MVC get data from two models Create

Question

So yeah im trying to make a Create view for my "Product" and Im using a Collection model to get both Product and Customer in the same view. The only way i really know how to get the value is to do a foreach but that doesnt really work here :P The only search ive found are people saying to use model => model.product.Name etc, but that doesnt work for me maybe ive missed something?

What im going for is that i want to add a product to the customer thats selected in the dropdownlist. Will this code be enough for it or what do i need to have in mind?

EDIT Forgot to say that im trying to do like @Html.EditorFor(model => model.product.Name) but a working one and that handles Create well :s

@model Co56_Invoice_.Models.Collection
<h2>Skapa ny produkt</h2>
@using (Html.BeginForm())
{
@Html.AntiForgeryToken()
    <div class="form-horizontal">
        <hr />
        @Html.ValidationSummary(true, "", new { @class = "text-danger" })
        <div class="form-group">
            <div class="col-md-10">
                @Html.DropDownList("Kunder",
          Model.customer.Select(x => new SelectListItem()
          { Text = x.Name.ToString(), Value = x.CustomerID.ToString() }).ToList()
          , "Välj kund")
            </div>
        </div>





    </div>
    }
 <div>
     @Html.ActionLink("Back to List", "Index")
 </div>

@section Scripts {
@Scripts.Render("~/bundles/jqueryval")
}

---

public ActionResult Create()
    {
        col.customer = (from o in db.Customers select o).ToList();
        col.product = (from o in db.Products select o).ToList();
        return View(col);
    }

    [HttpPost]
    [ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
    public ActionResult Create([Bind(Include = "CustomerID,ProductID,Name,StartDate,Interval,Price,YearPrice,TotalPrice,Category,Paid")] Product product)
    {
        try
        {
            if (ModelState.IsValid)
            {
                db.Products.Add(product);
                db.SaveChanges();
                return RedirectToAction("Index");
            }
        }
        catch(Exception e)
        {
            throw e.InnerException;
        }

        return View(product);
    }

Answer 1

In your view you should use Using application.models.ViewModelName then in your foreach

 @foreach(model1 in Model) { }
 @foreach(model2 in Model) { }

Answer 2

I will recommend a number of changes to your approach.

First and foremost, if Product is what you are creating that should be your Model in the view and both of your Create methods (including the HTTP POST). *Just realised @Stephen Muecke point that out.

To address your issue with passing lists and other required data into the view, make extensive use of the ViewBag. Also, you need to preselect all your dropdown items.

So your Action Methods should look like this:

public ActionResult Create()
    {
        ViewBag.CustomerList =
            db.Customers
            .Select(x => new SelectListItem { Text = x.Name.ToString(), Value = x.CustomerID.ToString() })
            .ToList();

        ViewBag.ProductList = db.Products
            .Select(x => new SelectListItem { Text = x.Name.ToString(), Value = x.CustomerID.ToString() })
            .ToList();

        var m = new Product();

        /*
         do some initialization on the Product object if required.
         better still, use a factory method to create new instance of Product.
        */

        return View(m);
    }

    [HttpPost]
    [ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
    public ActionResult Create([Bind(Include = "CustomerID,ProductID,Name,StartDate,Interval,Price,YearPrice,TotalPrice,Category,Paid")] Product product)
    {
        try
        {
            if (ModelState.IsValid)
            {
                /*
                Use some helper method(s) to carry out extra validation on your model; unless it's all done unobtrusively with Validation Attributes
                */
                db.Products.Add(product);
                db.SaveChanges();
                return RedirectToAction("Index");
            }
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            throw e.InnerException;
        }

        return View(product);
    }

Then your view can look something like this:

@model Product

<h2>Skapa ny produkt</h2>
@using (Html.BeginForm())
{
@Html.AntiForgeryToken()
    <div class="form-horizontal">
        <hr />
        @Html.ValidationSummary(true, "", new { @class = "text-danger" })
        <div class="form-group">
            <div class="col-md-10">
                @Html.DropDownListFor(m => m.ProductId, (ViewBag.CustomerList as IEnumerable<SelectListItem>), "Välj kund")
            </div>
        </div>



        <!--Other fields can be included-->

    </div>
    }
 <div>
     @Html.ActionLink("Back to List", "Index")
 </div>

@section Scripts {
@Scripts.Render("~/bundles/jqueryval")
}