How to assign null/string to an int type in MVC Razor using Entity Framework? - asp.net-mvc-4

Question

I am using a simple MVC 4 application using Entity Framework.
In my View I am displaying data from of a table using webgrid.
View Also has Textboxes(EditorFor) for saving any new record in the table.
I am using partial view for the Textboxes, as in the beginning when the page is launched, the textboxes should remain empty.
Out of 5, two columns are of integer types.
In order to make the textboxes empty initially I am using a new object as -
#if (!dataGrid.HasSelection)
{
Datamodel = new EntityFrDemo.Models.FacultyDetails { DepartmentID = 0, Name = "", Subject = "", YrsExp = 0, Email = "" };
Html.RenderPartial("~/Views/Shared/_FacultyDetails.cshtml", Datamodel);
}
//------------------------------------------------------------------------
#Html.LabelFor(model => model.DepartmentID)
#Html.EditorFor(model => model.DepartmentID)
#Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.DepartmentID)
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
So I am able to make my boxes empty, however for the Integer type boxes '0' is coming, as I can only assign zero.
So How can I override/superimpose the integer value type boxes to empty string type so that boxes remains empty only in case when no row is selected i.e. in initial stage...?

Answer 1

When you use #Html.EditorFor() with a int value, Razor generate a html tag like this
<input type="number" name="propertyName" id="propertyName" value="propertyValue" />
If you didn't set a value for the int property, the default int value is zero. To set another value in the html tag, you can write it without Razor or you can set the value like the code below.
#Html.EditorFor(model => model.DepartmentID, new { htmlAttributes = new { #Value = "" } })
Note: It is capital "V", not a lower case "v".