Validation failed for one or more entities. See 'EntityValidationErrors' property for more details. ASP.NET MVC

Question

I have encountered the error shown as my title. I have tried to search for solutions but all I got is solution about using try catch code blocks.

I have been using a course documentation that I have made to guide me on doing this project but the error that I have encountered this time, I am clueless about which part has gone wrong and how to check the wrong part.

There are two parts that I have commented it with // strange comments which means that I have no idea is it where the error occur or something like that.

Thanks for reading my question.

This is my PetRescued Model

public class PetRescued
{
    public int Id { get; set; }

    [Required]
    [StringLength(255)]
    public string PetName { get; set; }

    public int PetAge { get; set; }

    [Required]
    [StringLength(6)]
    public string PetGender { get; set; }

    public short PetWeightInKg { get; set; }

    public DateTime DateWhenRescued { get; set; }

    public PetSpecies PetSpecies { get; set; }

    public byte PetSpeciesId { get; set; }

}

This is my PetRescued Controller

 public ActionResult New() //populate form
    {
        var petspecies = _context.PetSpecieses.ToList();

        var viewModel = new PetRescuedViewModel
        {
            PetSpecies = petspecies
        };

        return View("PetRescued", viewModel);
    }

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Save(PetRescued petRescued)
{
    if (petRescued.Id == 0)
        _context.PetRescueds.Add(petRescued);
    else
    {
        var petRescuedInDb = _context.PetRescueds.Single(c => c.Id == petRescued.Id);
        petRescuedInDb.PetName = petRescued.PetName;
        petRescuedInDb.PetAge = petRescued.PetAge;
        petRescuedInDb.PetGender = petRescued.PetGender;
        petRescuedInDb.PetWeightInKg = petRescued.PetWeightInKg;
        petRescuedInDb.PetSpeciesId = petRescued.PetSpeciesId; //strange
        petRescuedInDb.DateWhenRescued = petRescued.DateWhenRescued;
     }

    _context.SaveChanges();
    return RedirectToAction("Index", "PetRescued");
}

This is my PetRescued ViewModel

public class PetRescuedViewModel
{
    public IEnumerable<PetSpecies> PetSpecies { get; set; }

    public PetRescued PetRescueds { get; set; }


    public PetRescuedViewModel()
    {
        PetRescueds = new PetRescued(); 
    }
}

This is my PetRescued Form

@using (Html.BeginForm("Save", "PetRescued"))
{
<div class="form-group">
    @Html.LabelFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetName)
    @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetName, new { @class = "form-control" })
</div>

//strange
<div class="form-group">
    @Html.LabelFor(m => m.PetSpecies)
    @Html.DropDownListFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetSpeciesId, new SelectList(Model.PetSpecies, "Id", "SpeciesName"), "Select A Species", new {@class = "form-control"})    
</div>

<div class="form-group">
    @Html.LabelFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetAge)
    @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetAge, new { @class = "form-control" })
</div>

<div class="form-group">
    @Html.LabelFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetGender)
    @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetGender, new { @class = "form-control" })
</div>

<div class="form-group">
    @Html.LabelFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetWeightInKg)
    @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetWeightInKg, new { @class = "form-control" })
</div>

<div class="form-group">
    @Html.LabelFor(m => m.PetRescueds.DateWhenRescued)
    @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.PetRescueds.DateWhenRescued, "{0:d MMM yyyy}", new { @class = "form-control" }) 
</div>

@Html.HiddenFor(m => m.PetRescueds.Id)
<button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary">Save</button>
}

Answer 1

Let's try and fix this.

First, let's change your controller to be able to do something with the errors returned by the model binder.

[HttpGet]
public ActionResult New() //populate form
{
    var petspecies = _context.PetSpecieses.ToList();

    var viewModel = new PetRescuedViewModel
    {
        PetSpecies = petspecies
    };

    return View("PetRescued", viewModel);
}

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Save(PetRescuedViewModel viewModel)
{
    if (ModelState.IsValid) // Check for errors
    {
        if (petRescued.Id == 0)
            _context.PetRescueds.Add(petRescued);
        else
        {
            var petRescuedInDb = _context.PetRescueds.Single(c => c.Id == petRescued.Id);
            petRescuedInDb.PetName = viewModel.PetRescued.PetName;
            petRescuedInDb.PetAge = viewModel.PetRescued.PetAge;
            petRescuedInDb.PetGender = viewModel.PetRescued.PetGender;
            petRescuedInDb.PetWeightInKg = viewModel.PetRescued.PetWeightInKg;
            petRescuedInDb.PetSpeciesId = viewModel.PetRescued.PetSpeciesId; //strange
            petRescuedInDb.DateWhenRescued = viewModel.PetRescued.DateWhenRescued;
        }

        _context.SaveChanges();
        return RedirectToAction("Index", "PetRescued");
    }

    viewModel.PetSpecies = _context.PetSpecieses.ToList();  // populate the list again as the contents are lost when the form is submitted.

    return View("PetRescued", viewModel); // validation errors found, so redisplay the same view
}

Then, change your view to display the errors. We're basically doing what this answer suggests.

@using (Html.BeginForm("Save", "PetRescued"))
{
    // Displays a summary of all the errors.
    @Html.ValidationSummary() 

    <div class="form-group">
        @Html.LabelFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetName)
        @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetName, new { @class = "form-control" })
        // Or you can add this to each property            
        @Html.ValidationMessageFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetName) 
    </div>

    //strange
    <div class="form-group">
        @Html.LabelFor(m => m.PetSpecies)
        @Html.DropDownListFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetSpeciesId, new SelectList(Model.PetSpecies, "Id", "SpeciesName"), "Select A Species", new {@class = "form-control"})    
    </div>

    <div class="form-group">
        @Html.LabelFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetAge)
        @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetAge, new { @class = "form-control" })
    </div>

    <div class="form-group">
        @Html.LabelFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetGender)
        @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetGender, new { @class = "form-control" })
    </div>

    <div class="form-group">
        @Html.LabelFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetWeightInKg)
        @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetWeightInKg, new { @class = "form-control" })
    </div>

    <div class="form-group">
        @Html.LabelFor(m => m.PetRescueds.DateWhenRescued)
        @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.PetRescueds.DateWhenRescued, "{0:d MMM yyyy}", new { @class = "form-control" }) 
    </div>

    @Html.HiddenFor(m => m.PetRescueds.Id)
    <button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary">Save</button>
}

The above changes will at least give you which properties are having the problem.

The next step would be to fix the actual problem. If you do the above and can't figure it out further let me know which properties it is and I'll take a look.

I'm guessing it is public byte PetSpeciesId { get; set; } but let's see.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Look at your model definition

// This means this value is required 
// and should not be greater than 255 characters 
[Required]
[StringLength(255)]
public string PetName { get; set; }

// This means this value is required 
// and should not be greater than 6 characters 
[Required]
[StringLength(6)]
public string PetGender { get; set; }

So either you are not sending a value from your client app or it is larger than the restrictions you stated. Change your action method to this to validate your model in your backend (you should never trust the client input)

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Save(PetRescued petRescued)
{
    if (ModelState.IsValid) // Check for errors
    {
        if (petRescued.Id == 0)
            _context.PetRescueds.Add(petRescued);
        else
        {
            var petRescuedInDb = _context.PetRescueds.Single(c => c.Id == petRescued.Id);
            petRescuedInDb.PetName = petRescued.PetName;
            petRescuedInDb.PetAge = petRescued.PetAge;
            petRescuedInDb.PetGender = petRescued.PetGender;
            petRescuedInDb.PetWeightInKg = petRescued.PetWeightInKg;
            petRescuedInDb.PetSpeciesId = petRescued.PetSpeciesId; //strange
            petRescuedInDb.DateWhenRescued = petRescued.DateWhenRescued;
         }

        _context.SaveChanges();
        return RedirectToAction("Index", "PetRescued");
    }
    else
        return View(petRescued); // Return the same view with the original data
                                 // or with the correct model of your view, at least
}

UPDATE

Correct your view model to reflect your correct data. That means, make sure you are sending the correct model to the backend. ASP.Net MVC has something called Model Binding, which is the mechanism used to convert the data received from the client into your C# model. By default, it works by detecting the name of the values passed from the client and finding an exact mapping with the properties of the model. That means that in your view you are declaring this

    @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetName, new { @class = "form-control" })

So, if you inspect the data sent by the browser you will see that the form data includes something like

PetRescueds.PetAge: whatever_the_client_typed

That will not be mapped to your model, because your model doesn't have a property named PetRescueds with a subproperty named PetName, your action model is directly a PetRescued model. So either change your view by specifying directly the name attr like this

    @Html.TextBox("PetName", Model.PetRescueds.PetName, new { @class = "form-control" })

Or change your action model to reflect your view model definition. Either way, your view model should be consistent through your action and view. Otherwise, you will end up receiving null values in your action model in spite of filling them correctly on your view, or showing empty values in your views regardless of what you actually created on your controller action.

So, basically, check your model definitions. Make sure you are using a correct model definition to display in your views. Make sure your view is correctly defined as to what you are expecting to receive in your backend controller.

Then, change your view to include validation errors retrieved from the server

@using (Html.BeginForm("Save", "PetRescued"))
{
<!-- This will show your errors-->
@Html.ValidationSummary()
<div class="form-group">
    @Html.LabelFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetName)
    <!-- Or you can show errors for each model property -->
    <!-- like this -->
    @Html.ValidationMessageFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetName);
    @Html.TextBox("PetName", Model.PetRescueds.PetName, new { @class = "form-control" })
</div>

//strange
<div class="form-group">
    @Html.LabelFor(m => m.PetSpecies)
    @Html.DropDownListFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetSpeciesId, new SelectList(Model.PetSpecies, "Id", "SpeciesName"), "Select A Species", new {@class = "form-control"})    
</div>

<div class="form-group">
    @Html.LabelFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetAge)
    @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetAge, new { @class = "form-control" })
</div>

<div class="form-group">
    @Html.LabelFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetGender)
    @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetGender, new { @class = "form-control" })
</div>

<div class="form-group">
    @Html.LabelFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetWeightInKg)
    @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.PetRescueds.PetWeightInKg, new { @class = "form-control" })
</div>

<div class="form-group">
    @Html.LabelFor(m => m.PetRescueds.DateWhenRescued)
    @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.PetRescueds.DateWhenRescued, "{0:d MMM yyyy}", new { @class = "form-control" }) 
</div>

@Html.HiddenFor(m => m.PetRescueds.Id)
<button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary">Save</button>
}

You can read more about data validation at Microsofts's

Answer 3

You should use the try and catch method to see which fields cause the 'EntityValidationErrors' :

ActionResult Save =>

    try
    {
        _context.SaveChanges();;
    }
    catch (DbEntityValidationException ex)
    {
        var sb = new StringBuilder();

        foreach (var failure in ex.EntityValidationErrors)
        {
            sb.AppendFormat("{0} failed validation\n", failure.Entry.Entity.GetType());
            foreach (var error in failure.ValidationErrors)
            {
                sb.AppendFormat("- {0} : {1}", error.PropertyName, error.ErrorMessage);
                sb.AppendLine();
            }
        }

        throw new DbEntityValidationException(
            "Entity Validation Failed - errors follow:\n" +
            sb.ToString(), ex
            );
    }

You will know then which records do the exception.