other inputs validation interfering with input that should allow null

Question

Hi everyone so I am trying to create an application using asp.net mvc with a code first database that allows the users to be able to create a blog post with as many images as they wish. The application works perfect as long as I have the head,body and image fields full or if I take validation off the head and body.The issue is if I have validation on the head and the body the program crashs with this validation error:

DbEntityValidationException An exception of type 'System.Data.Entity.Validation.DbEntityValidationException' occurred in Crud.dll but was not handled in user code

Additional information: Validation failed for one or more entities. See 'EntityValidationErrors' property for more details. The validation errors are: Heading is Required; Body is Required

Thanks for your help with this issue.

View

@model Crud.Models.PostModel
@{
    ViewBag.Title = "Create";
}
<h2>Create</h2>
@using (Html.BeginForm("Edit", "Home", null, FormMethod.Post, new { enctype = "multipart/form-data" }))
{
    @Html.AntiForgeryToken()
    @Html.ValidationSummary(true)
    <fieldset>
        <div class="editor-field">
            @Html.LabelFor(model => model.Heading)
            @Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.Heading)
            @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Heading)
        </div>
        <div>
            @Html.LabelFor(model => model.PostBody)
            @Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.PostBody)
            @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.PostBody)
        </div>
        <div class="editor-label">
            @*Temporary way to upload*@
            @Html.LabelFor(model => model.ImagePath)
            @Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.ImagePath, new { type = "file", multiple = "multiple", NAME = "files" })
        </div>
        <div class="editor-label">
            @*Future Upload links*@
            @*@Html.LabelFor(model => model.Images)
            @Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.Images, new { type = "file", multiple = "multiple" })
            @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Images)*@
        </div>

        <p><input type="submit" value="Create" /></p>
    </fieldset>
}
<div>
    @Html.ActionLink("Back to List", "Index")
</div>

Repository

public void Save(PostModel Post)
{
    try
    {
        if (Post.PostID == 0)
        {
            context.Posts.Add(Post);
        }
        else
        {
            PostModel dbEntry = context.Posts.Find(Post.PostID);
            if (dbEntry != null)
            {
                dbEntry.Heading = Post.Heading;
                dbEntry.PostBody = Post.PostBody;

            }
        }
        context.SaveChanges();

    }
    catch (DbEntityValidationException ex)
    {
        // Retrieve the error messages as a list of strings.
        var errorMessages = ex.EntityValidationErrors
                .SelectMany(x => x.ValidationErrors)
                .Select(x => x.ErrorMessage);

        // Join the list to a single string.
        var fullErrorMessage = string.Join("; ", errorMessages);

        // Combine the original exception message with the new one.
        var exceptionMessage = string.Concat(ex.Message, " The validation errors are: ", fullErrorMessage);

        // Throw a new DbEntityValidationException with the improved exception message.
        throw new DbEntityValidationException(exceptionMessage, ex.EntityValidationErrors);
    }
}

Model

  public partial class PostModel
    {
        [Key]
        [HiddenInput(DisplayValue = false)]
        public int PostID { get; set; }
        [Required(ErrorMessage = "Heading is Required")]
        [Display(Name = "Heading")]
        public string Heading { get; set; }
        [Required(ErrorMessage = "Body is Required")]
        [DataType(DataType.MultilineText)]
        [Display(Name = "Body")]
        public string PostBody { get; set; }
        public string ImageDisplayName { get; set; }
        public string ImagePath { get; set; } //Temporarly here until I can get the ImageModel Method Working
        //public virtual ICollection<ImageModel> Images { get; set; }
    }

Controller

  public ViewResult Create()
    {
        return View("Edit", new PostModel());

    }

public ViewResult Edit(int PostID)
{
    PostModel editedItem = repository.Posts
    .FirstOrDefault(p => p.PostID == PostID);
    return View(editedItem);
}
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Edit(PostModel Post, IEnumerable<HttpPostedFileBase> files)
{
    if (ModelState.IsValid)
    {
        foreach (var file in files)
        {
            PostModel post = new PostModel();
            if (file != null && file.ContentLength > 0)
            {
                string displayName = file.FileName;
                string fileExtension = Path.GetExtension(displayName);
                string fileName = string.Format("{0}.{1}", Guid.NewGuid(), fileExtension);
                string path = Path.Combine(Server.MapPath("~/Img/"), fileName);
                file.SaveAs(path);
                post.ImageDisplayName = displayName;
                post.ImagePath = fileName;
                post.PostBody = Post.PostBody;
                post.Heading = Post.Heading;
            }
            repository.Save(post);

        }
    }
    return RedirectToAction("display");
}

Answer 1

Why do you want to add the [Required] attribute if the fields are not actually required?Please see here for how required attribute is handled for strings - Allow empty strings for fields marked with PhoneAttribute or UrlAttribute