ASP.NET MVC 2 - ViewModel Prefix

Question

I want to use RenderPartial twice in my view with different models associated. The problem is that some properties are present in both models (nickname, password). They have no prefix, so even the id's or names are equal in the output. Now, if I have model errors for nickname or password, both fields get highlighted.

Main View:

<div>
    <% Html.RenderPartial("Register", Model.RegisterModel); %>
</div>
<div>
    <% Html.RenderPartial("Login", Model.LoginModel); %>
</div>

Login PartialView:

<% using (Html.BeginForm("Login", "Member")) { %>
<fieldset>
    <legend>Login</legend>
    <p>
        <%= Html.LabelFor(x => x.Nickname) %>
        <%= Html.TextBoxFor(x => x.Nickname) %>
    </p>
    <p>
        <%= Html.LabelFor(x => x.Password) %>
        <%= Html.PasswordFor(x => x.Password) %>
    </p>    
    <input type="submit" value="Login" />
</fieldset>
<% } %>

Register PartialView:

<% using (Html.BeginForm("Register", "Member")) { %>
<fieldset>
    <legend>Register</legend>
    <p>
        <%= Html.LabelFor(x => x.Nickname) %>
        <%= Html.TextBoxFor(x => x.Nickname) %>
    </p>
    <p>
        <%= Html.LabelFor(x => x.Email) %>
        <%= Html.TextBoxFor(x => x.Email) %>
    </p>
    <p>
        <%= Html.LabelFor(x => x.Password) %>
        <%= Html.PasswordFor(x => x.Password) %>
    </p>
    <p>
        <%= Html.LabelFor(x => x.PasswordRepeat) %>
        <%= Html.PasswordFor(x => x.PasswordRepeat) %>
    </p>
    <input type="submit" value="Register" />
</fieldset>
<% } %>

How can I change this?

Answer 1

If you can't do an EditorTemplate for some reason, you can do this in your View:

var dataDict = new ViewDataDictionary();
dataDict.TemplateInfo.HtmlFieldPrefix = "myPrefixHere";
Html.RenderPartial("myPartialViewName", myPartialViewModel, dataDict);

Lo and behold, all inputs in your PartialView will be prefixed.

Kudos to R0MANARMY for pointing this out.

Answer 2

Instead of using Html.RenderPartial you could use editor templates which will handle prefixes.

So in your main view:

<div>
    <%-- See below what does the second argument mean --%>
    <%= Html.EditorFor(x => x.RegisterModel, "RegisterModel") %>
</div>
<div>
    <%= Html.EditorFor(x => x.LoginModel, "LoginModel") %>
</div>

And then create a folder Views/Shared/EditorTemplates/RegisterModel.ascx (The name of this file is used in the EditorFor helper method). Also notice that this partial should be strongly typed to the type of the RegisterModel property:

<%@ Control Language="C#" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewUserControl<Ns.Models.RegisterModel>" %>

<% using (Html.BeginForm("Register", "Member")) { %>
<fieldset>
    <legend>Register</legend>
    <p>
        <%= Html.LabelFor(x => x.Nickname) %>
        <%= Html.TextBoxFor(x => x.Nickname) %>
    </p>
    <p>
        <%= Html.LabelFor(x => x.Email) %>
        <%= Html.TextBoxFor(x => x.Email) %>
    </p>
    <p>
        <%= Html.LabelFor(x => x.Password) %>
        <%= Html.PasswordFor(x => x.Password) %>
    </p>
    <p>
        <%= Html.LabelFor(x => x.PasswordRepeat) %>
        <%= Html.PasswordFor(x => x.PasswordRepeat) %>
    </p>
    <input type="submit" value="Register" />
</fieldset>
<% } %>

You could define a different partial for the login model in Views/Shared/EditorTemplates/LoginModel.ascx