Why does the ASP.Net MVC model binder bind an empty JSON array to null?

Question

Here is my model class:

public class MyModel
{
    public Employees[] MyEmpls{get;set;}
    public int Id{get;set;}
    public OrgName{get;set;}
}
         


        

Answer 1

Try to create a model binder as in below

public class MyModelBinder : IModelBinder
{
    public object BindModel(ControllerContext controllerContext, ModelBindingContext bindingContext)
    {
        try
        {                
            var request = controllerContext.HttpContext.Request;

            return new MyModel
            {
                MyEmpls = request[] ?? new Employees[0],
                Id = request["Id"] ?? "",
                OrgName = request["OrgName"] ?? ""

            };
        }
        catch 
        {
            //do required exception handling
        }
    }
}

In Application_Start register the model binder

ModelBinders.Binders.Add(typeof(MyModel), new MyModelBinder())

And modify the controller as

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult SaveOrg([ModelBinder(typeof(MyModelBinder))] MyModel model)
{
  //model.MyEmpls is null here
}