Update database from viewmodel but add new records too - asp.net

Question

I have a view that has a list of items (which can be added to dynamically via jQuery).
When I POST the viewmodel back to the controller, if the code can't find the ID, how do I insert new items and save them to the database.
My initial code is below - the updates are saved, but the new items aren't saved:
//
// POST: /Objective/Edit/model
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Edit(ObjectivesEdit model)
{
if (model.Objectives != null)
{
foreach (var item in model.Objectives)
{
// find the database row
Objective objective = db.objectives.Find(item.ID);
if (objective != null)
{
// Set the database row to the posted values
objective.objective = item.objective;
objective.score = item.score;
objective.possscore = item.possscore;
}
else // database item not found, so add a new item
{
// add a new objective
// This doesn't seem to add/save a new record
Objective obj = new Objective();
obj.objective = item.objective;
obj.score = item.score;
obj.possscore = item.possscore;
}
}
// Save the changes to the database
db.SaveChanges();
}
return View(model);
}
Thanks for any help,
Mark

Answer 1

You don't add the newly created objective to your context.
else // database item not found, so add a new item
{
// add a new objective
// This doesn't seem to add/save a new record
Objective obj = new Objective();
obj.objective = item.objective;
obj.score = item.score;
obj.possscore = item.possscore;
// Missing line.
db.objectives.Add(obj);
}
if you're using EF 4.0 (i.e. db is of type ObjectContext), you should use the db.AddObject(obj).
Update based on your comment:
One way is to retrieve all added items after saving changes. Another way is to modify your model when creating a new objective. Changed parts are marked with *:
foreach (var item in model.Objectives.ToList()) // *:Notice the ToList()
{
// find the database row
Objective objective = db.objectives.Find(item.ID);
if (objective != null)
{
// Set the database row to the posted values
objective.objective = item.objective;
objective.score = item.score;
objective.possscore = item.possscore;
}
else // database item not found, so add a new item
{
// add a new objective
// This doesn't seem to add/save a new record
Objective obj = new Objective();
obj.objective = item.objective;
obj.score = item.score;
obj.possscore = item.possscore;
db.AddObject(obj)
// Save the changes to the database
db.SaveChanges(); // *: save in loop to get thee ID.
item.ID = obj.ID; // *: assign the ID to the model.
}
}
return View(model);