Custom shape model EDIT problem

Question

I have a person table which has two properties: ID, nameID; And a personName table which has four properties: NameID, Firstname, Middlename, Lastname; Here nameID is a foreign key form PersonName table to PersonTable; (Hope you understand i am here to test the multi valued attribute test.)

Then i made a ADO.net datamodel of these two tables. After that i made a custom shape model called NameViewData which looks like:

public class NameViewData
{
    public Person Person { get; set; }
    public PersonName Name { get; set; }

    public NameViewData(Person person, PersonName personName)
    {
        Person = person;
        Name = personName;
    }
}

I created a name controller where i wish to use CRUD operations. In this controller i wrote the Edit action(GET Method) like this:

public ActionResult Edit(int id)
    {
        Person person = db.Person.First(x=>x.Id == id);
        PersonName personName = db.PersonName.First(x=>x.NameId == id); 
        return View(new NameViewData(person, personName));
    }

Now the problem is that i am not sure how to write the Edit action (POST method) and the Edit View page. I wrote like this:

Edit View:

Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewPage<Name.Models.NameViewData>

<% using (Html.BeginForm()) {%>

    <fieldset>
        <legend>Fields</legend>

        <p>
            <label for="Name.Firstname">Firstname:</label>
            <%= Html.TextBox("Name.Firstname", Model.Name.Firstname)%>
            <%= Html.ValidationMessage("Name.Firstname", "*")%>
        </p>
        <p>
            <label for="Name.Middlename">Middlename:</label>
            <%= Html.TextBox("Name.Middlename", Model.Name.Middlename)%>
            <%= Html.ValidationMessage("Name.Middlename", "*")%>
        </p>
        <p>
            <label for="Name.Lastname">Lastname:</label>
            <%= Html.TextBox("Name.Lastname", Model.Name.Lastname)%>
            <%= Html.ValidationMessage("Name.Lastname", "*")%>
        </p>
        <p>
            <input type="submit" value="Save" />
        </p>
    </fieldset>

<% } %>

Edit POST:

[AcceptVerbs(HttpVerbs.Post)]
    public ActionResult Edit(int id, FormCollection collection)
    {
        Person person = db.Person.First(x=>x.Id == id);
        PersonName personName = db.PersonName.First(x=>x.NameId == id);
        NameViewData nameViewData = new NameViewData(person, personName);
        try
        {
            TryUpdateModel(nameViewData);

            if (ModelState.IsValid)
            {
                db.AddToPersonName(nameViewData.Name);
                db.AddToPerson(nameViewData.Person);
                db.SaveChanges();
            }

            return RedirectToAction("Index");
        }
        catch
        {
            return View();
        }
    }

But this not working. Can you please help me out. And also what should i read about custom shape view model, provide any link if possible.

Answer 1

Your "Edit Post" action should be as follows:

public ActionResult Edit(int id, NameViewData person)
{
  ....
}

Answer 2

Your basic pattern seems ok to me, you have your submit input to submit your form, however you are not specifying the action method etc in your form declaration. try something like this (take a look at the overrides to select the most appropriate for your situation...

<% using (Html.BeginForm("Edit", "ControllerName", new { id = Model.Person.Id, ....