Generic data input form in asp.net mvc application

Question

Hello, I have an application that have EF 16 classes that share this information: They all are classes only with a key field and a description. I think it should be a waste if I make a controller with just 1 method just to present a form to fill these classes info, then I was thinking in to make a generic form(with key, description) and dynamically fill the right class through a sort of selection the selected info in any way, any good suggestion or pattern to do that? Where the generic methods should be located.

Answer 1

Have you looked into MVC templates? You should be able to use templates to automatically "generate" your Edit and Display Views. No need to create a distinct View for each of your classes.

Answer 2

I had similar situation and did it almost like that:

interface IKeyDescription
{
    int Key { get; set; }
    string Description { get; set; }
}

public partial class Class1 : IKeyDescription;
public partial class Class2 : IKeyDescription;

public abstract class BaseKeyDescriptionController<T> where T : IKeyDescription
{
    [Inject]
    public IKeyDescriptionService<T> Service { get; set; }

    [HttpGet]
    public ActionResult List()
    {
         //View is stored in shared folder
         return View("List",Service.List());
    }

    [HttpPost]
    public ActionResult List(IList<T> elements)
    {
         Service.Save(elements);
         ....
    }
} 

public class Class1Controller : BaseKeyDescriptionController<Class1>
{
}

public class Class2Controller : BaseKeyDescriptionController<Class2>
{
}

View will inherit from System.Web.Mvc.ViewPage<IKeyDescription>.