Model Binding on Multiple Model Form Submission from Strongly-Typed View

Question

I\'m having problems binding on a form with multiple models being submitted. I have a complaint form which includes complaint info as well as one-to-many complainants. I\'m tr

Answer 1

To get this to work without case-by-case workarounds you need to create your own model binder and override method SetProperty:

public class MyDefaultModelBinder : DefaultModelBinder
{
    protected override void SetProperty(ControllerContext controllerContext, ModelBindingContext bindingContext, PropertyDescriptor propertyDescriptor, object value)
    { 
        ModelMetadata propertyMetadata = bindingContext.PropertyMetadata[propertyDescriptor.Name]; 
        propertyMetadata.Model = value;
        string modelStateKey = CreateSubPropertyName(bindingContext.ModelName, propertyMetadata.PropertyName);

        // Try to set a value into the property unless we know it will fail (read-only 
        // properties and null values with non-nullable types)
        if (!propertyDescriptor.IsReadOnly) { 
        try {
            if (value == null)
            {
            propertyDescriptor.SetValue(bindingContext.Model, value);
            }
            else
            {
            Type valueType = value.GetType();

            if (valueType.IsGenericType && valueType.GetGenericTypeDefinition() == typeof(EntityCollection<>))
            {
                IListSource ls = (IListSource)propertyDescriptor.GetValue(bindingContext.Model);
                IList list = ls.GetList();

                foreach (var item in (IEnumerable)value)
                {
                list.Add(item);
                }
            }
            else
            {
                propertyDescriptor.SetValue(bindingContext.Model, value);
            }
            }

        }
        catch (Exception ex) {
            // Only add if we're not already invalid
            if (bindingContext.ModelState.IsValidField(modelStateKey)) { 
            bindingContext.ModelState.AddModelError(modelStateKey, ex); 
            }
        } 
        }
    }
}

Don't forget to register your binder in Global.asax:

ModelBinders.Binders.DefaultBinder = new MyDefaultModelBinder();