MVC CheckBoxList model binding with non boolean

Question

I want to bind a List to CheckBox and get the selected values. I need to display two such Checkbox tables and have to retrieve both the IDs.

Below is my ViewModel

public partial class ViewModel_Role_Security
{
    public List<Roles> oRoleMaster { get; set; }
    public List<Securities> oSecurityMaster { get; set; }

}

All these three have these two values 1. ID 2. Name (In this case for Role - ID, RoleName | for Securities - ID, SecurityName ...) //add 3rd property of type bool isselected in order to work eith checkboxes only then you will get it posted back These don't have any boolean values

By using this ViewModel I'm binding these items using the below method...

public ActionResult AddingRoleSecurity()
{        
    ListRoles = new List<Roles>();
    ListSecurities = new List<Securities>();  //And then populate them with data ...

    var model = new ViewModel_Role_Security();
    model.oRoleMaster = ListRoles;
    model.oSecurityMaster = ListSecurities;
    return View(model);
}

My corresponding cshtml file is..

@model KnackWFM.BusinessEntities.ViewModel_Role_Security

@using (Html.BeginForm())
{
    <div class="contentsecurity">

        <div class="User_role">
            <p class="Security_role">User Role</p>

            @for (int i = 0; i < Model.oRoleMaster.Count; i++)
            {
                <input id="@Model.oRoleMaster[i].RoleID" name="@Model.oRoleMaster[i].RoleName" type="checkbox" value="@(Model.oRoleMaster[i].RoleName)" />
                <label for="@Model.oRoleMaster[i].RoleID">@Model.oRoleMaster[i].RoleName</label>
                <br />
                @Html.CheckBoxFor(Model.oRoleMaster[i].RoleID.selec)
            }

        </div>

        <div class="User_Page">
            <p class="Security_role">Role Security</p>

            @for (int i = 0; i < Model.oSecurityMaster.Count; i++)
            {
                <input id="@Model.oSecurityMaster[i].SecurityID" name="@Model.oSecurityMaster[i].SecurityName" type="checkbox" value="@(Model.oSecurityMaster[i].SecurityName)" />
                <label for="@Model.oSecurityMaster[i].SecurityID">@Model.oSecurityMaster[i].SecurityName</label>
                <br />
            }

        </div>
        <div class="bottombuttonsecurity">
            <button type="submit" id="btnSave" name="Command" value="Save" style="background-color: #3d3c4c;border-radius: 8px;color: white;padding: 5px;border: 1px solid #3d3c4c;">Save</button>
        </div>
    </div>
}

For which I get the following output,

I would want to get the checked values as a model.

I have a HttpPost method like this, but it returns null values.

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult AddingRoleSecurity(ViewModel_Role_Security model)
{
    return View();
}

Please let me know how do I get the checked in values in the model?

Thank you very much!

Answer 1

Just to flesh out my comment above...

For a checkboxList - the viewmodel should include both an identifier property, and boolean selected property. If it doesn't already then either extend or create a new ViewModel class to fulfil this purpose - map your existing model to this specific viewmodel.

i.e. - Your Model Class(es)

public class UserRole
{
  public int RoleID {get; set;}
  public string RoleName {get; set;}
  public bool Selected {get; set;}
}

public class UserSecurity
{
  public int SecurityID {get; set;}
  public string SecurityName {get; set;}
  public bool Selected {get; set;}
}

public class UserRoleAndSecurityModel
{
  public List<UserRole> RoleMaster {get; set;}
  public List<UserSecurity> SecurityMaster {get; set;}
}

Your View: Note that in addition to the checkboxes Html.HiddenFor()has been included for each of the UserRole/UserSecurity ID properties, which allows MVC to bind the ID properties after postback.

@model UserRoleAndSecurityModel   

@using (Html.BeginForm())
{
    <div class="contentsecurity">  
        <div class="User_role">
            <p class="Security_role">User Role</p>

            @for (int i = 0; i < Model.RoleMaster.Count; i++)
            {
                @Html.CheckBoxFor(m => m.RoleMaster[i].Selected)
                @Html.HiddenFor(m => m.RoleMaster[i].RoleId)
                @Html.LabelFor(m => m.RoleMaster[i].Selected, 
                                    Model.RoleMaster[i].RoleName)
                <br />
            }
        </div>

        <div class="User_Page">
            <p class="Security_role">Role Security</p>

            @for (int i = 0; i < Model.SecurityMaster.Count; i++)
            {
                @Html.CheckBoxFor(m => m.SecurityMaster[i].Selected)
                @Html.HiddenFor(m => m.SecurityMaster[i].SecurityId) 
                @Html.LabelFor(m => m.SecurityMaster[i].Selected, 
                                    Model.SecurityMaster[i].SecurityName)
                <br />

            }
        </div>
        <div class="bottombuttonsecurity">
            <button type="submit" id="btnSave" name="Command" value="Save" style="background-color: #3d3c4c;border-radius: 8px;color: white;padding: 5px;border: 1px solid #3d3c4c;">Save</button>
        </div>
    </div>

and your controller should now use the new model above too!