asp.net MVC Checkboxes DaysOfWeek enum - asp.net

Question

I am working on a form that can be used to add new records and update existing records.
One form element is to capture multiple choices of week days. I therefore implemented an DayOfWeek Enum.
This is how my model looks like
public class EventFormModel
{
public EventFormModel()
{
AvailableDays = (from DayOfWeek d in Enum.GetValues(typeof(DayOfWeek))
select new MyDay
{
Id = (int)d,
Name = d.ToString()
}
public List<MyDay> AvailableDays { get; set; }
public int[] SelectedDays { get; set; }
}
}
public class MyDay
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public int Id { get; set; }
}
My View looks like this
#foreach (var day in Model.AvailableDays)
{
<input type="checkbox" name="SelectedDays" value="#day.Id"
#if (Model.SelectedDays != null && Model.SelectedDays.Contains(day.Id))
{
<text>checked="checked"</text>
}
/>#day.Name.Substring(0,3)
}
Now I am facing 2 problems, For 1 I can't figure out how to retrieve the values from my checkboxes ones they are posted to the controller and 2 how would I populate the checkboxlist with values I stored in my database ie SelectedDays = 1,4,6.
I hope I am approaching this the correct way in the first place. any help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

It never ceases to amaze me how people insist on writing their own html, and then are confused why things don't work.
Stick with the html helpers whenever possible. Change your model a bit... Make SelectedDays an array of bool[7]
#for(int i = 0; i < Model.SelectedDays.Count; i++)
{
#Html.CheckBoxFor(x => x.SelectedDays[i])
}
Now the checkboxes automatically populate, and default to unchecked.
Alternatively, you could add a "selected" bool field to your MyDay class, then change it to:
#for(int i = 0; i < Model.AvailableDays.Count; i++)
{
#Html.CheckBoxFor(x => x.AvailableDays[i].Selected)
}
Note: Do not change this to use a foreach, if you do, it won't create the proper indexing for the name fields to post the collection values.

Answer 2

After tinkering with this for a while I came up with this working solution.
Here is the model
public class EventFormModel
{
public EventFormModel()
{
AvailableDays = (from DayOfWeek d in Enum.GetValues(typeof(DayOfWeek))
select new MyDay
{
Id = (int)d,
Name = d.ToString()
}
public List<MyDay> AvailableDays { get; set; }
}
}
public class MyDay
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public int Id { get; set; }
public bool Selected { get; set; }
}
Here is the View
#for(int i = 0; i < Model.AvailableDays.Count; i++)
{
<div>
#Html.CheckBoxFor(x => x.AvailableDays[i].Selected)
#Html.HiddenFor(x => x.AvailableDays[i].Name)
#Model.AvailableDays[i].Name
</div>
}
Here is the Controller
[AcceptVerbs(HttpVerbs.Post), Authorize]
public ActionResult AddEvent(EventFormModel model)
{
string days = "";
for(int i = 0; i < model.AvailableDays.Count; i++)
{
if (model.AvailableDays[i].Selected)
{
days = days + model.AvailableDays[i].Name + ",";
}
}
//Do something with your selected days
return View(model);
}
To populate the checkboxes with select items
string[] stringArray = "Sun,Mon,Tue,Wed".Split(',').ToArray<string>();
model.AvailableDays = (from DayOfWeek d in Enum.GetValues(typeof(DayOfWeek))
select new TestDay
{
Id = (int)d,
Name = d.ToString().Substring(0, 3),
Selected = stringArray.Contains(d.ToString().Substring(0, 3))
}).ToList();