Use MVCContrib grid for editing

Question

I just started using the MVCContrib grid in a test project. I'm having a difficult time finding information on how to use it for edit/update/delete.

Can anyone point me to information on how to put a row into edit mode, or if there isn't such a thing for that grid, discuss a best practice for editing list data in MVC.

Answer 1

You can add edit mode rendering by customizing the way a cell is rendered. I'm using the following extension method:

public static IGridColumn<T> Action<T>( this IGridColumn<T> column, Func<T, string> viewAction, Func<T, string> editAction, Func<T,bool> editMode )
{
   column.CustomItemRenderer = ( context, item ) => context.Writer.Write( "<td>" + ( editMode( item ) ? editAction( item ) : viewAction( item ) ) + "</td>" );
   return column;
}

This allows you to specify how the column is rendered in view-mode and in edit-mode. The mode is determined using a third action that should evaluate to true for the row you want to edit.

Using this in a view would look something like this:

<%= Html.Grid( Model.Items ).Columns( column => {
     column.For( x => x.Name ).Action(
        item => Html.ActionLink( item.Name, "SomeAction" ), 
        item => Html.TextBox( "Item.Name", item.Name ),
        item => ( Model.SelectedItem == item ) );
    } )
    .Empty("No items found.")
%>

You can use the same pattern to render action links (edit, apply, cancel etc.) in a cell. If you want to edit multiple rows at once, make sure the field names are unique.

Answer 2

It appears as if MVCContrib is a simple way to construct the HTML Table from a collection of model objects. It doesn't appear as if has any ability to put a row into edit/update/delete "mode" similar to the WebForms GridView.

However, it does look like you can handle that functionality however you want to. If you want to go to a separate page for edit mode, just put a link in one of the columns with that row's id. The following is taken directly from: http://www.jeremyskinner.co.uk/2009/03/01/mvccontrib-grid-part-5-the-action-syntax/

<% Html.Grid(Model).Columns(column => {
            column.For(x => x.Id).Named("Person ID");
            column.For(x => x.Name);
            column.For(x => x.Gender);
            column.For(x => x.DateOfBirth);
                column.For("View Person").Named("").Action(p => { %>
                     <td style="font-weight:bold">
                    <%= Html.ActionLink("View Person", "Show", new { id = p.Id })%>
                 </td>
                <% });
        }).RowStart((p,row)  => {     
             if (row.IsAlternate) { %>
                   <tr style="background-color:#CCDDCC">
             <%  }  else  { %>
                 <tr>
             <% }
    }).Render(); %>

Here it looks like they are wanting to direct the user to a View Person page: <%= Html.ActionLink("View Person", "Show", new { id = p.Id })%>.

Good luck, and happy coding.