asp.net mvc: why is Html.CheckBox generating an additional hidden input

Question

I just noticed that Html.CheckBox(\"foo\") generates 2 inputs instead of one, anybody knows why is this so ?

Answer 1

The hidden input was causing problems with styled checkboxes. So I created a Html Helper Extension to place the hidden input outside the div containing the CheckBox.

using System;
using System.Linq.Expressions;
using System.Text;
using System.Web.Mvc;
using System.Web.Routing;

namespace YourNameSpace
{
    public static class HtmlHelperExtensions
    {
        public static MvcHtmlString CustomCheckBoxFor<TModel, TValue>(this HtmlHelper<TModel> htmlHelper, Expression<Func<TModel, TValue>> expression, string labelText)
        {
            //get the data from the model binding
            var fieldName = ExpressionHelper.GetExpressionText(expression);
            var fullBindingName = htmlHelper.ViewContext.ViewData.TemplateInfo.GetFullHtmlFieldName(fieldName);
            var fieldId = TagBuilder.CreateSanitizedId(fullBindingName);
            var metaData = ModelMetadata.FromLambdaExpression(expression, htmlHelper.ViewData);
            var modelValue = metaData.Model;

            //create the checkbox
            TagBuilder checkbox = new TagBuilder("input");
            checkbox.MergeAttribute("type", "checkbox");
            checkbox.MergeAttribute("value", "true"); //the visible checkbox must always have true
            checkbox.MergeAttribute("name", fullBindingName);
            checkbox.MergeAttribute("id", fieldId);

            //is the checkbox checked
            bool isChecked = false;
            if (modelValue != null)
            {
                bool.TryParse(modelValue.ToString(), out isChecked);
            }
            if (isChecked)
            {
                checkbox.MergeAttribute("checked", "checked");
            }

            //add the validation
            checkbox.MergeAttributes(htmlHelper.GetUnobtrusiveValidationAttributes(fieldId, metaData));

            //create the outer div
            var outerDiv = new TagBuilder("div");
            outerDiv.AddCssClass("checkbox-container");

            //create the label in the outer div
            var label = new TagBuilder("label");
            label.MergeAttribute("for", fieldId);
            label.AddCssClass("checkbox");

            //render the control
            StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
            sb.AppendLine(outerDiv.ToString(TagRenderMode.StartTag));
            sb.AppendLine(checkbox.ToString(TagRenderMode.SelfClosing));
            sb.AppendLine(label.ToString(TagRenderMode.StartTag));
            sb.AppendLine(labelText); //the label
            sb.AppendLine("<svg width=\"10\" height=\"10\" class=\"icon-check\"><use xlink:href=\"/icons.svg#check\"></use></svg>"); //optional icon
            sb.AppendLine(label.ToString(TagRenderMode.EndTag));
            sb.AppendLine(outerDiv.ToString(TagRenderMode.EndTag));

            //create the extra hidden input needed by MVC outside the div
            TagBuilder hiddenCheckbox = new TagBuilder("input");
            hiddenCheckbox.MergeAttribute("type", HtmlHelper.GetInputTypeString(InputType.Hidden));
            hiddenCheckbox.MergeAttribute("name", fullBindingName);
            hiddenCheckbox.MergeAttribute("value", "false");
            sb.Append(hiddenCheckbox.ToString(TagRenderMode.SelfClosing));

            //return the custom checkbox
            return MvcHtmlString.Create(sb.ToString());
        }

Result

<div class="checkbox-container">
    <input checked="checked" id="Model_myCheckBox" name="Model.myCheckBox" type="checkbox" value="true">
    <label class="checkbox" for="Model_myCheckBox">
        The checkbox label
        <svg width="10" height="10" class="icon-check"><use xlink:href="/icons.svg#check"></use></svg>
    </label>
</div>
<input name="Model.myCheckBox" type="hidden" value="false">

Answer 2

when the check box is checked and submitted perform this

if ($('[name="foo"]:checked').length > 0)
    $('[name="foo"]:hidden').val(true);

Refer

Answer 3

Use Contains, it will work with the two possible post values: "false" or "true,false".

bool isChecked = Request.Form["foo"].Contains("true");

Answer 4

This is the strongly typed version of Alexander Trofimov's solution:

using System.Web.Mvc;
using System.Web.Mvc.Html;

public static class HelperUI
{
    public static MvcHtmlString CheckBoxSimpleFor<TModel>(this HtmlHelper<TModel> htmlHelper, Expression<Func<TModel, bool>> expression, object htmlAttributes)
    {
        string checkBoxWithHidden = htmlHelper.CheckBoxFor(expression, htmlAttributes).ToHtmlString().Trim();
        string pureCheckBox = checkBoxWithHidden.Substring(0, checkBoxWithHidden.IndexOf("<input", 1));
        return new MvcHtmlString(pureCheckBox);
    }
}

Answer 5

This is not a bug! It adds the possibility of having always a value, after posting the form to the server. If you want to deal with checkbox input fields with jQuery, use the prop method (pass the 'checked' property as the parameter). Example: $('#id').prop('checked')

Answer 6

You can try to initialize the constructor of your Model like that :

public MemberFormModel() {
    foo = true;
}

and in your view :

@html.Checkbox(...)
@html.Hidden(...)