Boolean with html helper Hidden and HiddenFor

Question

What's up with this? The viewmodel variable is a bool with value true.

<%= Html.HiddenFor(m => m.TheBool) %>
<%= Html.Hidden("IsTimeExpanded",Model.TheBool) %>
<input type="hidden" value="<%=Model.TheBool%>" name="TheBool" id="TheBool">

Results in:

<input id="TheBool" name="TheBool" value="False" type="hidden">
<input id="TheBool" name="TheBool" value="False" type="hidden">
<input value="True" name="TheBool" id="TheBool" type="hidden">

What am I doing wrong? Why don't the helpers work as intended?

Answer 1

1) use different (unique) ids

2) don't use this helper, use

<input type="hidden" name="the-name" 
  value="<%= Html.AttributeEncode(Model.TheBool) %>" id="TheBool_1216786" />

Answer 2

As answered here the problem is that HTML helpers by default use the posted values (if available) then refer to the model. Personally I don't think this makes a whole bunch of sense and now wonder how many other bugs lie in wait throughout our platform.

Anyway, the solution posted in the aforementioned answer will solve the problem, just add this line before you return from the controller:

ModelState.Remove("TheBool")

And yes, it's a bit rubbish because you can only use a string reference... but it does work.