I have started doing asp.net mvc programming and like it more everyday.
Most of the examples I have seen use separate views for viewing and editing details of a specific entity.
E.g. - table of music albums linking to separate 'detail' and 'update' views
[Action] | Title | Artist
detail, update | Uuuh Baby | Barry
White
detail, update | Mr Mojo | Barry
White
With mvc how can I achieve a design where the R and the U (CRUD) are represented in a single view, and furthermore where the user can edit separate parts of the view, thus limiting the amount of data the user can edit before saving?
Example mockup - editing album detials:
I have achieved such a design with ajax calls, but Im curious how to do this without ajax.
Parts of my own take on this can be seen below. I use a flag (enum EditCode)
indicating which part of the view, if any, that has to render a form. Is such a design in accordance with the framework, could it be done more elegantly?
AlbumController
public class AlbumController : Controller
{
public ActionResult Index()
{
var albumDetails = from ManageVM in state.AlbumState.ToList()
select ManageVM.Value.Detail;
return View(albumDetails);
}
public ActionResult Manage(int albumId, EditCode editCode)
{
(state.AlbumState[albumId] as ManageVM).EditCode = (EditCode)editCode;
ViewData["albumId"] = albumId;
return View(state.AlbumState[albumId]);
}
[HttpGet]
public ActionResult Edit(int albumId, EditCode editCode)
{
return RedirectToAction("Manage", new { albumId = albumId, editCode = editCode });
}
// edit album details
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult EditDetail(int albumId, Detail details)
{
(state.AlbumState[albumId] as ManageVM).Detail = details;
return RedirectToAction("Manage", new { albumId = albumId, editCode = EditCode.NoEdit });// zero being standard
}
// edit album thought
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult EditThoughts(int albumId, List<Thought> thoughts)
{
(state.AlbumState[albumId] as ManageVM).Thoughts = thoughts;
return RedirectToAction("Manage", new { albumId = albumId, editCode = EditCode.NoEdit });// zero being standard
}
Flag - EditCode
public enum EditCode
{
NoEdit,
Details,
Genres,
Thoughts
}
Mangae view
<%@ Page Title="" Language="C#" MasterPageFile="~/Views/Shared/Site.Master" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewPage<MvcApplication1.Controllers.ManageVM>" %>
<asp:Content ID="Content1" ContentPlaceHolderID="TitleContent" runat="server">
Manage
</asp:Content>
<asp:Content ID="Content2" ContentPlaceHolderID="MainContent" runat="server">
<h2>Manage</h2>
<% if(Model.EditCode == MvcApplication1.Controllers.EditCode.Details)
{%>
<% Html.RenderPartial("_EditDetails", Model.Detail); %>
<% }else{%>
<% Html.RenderPartial("_ShowDetails", Model.Detail); %>
<% } %>
<hr />
<% if(Model.EditCode == MvcApplication1.Controllers.EditCode.Thoughts)
{%>
<% Html.RenderPartial("_EditThoughts", Model.Thoughts); %>
<% }else{%>
<% Html.RenderPartial("_ShowThoughts", Model.Thoughts); %>
<% } %>
