Entity Framework Code-First Database Not Updating

Question

I'm having issues updating a Boolean from 'false' to 'true' in my database.

I am using Asp.Net MVC5 in Visual Studio 2017, and have created a database (using entity framework code-first) to contain two tables - task and steps (one-to-many relationship).

The index.cshtml page is laid out to list all of the tasks along with their relevant steps, and then each step has a 'mark as completed' button beside it to change the 'completed' field in the steps entity from false to true.

Here is my code:

Steps.cs:

public class Steps
{
    [Key]
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public int StepNumber { get; set; }
    public string Description { get; set; }
    public ToDoTask Task { get; set; }
    public bool Completed { get; set; }
    public DateTime? CompletedDate { get; set; }
    public Client Client { get; set; }
}

Index.cshtml:

@foreach (var step in ViewData["steps"] as Dictionary<Steps, int>)
{
    if (step.Value == task.Id)
    {
        <p>Step Number: @step.Key.StepNumber</p>
        <p>Step Description: @step.Key.Description</p>

        using (@Html.BeginForm("MarkStepAsCompleted", "Tasks"))
        {
            <div class="col-md-2" style="display:none">
                @Html.TextBox("Id", @step.Key.Id)
            </div>
            <button  type="submit" >Mark As Completed</button>
        }

    }
}

TasksController.cs:

[HttpPost]
[AllowAnonymous]
public ActionResult MarkStepAsCompleted(FormCollection form)
{
    var completedStepId = Convert.ToInt32(form["Id"]);
    var completedStep = db.Steps.Where(s => s.Id == completedStepId).FirstOrDefault();

    StepMethods.MarkAsCompleted(completedStep);

    return Redirect("Index");
}

StepMethods.cs:

public static void MarkAsCompleted(Steps step)
{
    var context = new ApplicationDbContext();
    var stepid = step.Id;
    context.Steps.Find(stepid);

    step.Completed=true;

    context.SaveChanges();
} 

The application runs well with no errors and when I hit the 'Mark As Completed' button, it redirects to the index page as wanted. But when I check the table in Server Explorer, the value in the 'Completed' column still says false.

Answer 1

You are not updating the entity retrieved from the database, but instead the local instance. Change to this:

public static void MarkAsCompleted(Steps step)
{
    using (var context = new ApplicationDbContext())
    {
        step = context.Steps.Find(step.id); //use the retrieved instance
        step.Completed = true;

        context.SaveChanges();
    }
} 

Also, always use the using statement when working with ApplicationDbContext (or, in general, any class that implements the IDisposable interface)