ASP.NET MVC - Partially updating model from view

Question

I just wondered how people were approaching this situation. It\'s something that seems like a weak point in my usage of MVC with ORMs (NHibernate in this case)...

Say y

Answer 1

Right now i´m working on a large project using S#arp Architecture and im also using the approach:

Model -> ViewModel -> Model

I use the ViewModel for the Binding part and Validations, the other approach is to use the Model Directly (with tryUpdateModel / UpdateModel which we used during the prototype develop) but for complex scenarios we end up handling special situation like SelectLists/Checkbox/Projections/HMAC Validations in a little ViewModel anyway and using a lot of Request.Form["key"] =( , the other drawback is handling the errors situations where you want to repopulate the form with the user input, i found it a little more complicated using the Model directly (using a ViewModel we take a lot of advantage of ModelState attempted value, saving us a couple of trips to the DB, anyone who have faced this scenario will know what i mean).

This approach is a bit time consuming, just like you said, you end up matching properties, but in my opinion is the way to go for complex forms.

It worth mentioning that we just use ViewModels for the Create/Edit scenarios, for almost everything else we use directly the model.

I have not use autommapers so far, but definitely i ll give it a try.