Getting some input from user and insert multiple table with Entity Framework - sql

Question

I want to add some information into my database. The question is how can I post my inputs for 3 table at the same time? My tables are below. Let me clear that.
I have teachers and working hours and working days. I want that firstly I select the teacher name from dropdownlist,then select the day from dropdownlist and write working hours for example "09:00 - 17:00".
After that I submit these information I expectation is that seeing all these information can be added into database seperately and relationally.
Sample scenario: John Reese Friday 09:00-17:00
Harold Finch Monday 11:00-15:00
I am able to pull the teacher's names from database but at the same time in the same page I want to see that day's names. After all these selecetions as I mentioned above, I wanna add all these informations.
My create controller
public ActionResult Create()
{
var myTeacherList = (from teacher in db.Teachers.ToList()
select new SelectListItem
{
Text = teacher.Firstname + teacher.Lastname,
Value = teacher.Id.ToString(),
}).ToList();
var myDayNameList = (from day in db.WeekDays.ToList()
select new SelectListItem
{
Text = day.Name,
Value = day.Id.ToString(),
}).ToList();
ViewBag.TeacherId = myTeacherList;
ViewBag.DayId = myDayNameList;
return View();
}
My Create Controller
<div class="form-horizontal">
<h4>Appointment</h4>
<hr />
#Html.ValidationSummary(true, "", new { #class = "text-danger" })
<div class="form-group">
#Html.LabelFor(model => model.TeacherId, "Teacher Name", htmlAttributes: new { #class = "control-label col-md-2" })
<div class="col-md-10">
#Html.DropDownListFor(m=>m.Teacher.Id,(List<SelectListItem>)ViewBag.TeacherId, new { #class = "form-control" })
#Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.TeacherId, "", new { #class = "text-danger" })
</div>
</div>
<div class="form-group">
#Html.LabelFor(model => model.Hours,"Working Hour", htmlAttributes: new { #class = "control-label col-md-2" })
<div class="col-md-10">
#Html.EditorFor(model => model.Hours, new { htmlAttributes = new { #class = "form-control" } })
#Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Hours, "", new { #class = "text-danger" })
</div>
</div>
<div class="form-group">
<div class="col-md-offset-2 col-md-10">
<input type="submit" value="Create" class="btn btn-default" />
</div>
</div>
</div>
}
Teacher.cs
namespace LanguageSchool.Models
{
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
public partial class Teacher
{
[System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2214:DoNotCallOverridableMethodsInConstructors")]
public Teacher()
{
this.Appointments = new HashSet<Appointment>();
this.Classes = new HashSet<Class>();
this.Languages = new HashSet<Language>();
}
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Description { get; set; }
public string Firstname { get; set; }
public string Lastname { get; set; }
public string Email { get; set; }
public string Phone { get; set; }
public System.DateTime DateOfStart { get; set; }
[System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2227:CollectionPropertiesShouldBeReadOnly")]
public virtual ICollection<Appointment> Appointments { get; set; }
[System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2227:CollectionPropertiesShouldBeReadOnly")]
public virtual ICollection<Class> Classes { get; set; }
[System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2227:CollectionPropertiesShouldBeReadOnly")]
public virtual ICollection<Language> Languages { get; set; }
}
}
Appointment.cs
namespace LanguageSchool.Models
{
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
public partial class Appointment
{
[System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2214:DoNotCallOverridableMethodsInConstructors")]
public Appointment()
{
this.WeekDays = new HashSet<WeekDay>();
}
public int Id { get; set; }
public int TeacherId { get; set; }
public string Hours { get; set; }
public virtual Teacher Teacher { get; set; }
[System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2227:CollectionPropertiesShouldBeReadOnly")]
public virtual ICollection<WeekDay> WeekDays { get; set; }
}
}
WeekDay.cs
namespace LanguageSchool.Models
{
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
public partial class WeekDay
{
[System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2214:DoNotCallOverridableMethodsInConstructors")]
public WeekDay()
{
this.Class_WeekDay = new HashSet<Class_WeekDay>();
this.Appointments = new HashSet<Appointment>();
}
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
[System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2227:CollectionPropertiesShouldBeReadOnly")]
public virtual ICollection<Class_WeekDay> Class_WeekDay { get; set; }
[System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2227:CollectionPropertiesShouldBeReadOnly")]
public virtual ICollection<Appointment> Appointments { get; set; }
}
}

Answer 1

We need to make a ViewModel that contains all those properties so that the moment we do a POST request, they are all bound and we could access them for saving.
But first we need to modify your models and insert a class for the many to many table.
We need to remove Weekday from Appointments and
Appointments from Weekday.
Then replace them with AppointmentWeekday. Be sure to run Migrations/Update-Database after this first step.
public class Appointment{
...
// REMOVE public virtual ICollection<WeekDay> WeekDays { get; set; }
// Add this
public virtual ICollection<AppointmentWeekday> AppointmentWeekdays {get;set;}
}
public class Weekday{
...
// REMOVE public virtual ICollection<Appointment> Appointments { get; set; }
// Add this
public virtual List<AppointmentWeekday> AppointmentWeekdays {get;set;}
}
// Add this
public class AppointmentWeekday{
public int AppointmentId {get;set;}
[ForeignKey("AppointmentId")]
public virtual Appointment Appointment {get;set;}
public int WeekdayId {get;set;}
[ForeignKey("WeekdayId")]
public virtual Weekday Weekday {get;set;}
}
Make the View Model with the necessary properties, I named it TeacherAppointmentViewModel.
public class TeacherAppointmentViewModel{
public int TeacherId {get;set;}
public int DayId {get;set;}
public string Hours {get;set;}
}
Instantiate this in your controller and pass it to the view.
public ActionResult Create()
{
var myTeacherList = (from teacher in db.Teachers.ToList()
select new SelectListItem
{
Text = teacher.Firstname + teacher.Lastname,
Value = teacher.Id.ToString(),
}).ToList();
var myDayNameList = (from day in db.WeekDays.ToList()
select new SelectListItem
{
Text = day.Name,
Value = day.Id.ToString(),
}).ToList();
ViewBag.TeacherId = myTeacherList;
ViewBag.DayId = myDayNameList;
// instantiate
TeacherAppointmentViewModel tvm = new TeacherAppointmentViewModel();
// pass to the view
return View(tvm);
}
Make your view use TeacherAppointmentViewModel.
#model TeacherAppointmentViewModel
Edit view, use the code below.
<div class="form-horizontal">
<h4>Appointment</h4>
<hr />
#Html.ValidationSummary(true, "", new { #class = "text-danger" })
<div class="form-group">
#Html.LabelFor(model => model.TeacherId, "Teacher Name", htmlAttributes: new { #class = "control-label col-md-2" })
<div class="col-md-10">
#Html.DropDownListFor(m=>m.TeacherId,(List<SelectListItem>)ViewBag.TeacherId, new { #class = "form-control" })
#Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.TeacherId, "", new { #class = "text-danger" })
</div>
</div>
<div class="form-group">
#Html.LabelFor(model => model.WeekdayId, "Day", htmlAttributes: new { #class = "control-label col-md-2" })
<div class="col-md-10">
#Html.DropDownListFor(m=>m.WeekdayId,(List<SelectListItem>)ViewBag.WeekdayId, new { #class = "form-control" })
#Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.WeekdayId, "", new { #class = "text-danger" })
</div>
</div>
<div class="form-group">
#Html.LabelFor(model => model.Hours,"Working Hour", htmlAttributes: new { #class = "control-label col-md-2" })
<div class="col-md-10">
#Html.EditorFor(model => model.Hours, new { htmlAttributes = new { #class = "form-control" } })
#Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Hours, "", new { #class = "text-danger" })
</div>
</div>
<div class="form-group">
<div class="col-md-offset-2 col-md-10">
<input type="submit" value="Create" class="btn btn-default" />
</div>
</div>
</div>
Use controller action below, we need to assign the properties to Appointment and AppointmentWeekday then add to the db;
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Create(TeacherAppointmentViewModel tvm){
// create appointment
Appointment a = new Appointment();
// assign teacher id and hours from viewmodel
a.TeacherId = tvm.TeacherId;
a.Hours = tvm.Hours;
// save appointment
db.Appointments.Add(a);
db.SaveChanges();
// create appointmentweekday
AppointmentWeekday aw = new AppointmentWeekday();
// assign properties
// since we've saved the appointment, we could use a.AppointmentId
aw.WeekdayId = tvm.WeekdayId;
aw.AppointmentId = a.AppointmentId; // appointment from earlier
// save appointmentweekday
db.AppointmentWeekdays.Add(aw);
db.SaveChanges();
}