asp.net mvc html.password set value

Question

I've got a html.password helper control on an edit profile type screen. Is there a way to set the value of this when the page first loads so that if the user doesn't want to change their password, the existing one gets passed back to the controller.

Thanks Nick

Answer 1

Html.Password helper does not use ViewData automatically (see ASP.NET MVC source, InputExtensions.cs file, line 78, line 184). You need something like this:

<%= Html.Password("password", ViewData["password"]) %>

UPDATED:

Tested in Opera 10b, Firefox 3.5, Internet Explorer 8

Answer 2

I know this isn't a direct answer to your question, but coming at this from the user's point of view, would the user want their password being transmitted like this. I know I would not want any of my passwords transmitted anywhere unless it was absolutely necessary.

Most sites that I've seen only require a new password in the profile screen if it needs to be changed. If it is to remain the same and not updated the blank password fields are an indication of that. It also means that you can store the passwords in a more secure way (e.g. a one way salted hash) that does not permit password retrieval in any way (which if they could be retrieved would be a potential security risk in itself)