How do I implement "create" controller action for a view with many fields in ASP.NET MVC

Question

I'm new to ASP.NET MVC so this may be a stupid question.

I have an account object that has many parameters. I've figured out a strategy to break this down into a "wizard"-like interface that will walk a user through collecting the required fields to create the initial business objects. It will then step through pages to collect other, optional, parameters. This way the user isn't faced with a single page on which they have to enter 30 things (I'm probably exaggerating the number, but you get the idea).

Still, the first page is going to have 10-12 items that the user needs to fill out before I can fill in all the required fields on the 2-3 business objects that accompany a successful registration. Basically, a new user needs to both get an account AND register for an event at the same time, thus the number of items.

In ASP.NET MVC it appears that all of my form parameters map onto method parameters in the controller method. Knowing that methods with lots of parameters are considered a code smell that ought to be refactored out, I'm wondering if there is a different way to accomplish this or if I'm stuck with a controller method that has a one-to-one mapping between form parameters and method parameters.

Is there a good known pattern that I've missed in my Google searches to solve this problem?

Answer 1

Have a look at Scott Gu's post on form posting scenarios. In particular you want to look at model binders.

Answer 2

There is always the old...

Request.Form("key");

Answer 3

Ditto joelc : MODEL BINDERS. His link points well.