@Html.HiddenFor does not work on Lists in ASP.NET MVC

Question

I\'m using a model that contains a List as a property. I\'m populating this list with items i grab from SQL Server. I want the List to be hidden in the view and passed to th

Answer 1

What about using Newtonsoft to deserialize the object into a json string and then insert that into your Hidden field e.g. (Model.DataResponse.Entity.Commission is a List of simple "CommissionRange" objects as you'll see in the JSON)

@using (Ajax.BeginForm("Settings", "AffiliateProgram", Model.DataResponse, new AjaxOptions { UpdateTargetId = "result" }))
   {
      string commissionJson = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(Model.DataResponse.Entity.Commission);
      @Html.HiddenFor(data => data.DataResponse.Entity.Guid)
      @Html.Hidden("DataResponse_Entity_Commission", commissionJson)
      [Rest of my form]
   }

Renders as:

In my case I do some JS stuff to edit the json in the hidden field before posting back

In my controller I then use Newtonsoft again to deserialize:

string jsonCommissionRange = Request.Form["DataResponse_Entity_Commission"];
List commissionRange = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject>(jsonCommissionRange);