@Html.HiddenFor does not work on Lists in ASP.NET MVC

Question

I\'m using a model that contains a List as a property. I\'m populating this list with items i grab from SQL Server. I want the List to be hidden in the view and passed to th

Answer 1

maybe late, but i created extension method for hidden fields from collection (with simple data type items):

So here it is:

/// <summary>
/// Returns an HTML hidden input element for each item in the object's property (collection) that is represented by the specified expression.
/// </summary>
public static IHtmlString HiddenForCollection<TModel, TProperty>(this HtmlHelper<TModel> html, Expression<Func<TModel, TProperty>> expression) where TProperty : ICollection
{
    var model = html.ViewData.Model;
    var property = model != null
                ? expression.Compile().Invoke(model)
                : default(TProperty);

    var result = new StringBuilder();
    if (property != null && property.Count > 0)
    {
        for(int i = 0; i < property.Count; i++)
        {
            var modelExp = expression.Parameters.First();
            var propertyExp = expression.Body;
            var itemExp = Expression.ArrayIndex(propertyExp, Expression.Constant(i));

            var itemExpression = Expression.Lambda<Func<TModel, object>>(itemExp, modelExp);

            result.AppendLine(html.HiddenFor(itemExpression).ToString());
        }
    }

    return new MvcHtmlString(result.ToString());
}

Usage is as simple as:

@Html.HiddenForCollection(m => m.MyList)