Accessible <label> in MVC

Question

Given the following MVC mark-up:

    <p>
        <label for="forenamesLabel">Forename(s):</label>
        <%: Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.ConsultantRegistrationDTO.Forenames) %>
        <%: Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.ConsultantRegistrationDTO.Forenames, "*") %>
    </p>

How is it possible for me to accurately set the label/@for attribute to the id of the generated TextBox by MVC? If I use @id as an HTML option, wouldn't that break my binding?

Answer 1

You can use

Html.LabelFor(c model => model.ConsultantRegistrationDTO.Forenames)

Then in your model you need to specify the DisplayNameAttribute from System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations. So your model would look something like this:

public class ConsultantModel
{
    [DisplayName("Forenames")]
    public string Forenames { get; set; }
}

Answer 2

As was suggested by Keltex you can use Html.LabelFor with a DisplayName decorator. A few considerations that go along with this.

LabelFor and DisplayName decorators are specific to MVC 2. This may or may not be an option for you.

Using this method, specifically using the DisplayName decorator, introduces View concerns into your Model which is sometimes not desirable. It is usually better to create a ViewModel and use the decorator there to preserve separation of concerns.

This also allows you to use the DisplayNameAttribute when your model is auto-generated as you've said yours is.