asp.net mvc: why is Html.CheckBox generating an additional hidden input

Question

I just noticed that Html.CheckBox(\"foo\") generates 2 inputs instead of one, anybody knows why is this so ?

Answer 1

The hidden input was causing problems with styled checkboxes. So I created a Html Helper Extension to place the hidden input outside the div containing the CheckBox.

using System;
using System.Linq.Expressions;
using System.Text;
using System.Web.Mvc;
using System.Web.Routing;

namespace YourNameSpace
{
    public static class HtmlHelperExtensions
    {
        public static MvcHtmlString CustomCheckBoxFor(this HtmlHelper htmlHelper, Expression> expression, string labelText)
        {
            //get the data from the model binding
            var fieldName = ExpressionHelper.GetExpressionText(expression);
            var fullBindingName = htmlHelper.ViewContext.ViewData.TemplateInfo.GetFullHtmlFieldName(fieldName);
            var fieldId = TagBuilder.CreateSanitizedId(fullBindingName);
            var metaData = ModelMetadata.FromLambdaExpression(expression, htmlHelper.ViewData);
            var modelValue = metaData.Model;

            //create the checkbox
            TagBuilder checkbox = new TagBuilder("input");
            checkbox.MergeAttribute("type", "checkbox");
            checkbox.MergeAttribute("value", "true"); //the visible checkbox must always have true
            checkbox.MergeAttribute("name", fullBindingName);
            checkbox.MergeAttribute("id", fieldId);

            //is the checkbox checked
            bool isChecked = false;
            if (modelValue != null)
            {
                bool.TryParse(modelValue.ToString(), out isChecked);
            }
            if (isChecked)
            {
                checkbox.MergeAttribute("checked", "checked");
            }

            //add the validation
            checkbox.MergeAttributes(htmlHelper.GetUnobtrusiveValidationAttributes(fieldId, metaData));

            //create the outer div
            var outerDiv = new TagBuilder("div");
            outerDiv.AddCssClass("checkbox-container");

            //create the label in the outer div
            var label = new TagBuilder("label");
            label.MergeAttribute("for", fieldId);
            label.AddCssClass("checkbox");

            //render the control
            StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
            sb.AppendLine(outerDiv.ToString(TagRenderMode.StartTag));
            sb.AppendLine(checkbox.ToString(TagRenderMode.SelfClosing));
            sb.AppendLine(label.ToString(TagRenderMode.StartTag));
            sb.AppendLine(labelText); //the label
            sb.AppendLine(""); //optional icon
            sb.AppendLine(label.ToString(TagRenderMode.EndTag));
            sb.AppendLine(outerDiv.ToString(TagRenderMode.EndTag));

            //create the extra hidden input needed by MVC outside the div
            TagBuilder hiddenCheckbox = new TagBuilder("input");
            hiddenCheckbox.MergeAttribute("type", HtmlHelper.GetInputTypeString(InputType.Hidden));
            hiddenCheckbox.MergeAttribute("name", fullBindingName);
            hiddenCheckbox.MergeAttribute("value", "false");
            sb.Append(hiddenCheckbox.ToString(TagRenderMode.SelfClosing));

            //return the custom checkbox
            return MvcHtmlString.Create(sb.ToString());
        }

Result

    
    
        The checkbox label