I have the following in my controller:
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Data.Entity;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.Linq;
using System.Net;
using System.Web.Mvc;
using ContactReport_MVC.Models;
namespace ContactReport_MVC.Controllers
{
public class ReportsController : Controller
{
private ReportDBContext db = new ReportDBContext();
// GET: Reports
public ActionResult Index()
{
return View(db.Reports.ToList());
}
// GET: Reports/Details/5
public ActionResult Details(int? id)
{
if (id == null)
{
return new HttpStatusCodeResult(HttpStatusCode.BadRequest);
}
Report report = db.Reports.Find(id);
if (report == null)
{
return HttpNotFound();
}
return View(report);
}
// GET: Reports/Create
public ActionResult Create()
{
var model = new Report();
model.ContactsList = GetContacts();
return View(model);
}
// POST: Reports/Create
// To protect from overposting attacks, please enable the specific properties you want to bind to, for
// more details see https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=317598.
[HttpPost]
[ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
public ActionResult Create(Report report)
{
if (ModelState.IsValid)
{
db.Reports.Add(report);
db.SaveChanges();
return RedirectToAction("Index");
}
var model = new Report();
return View(model);
}
// GET: Reports/Edit/5
public ActionResult Edit(int? id)
{
if (id == null)
{
return new HttpStatusCodeResult(HttpStatusCode.BadRequest);
}
Report report = db.Reports.Find(id);
if (report == null)
{
return HttpNotFound();
}
return View(report);
}
// POST: Reports/Edit/5
// To protect from overposting attacks, please enable the specific properties you want to bind to, for
// more details see https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=317598.
[HttpPost]
[ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
public ActionResult Edit([Bind(Include = "Id,Contacts,MeetingDate,SubmittedBy,ClientType,Location,ContactName,Purpose,Discussed,Actions")] Report report)
{
if (ModelState.IsValid)
{
db.Entry(report).State = EntityState.Modified;
db.SaveChanges();
return RedirectToAction("Index");
}
return View(report);
}
// GET: Reports/Delete/5
public ActionResult Delete(int? id)
{
if (id == null)
{
return new HttpStatusCodeResult(HttpStatusCode.BadRequest);
}
Report report = db.Reports.Find(id);
if (report == null)
{
return HttpNotFound();
}
return View(report);
}
// POST: Reports/Delete/5
[HttpPost, ActionName("Delete")]
[ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
public ActionResult DeleteConfirmed(int id)
{
Report report = db.Reports.Find(id);
db.Reports.Remove(report);
db.SaveChanges();
return RedirectToAction("Index");
}
protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)
{
if (disposing)
{
db.Dispose();
}
base.Dispose(disposing);
}
private static List<SelectListItem> GetContacts()
{
List<SelectListItem> items = new List<SelectListItem>();
string constr = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["650sContactReportConnectionString"].ConnectionString;
using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(constr))
{
string query = @"SELECT TOP 1000 e.DisplayEmployeeId as [Id], EmployeeDescNoID as [Name]
FROM [Cascade].[dbo].[Employee] e
join [Cascade].[dbo].[EmployeeJobs] ej on e.employeeid = ej.EmployeeId
Where
(e.leftdate is null
and ej.sys_ActiveJob = 1)
order by surname asc";
using (SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(query))
{
cmd.Connection = con;
con.Open();
using (SqlDataReader sdr = cmd.ExecuteReader())
{
while (sdr.Read())
{
items.Add(new SelectListItem
{
Text = sdr["Name"].ToString(),
Value = sdr["Id"].ToString()
});
}
}
con.Close();
}
}
return items;
}
}
}
If I try to post the form using this (at /Reports/Create), I get the following error:
System.InvalidOperationException: 'There is no ViewData item of type 'IEnumerable' that has the key 'Contacts'.'
I can get around this by putting this into my controller: report.ContactsList = new List<SelectListItem>(); but then my dropdown list shows up as empty.
My HTML helper looks like this:
@Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.Contacts, Model.ContactsList, new { @class = "form-control js-data", @multiple = "multiple", @placeholder = "Type here to search, press enter or tab to select" })
I guess I am asking how to pass the populated list from the Controller's Create method, into the Post method so that it can be commited to the database.
Also how do I store the value of the list (multiple select drop-down list) into the string field defined in the model as Contacts?
Model code:
public class Report
{
public int Id { get; set; }
[Required]
[Display(Name = "Relevant Contacts")]
public string Contacts { get; set; }
[Required]
[Display(Name = "Date of meeting")]
[DataType(DataType.Date)]
[DisplayFormat(DataFormatString = "{0:d}", ApplyFormatInEditMode = true)]
public DateTime MeetingDate { get; set; }
[Required]
public string CompanyName { get; set; }
[Display(Name = "Submitted By")]
public string SubmittedBy { get; set; }
[Required]
[Display(Name = "Client Type")]
public string ClientType { get; set; }
[Required]
[Display(Name = "Location of meeting")]
public string Location { get; set; }
[Required]
[Display(Name = "Client Contact(s)")]
public string ContactName { get; set; }
[Required]
[Display(Name = "Purpose of meeting")]
public string Purpose { get; set; }
[AllowHtml]
[Required]
[Display(Name = "What was discussed")]
[Column(TypeName = "varchar(MAX)")]
public string Discussed { get; set; }
[AllowHtml]
[Required]
[Display(Name = "Actions to take")]
[Column(TypeName = "varchar(MAX)")]
public string Actions { get; set; }
[NotMapped]
public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> ContactsList { get; set; }
}
public class ReportDBContext : DbContext
{
public DbSet<Report> Reports { get; set; }
}
