Manually invoking ModelState validation

Question

I'm using ASP.NET MVC 3 code-first and I have added validation data annotations to my models. Here's an example model:

public class Product
{
    public int ProductId { get; set; }

    [Required(ErrorMessage = "Please enter a name")]
    public string Name { get; set; }

    [Required(ErrorMessage = "Please enter a description")]
    [DataType(DataType.MultilineText)]
    public string Description { get; set; }

    [Required(ErrorMessage = "Please provide a logo")]
    public string Logo { get; set; }
}

In my website I have a multi-step process to create a new product - step 1 you enter product details, step 2 other information etc. Between each step I'm storing each object (i.e. a Product object) in the Session, so the user can go back to that stage of the process and amend the data they entered.

On each screen I have client-side validation working with the new jQuery validation fine.

The final stage is a confirm screen after which the product gets created in the database. However because the user can jump between stages, I need to validate the objects (Product and some others) to check that they have completed the data correctly.

Is there any way to programatically call the ModelState validation on an object that has data annotations? I don't want to have to go through each property on the object and do manual validation.

I'm open to suggestions of how to improve this process if it makes it easier to use the model validation features of ASP.NET MVC 3.

score 75 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 15 '11 at 15:42

75

You can call the ValidateModel method within a Controller action (documentation here).

answered Jun 15 '11 at 15:42

Steve

1,440
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13

12

Thanks, I used TryUpdateModel() in the end so I didn't have exceptions raised. – Sam Huggill Jun 15 '11 at 17:02

Andrei · Answer 2 · 2020-10-26T19:23:33.420

52

ValidateModel and TryValidateModel

You can use ValidateModel or TryValidateModel in controller scope.

When a model is being validated, all validators for all properties are run if at least one form input is bound to a model property. The ValidateModel is like the method TryValidateModel except that the TryValidateModel method does not throw an InvalidOperationException exception if the model validation fails.

ValidateModel - throws exception if model is not valid.

TryValidateModel - returns bool value indicating if model is valid.

class ValueController : Controller
{
    public IActionResult Post(MyModel model)
    {
        if (!TryValidateModel(model))
        {
            // Do something
        }

        return Ok();
    }
}

Validate Models one-by-one

If you validate a list of models one by one, you would want to reset ModelState for each iteration by calling ModelState.Clear().

Link to the documentation

edited Oct 26 '20 at 19:23

answered Nov 15 '13 at 07:21

Andrei

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218

I have a Required field that is null and used "ModelState.Clear()" and the ModelState.IsValid is true. – Ricardo França Feb 27 '16 at 13:04
1

It works when I put "ModelState.Clear();" and "TryValidateModel(myModel);". Thanks – Ricardo França Feb 27 '16 at 13:13
This may seem obvious after you think about it, but your custom `Validate` method **will not be called** if there are any validation errors within the validation attributes. – Jess Jun 15 '16 at 19:03

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 02 '20 at 11:17

            //
            var context = new ValidationContext(model);

            //If you want to remove some items before validating
            //if (context.Items != null && context.Items.Any())
            //{
            //    context.Items.Remove(context.Items.Where(x => x.Key.ToString() == "Longitude").FirstOrDefault());
            //    context.Items.Remove(context.Items.Where(x => x.Key.ToString() == "Latitude").FirstOrDefault());
            //}

            List<ValidationResult> validationResults = new List<ValidationResult>();
            bool isValid = Validator.TryValidateObject(model, context, validationResults, true);
            if (!isValid)
            {
                //List of errors 
                //validationResults.Select(r => r.ErrorMessage)
                //return or do something
            }

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 06 '13 at 18:50

2

I found this to work and do precisely as expected.. showing the ValidationSummary for a freshly retrieved object on a GET action method... prior to any POST

Me.TryValidateModel(MyCompany.OrderModel)

answered Sep 06 '13 at 18:50

bkwdesign

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Manually invoking ModelState validation

4 Answers4

ValidateModel and TryValidateModel

Validate Models one-by-one

Linked