I have a class library which includes a custom MVC model binder to instantiate various concrete types which derive from an abstract class. The model binder is almost identical to the one described in this post.
It works fine when using it from within the same Visual Studio Solution that also includes an MVC web application for testing.
My problem is that having created a nuget package from the assembly and included it in a totally separate MVC application the model binder no longer works, despite having configured it correctly in Global.asax.cs.
After some hair pulling I recreated the model binder directly in the separate MVC app, and as I was doing so I noticed that the overridden CreateModel() method in the binder is protected. It now gets executed and I suspect the protected keyword has something to do with it but I would like someone to explain why exactly.
Even with the 'local' modelbinder there are more problems. When it executes, and tries to instantiate the concrete object, I get an exception Could not load type XXXX from assembly { separate MVC project assembly name} so it seems the model binder is unable to load types from outside its own assembly.
Can anyone give me more information on why this happens and what I can do to work around it? Bearing in mind I need the model binder and models to reside in the class library not in the MVC assembly.
OK so I was being stupid. It turns out that a few assumptions led me on a wild goose chase.
The ModelBinder was executing correctly to start with. My viewmodel had nested properties which were also abstract base types and required the model binder but I hadn't put the hidden fields in the view to identify their concrete type, nor had I added them to the Global.asax configuration. Once I did this everything started to work as expected.