Update
I have since realised the underlying cause of this problem, and have detailed it in another question, here: How Can I Use Custom Validation Attributes on Child Models of a DB Entity?
I have a WebsiteConfiguration model that consists of a number of sub models, broken down as such for convenience.
public class WebsiteConfiguration
{
[Key]
[DatabaseGenerated(DatabaseGeneratedOption.Identity)]
public int ID { get; set; }
public TitleAuthorAndPublishingConfiguration TitleAuthorAndPublishing { get; set; }
public BookChaptersAndSectionsConfiguration BookChaptersAndSections { get; set; }
public SocialMediaLoginsConfiguration SocialMediaLogins { get; set; }
public TagGroupsConfiguration TagGroups { get; set; }
}
I am trying to add a DataAnnotation to one of the sub models, making certain properties required if another is marked as true. Like this:
public class SocialMediaLoginsConfiguration
{
public bool Initialised { get; set; }
public bool IsLoginWithFacebookEnabled { get; set; }
[RequiredIfEnabled("IsLoginWithFacebookEnabled")]
public string LoginWithFacebookAppID { get; set; }
[RequiredIfEnabled("IsLoginWithFacebookEnabled")]
public string LoginWithFacebookAppSecret { get; set; }
}
The DataAnnotation code is:
[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Property, AllowMultiple = true, Inherited = false)]
public class RequiredIfEnabledAttribute : ValidationAttribute
{
private string _ifWhatIsEnabled { get; set; }
public RequiredIfEnabledAttribute(string IfWhatIsEnabled)
{
_ifWhatIsEnabled = IfWhatIsEnabled;
}
protected override ValidationResult IsValid(object currentPropertyValue, ValidationContext validationContext)
{
var isEnabledProperty = validationContext.ObjectType.GetProperty(_ifWhatIsEnabled);
if (isEnabledProperty == null)
{
return new ValidationResult(
string.Format("Unknown property: {0}", _ifWhatIsEnabled)
);
}
var isEnabledPropertyValue = (bool)isEnabledProperty.GetValue(validationContext.ObjectInstance, null);
if (isEnabledPropertyValue == true)
{
if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(currentPropertyValue.ToString()))
{
return new ValidationResult(String.Format("This field is required if {0} is enabled", isEnabledProperty));
}
}
return ValidationResult.Success;
}
}
When I attempt to get the value of IsLoginWithFacebookEnabled it looks for this property in the WebsiteConfiguration class, rather than the SocialMediaLoginsConfiguration. Even though the annoted property is in the latter.
How can I make it look for the property within the same class as the annotation?
Update
I think this is happening because I am calling DB.SaveChanges() on the WebsiteConfiguration, like this:
public void SeedWebsiteConfiguration()
{
var titleAuthorAndPublishingConfiguration = new TitleAuthorAndPublishingConfiguration()
{
// seed values
};
var bookChaptersAndSectionsConfiguration = new BookChaptersAndSectionsConfiguration()
{
// seed values
};
var socialMediaLoginConfiguration = new SocialMediaLoginsConfiguration()
{
// seed values
};
var tagGroupsConfiguration = new TagGroupsConfiguration()
{
// seed values
};
var websiteConfiguration = new WebsiteConfiguration()
{
TitleAuthorAndPublishing = titleAuthorAndPublishingConfiguration,
BookChaptersAndSections = bookChaptersAndSectionsConfiguration,
SocialMediaLogins = socialMediaLoginConfiguration,
TagGroups = tagGroupsConfiguration
};
DB.WebsiteConfiguration.Add(websiteConfiguration);
DB.SaveChanges();
}
But I don't want to create separate DB tables for each of the sub models. I'd like them stored together in one table, but in the code I'd like to manage them as sub models.
