All values are null when posting to controller in ASP.NET Core

Question

When I insert values into view model and debug, all of the values are null in the controller, I have an [HttpGet] public IActionResult CreatePrescription(int id) that gets the view model and then I have

[HttpPost]
public IActionResult CreatePrescription(ViewModel model){
        try
        {
            Prescription prescription = new Prescription
            {
                PatientId = model.Patient.Id,
                MedicationId = model.Prescription.MedicationId,
                RxNumber = model.Prescription.RxNumber,
                Frequency = model.Prescription.Frequency,
                Quantity = model.Prescription.Quantity,
                Copay = model.Prescription.Copay,
                RefillsRemaining = model.Prescription.RefillsRemaining,
                FolderStatusId = model.Prescription.FolderStatusId,
                PrescriberId = model.Prescription.PrescriberId,
                OriginalRxDate = model.Prescription.OriginalRxDate,
                DateFilled = model.Prescription.DateFilled,
                ExpiryDate = model.Prescription.ExpiryDate,
                DeliveryDate = model.Prescription.DeliveryDate,
                DeliveryTime = model.Prescription.DeliveryTime,
                BillDate = model.Prescription.BillDate,
                ApplicationUserId = user,
                CreatedOn = DateTime.Now,
                IsActive = true
            };

            _context.Add(prescription);

            _context.SaveChanges();

        }
        catch (Exception)
        {

            throw;
        }
        return View();
    }

Here is part of the view

@model Systemz.Models.ViewModels.ViewModel
<div class="modal-body">
    <form asp-action="CreatePrescription" asp-controller="Patients" method="post">
        <input asp-for="Prescription.Id" type="hidden" />
        <input asp-for="Patient.Id" type="hidden" />
        <div asp-validation-summary="ModelOnly" class="text-danger"></div>
        <div class="form-group">
            <div class="row">
                <div class="col-sm-3">
                    <label asp-for="Prescription.RxNumber" class="custom-label"></label>
                </div>
                <div class="col-sm-7">
                    <input asp-for="Prescription.RxNumber" class="form-control" />
                </div>
                <span asp-validation-for="Prescription.RxNumber" class="text-danger"></span>
            </div>
        </div>
<div class="form-group">
            <div class="row">
                <div class="col-sm-3">
                    <label asp-for="Prescription.Frequency" class="custom-label"></label>
                </div>
                <div class="col-sm-7">
                    <input asp-for="Prescription.Frequency" class="form-control" />
                </div>
                <span asp-validation-for="Prescription.Frequency" class="text-danger"></span>
            </div>
        </div>

        <div class="form-group">
            <div class="row">
                <div class="col-sm-3">
                    <label asp-for="Prescription.Quantity" class="custom-label"></label>
                </div>
                <div class="col-sm-7">
                    <input asp-for="Prescription.Quantity" class="form-control" />
                </div>
                <span asp-validation-for="Prescription.Quantity" class="text-danger"></span>
            </div>
        </div>

And here is the class

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
namespace Systemz.Models,ViewModels
{
    public class ViewModel
    {
        public Prescription Prescription {get;set;}
        public IEnumerable<Prescription> Prescriptions {get;set;}
    }
}

Here is my db context

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity.EntityFrameworkCore;
using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
using Systemz.Models;

namespace Systemz.Data
{
    public class ApplicationDbContext : IdentityDbContext<ApplicationUser>
    {
        public ApplicationDbContext()
        {
        }

        public ApplicationDbContext(DbContextOptions<ApplicationDbContext> 
    options)
        : base(options)
    {
    }

    public DbSet<Patient> Patients { get; set; }
    public DbSet<Address> Addresses { get; set; }
    public DbSet<PhoneNumber> PhoneNumbers { get; set; }
    public DbSet<Prescriber> Prescribers { get; set; }
    public DbSet<Prescription> Prescriptions { get; set; }
    protected override void OnModelCreating(ModelBuilder builder)
    {
         builder.Entity<PatientPrescriber>()
             .HasKey(bc => new { bc.PatientId, bc. PrescriberID });
         builder.Entity<PatientPrescriber>()
             .HasOne(bc => bc.Patient)
            .WithMany(b => b.PatientPrescribers)
            .HasForeignKey(bc => bc.PatientId);
        builder.Entity<PatientPrescriber>()
            .HasOne(bc => bc.Prescriber)
            .WithMany(c => c.PatientPrescribers)
            .HasForeignKey(bc => bc.PrescriberId);
        base.OnModelCreating(builder);
    }
}

All of the values that are in IEnumerable<Prescription> Prescriptions {get;set;} are in a class called Prescription, Here is the debug that shows a PatientId being accepted but all other properties are null PAtientId , and Null Properties , why are my values not being passed into the controller and not saving to the database?

Answer 1

Here are the three observations I have made by reviewing portions of your code

• In your Post method of CreatePrescription its good practice to check ModelState.IsValid

   [HttpPost] public IActionResult CreatePrescription(ViewModel model){ if(ModelState.IsValid) { try { Prescription prescription = new Prescription{ .... } } }

• In your Get method of CreatePrescription make sure you're returning model to View .

   [HttpGet] public IActionResult CreatePrescription(int id) { //Any other business logic var model = new ViewModel(); return View(model) }

• Namespace of your ViewModel class is defined as Systemz.Models,ViewModels with a comma and in Your View you have referred to it as Systemz.Models.ViewModels.ViewModel .

Answer 2

It turns out the reason that it wasn't working is because the View only allows one form in it. I didn't know that it would only read the first form on my view, so problem solved. I had <form asp-action="CreatePrescriber" asp-controller="Patients" method="Post"> and <form asp-action="CreatePrescription" asp-controller="Patients" method="Post"> . It would take one <form /> and stop reading after that.