Try to access a property of parent viewmodel in displaytemplate - asp.net-mvc-4

Question

I'm trying to build an asp.net mvc 4 application that makes use of partial views and display/editortemplates and Kendo ui.
I have a viewmodel for a specific page:
public class Plant {
public Guid PlantId{ get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Description { get; set; }
public ICollection<Leaf> Leafs{ get; set; }
public ICollection<Flower> Flowers{ get; set; }
public ICollection<Bug> Bugs{ get; set; }
}
And as well Leaf, Flower as Bug have their own properties.
By example:
public class Leaf {
public Guid LeafId{ get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Documentation { get; set; }
public string Description { get; set; }
}
I'm making use of partialviews in my view so it makes it more easy to update them with ajax.
My normal view : PlantDetail.cshtml
#model Plant
<table>
<tr>
<td>
<h2>#Html.Label(Resources.PlantDetailTitle)</h2>
</td>
<td>
#Html.HiddenFor(m => m.PlantId)
#Html.DisplayFor(m => m.Name)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>#Html.LabelFor(m => m.Description)
</td>
<td>
#Html.DisplayFor(m => m.Description)
</td>
</tr>
</table>
#{Html.RenderPartial("_flowers", Model);}
#{Html.RenderPartial("_leafs", Model);}
In my partial view "_leafs" (as well as in "_flowers" I have a serie of buttons that invoke an action that needs the LeafId and the PlantId:
The partial view "_leafs":
#model List<Leaf>
#for (int i = 0; i < Model.Count(); i++ )
{
#(Html.DisplayFor(m => m[i]))
}
My displayTemplate "Leaf.cshtml":
#model Leaf
#Html.HiddenFor(m =>m.LeafId)
<a class='k-button k-button-icontext' href=#Url.Action("InitiateLeaf", "Plant") +"?
leafId=#Model.LeafId&plantId=#=PlantId#">#Model.Name</a>
Now my problem is that I can't seem to access the PlantId of my Parent Viewmodel in my displaytemplate. (And I have the same problem in each of my displaytemplates..)
I've allready tried it with routevalues in my url.action and I know that I can eventually access the PlantId in javascript, but is there any (mvc) way to keep using displaytemplates and don't duplicate my plantId as a property of my child Leaf viewmodel?
I've allready tried to acces my parentviewcontext with something like
"#HttpContext.Current.Request.RequestContext.RouteData.Values["controller"].ToString()" in my displaytemplate, but don't seem the find the value of my PlantId (if it is even stored there..).
Anyone else still has some suggestions?

Answer 1

One option as you mentioned, is to use jquery to access the parent PlantId. If you have a requirement to access your parent's properties, its better to design your view models similar to how Entity framework recommends us to create model classes.
public class Plant {
public Guid PlantId{ get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Description { get; set; }
public ICollection<Leaf> Leafs{ get; set; }
public ICollection<Flower> Flowers{ get; set; }
public ICollection<Bug> Bugs{ get; set; }
}
So your Leaf class should also have a navigational property to go back to Plant.
public class Leaf {
public Guid LeafId{ get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Documentation { get; set; }
public string Description { get; set; }
public virtual Plant Plant { get; set; }
public Guid PlantId { get; set; }
}
Make sure you populate the Plant property and PlantId when you create the ViewModel. Hope this helps