkboxes with the same name. In this sample I'm using 'SelectedTargetLanguages'.

@using (Html.BeginForm())
{
    foreach (var item in Model.TargetLanguages)
    {
        <label>
            @Html.CheckBoxFor(m => m.SelectedTargetLanguages, item.value)
            @item.KeyName
        </label>
    }
    <br/>
    @Html.SubmitButton("Actualizar listado")
}

Then, in your action the parameter must be an array of strings like this:

public ActionResult AddDictionary(string[] selectedTargetLanguages)

Note that the name of the argument is the same name of the checkboxes. (It works even with the different casing).

You should use explicit arguments like this, rather than the generic FormCollection. Anyway, if you use FormCollection, you shpuld also receive the array.