empty string returns null for textboxfor mvc 4

Question

In the problem prepopulate Html.TextBoxFor in asp.net mvc 3 you can see an answer in which the following piece of code works correctly.

ViewBag.CompName = "Some Name";

Then in your view:

@Html.TextBoxFor(model =>model.Comps.CompName, new {@Value = ViewBag.CompName})

However, when the textbox gets the initial value of an empty string "", it seems to post a value of null for this textbox.

ViewBag.CompName = "";

This sends a null value instead of an empty string.

Is there any way of returning an empty string instead of null?

while adding in ViewBag, you can add string.empty instead of ViewBag.CompName if it is null — Bhushan Firake
– Bhushan Firake, Commented May 10, 2013 at 15:00

PSL · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-10 15:08:33Z

12

This is expected behavior. Try using DisplayFormat attribute.

[DisplayFormat(ConvertEmptyStringToNull=false)] on top of CompName property in your model.

For Example:-

[DisplayFormat(ConvertEmptyStringToNull = false)]
public string CompName
{
    get { return _compName; }
    set { _compName= value; }
}

answered May 10, 2013 at 15:01

PSL

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