C# MVC Syntax - Recursive seeking in a template lambda (EditorFor)

Question

I have a recursive model.

public class Mapping
{
    public string Value { get; set; }
    public List<Mapping> ChildMappings { get; set; }
}

I have an EditorTemplate for the Mapping class. Normal rendering via EditorFor( m => m.ChildMappings) works fine.

Based on an array parameter (2,3), I'd like to seek a specific descendant node. (Mapping.ChildMappings[2].ChildMappings[3] for example).

I've tried calling a local method within the lambda, which gave me an error about indexers and all the things I can't do in a template.

@Html.EditorFor(m => RecurseMappings(m.BodyMappings, indexes))

@functions{
    private Mapping RecurseMappings(List<Mapping> mappings, int[] indexes)
    {
        Mapping mapping = new Mapping();

        foreach (int index in indexes)
        {
            mapping = mappings[index];
            if (mapping.ChildMappings == null) { mapping.ChildMappings = new List<RequestMapping>(); }
            mappings = mappings[index].ChildMappings;
        }

        return mappings[mappings.Count - 1];
    }

For the moment I've fallen back on a switch to at least facilitate a hard coded number of nested levels, like this:

    string[] tokens = Model.ChildIndex.Split(',');
    int[] indexes = Array.ConvertAll<string, int>(tokens, int.Parse);

   switch (indexes.GetLength(0))
    {
        case 1:
            {
                var last = Model.BodyMappings[indexes[0]].ChildMappings.Count - 1;
@Html.EditorFor(m => m.BodyMappings[indexes[0]].ChildMappings[last])
                break;
            }

        case 2:
            {
                var last = Model.BodyMappings[indexes[0]].ChildMappings[indexes[1]].ChildMappings.Count - 1;
@Html.EditorFor(m => m.BodyMappings[indexes[0]].ChildMappings[indexes[1]].ChildMappings[last])
                break;
            }
        case 3:
            {
                var last = Model.BodyMappings[indexes[0]].ChildMappings[indexes[1]].ChildMappings[indexes[2]].ChildMappings.Count - 1;
@Html.EditorFor(m => m.BodyMappings[indexes[0]].ChildMappings[indexes[1]].ChildMappings[indexes[2]].ChildMappings[last])
                break;
            }
        case 4:
            {
                var last = Model.BodyMappings[indexes[0]].ChildMappings[indexes[1]].ChildMappings[indexes[2]].ChildMappings[indexes[3]].ChildMappings.Count - 1;
@Html.EditorFor(m => m.BodyMappings[indexes[0]].ChildMappings[indexes[1]].ChildMappings[indexes[2]].ChildMappings[indexes[3]].ChildMappings[last])
                break;
            }
        case 5:
            {
                var last = Model.BodyMappings[indexes[0]].ChildMappings[indexes[1]].ChildMappings[indexes[2]].ChildMappings[indexes[3]].ChildMappings[indexes[4]].ChildMappings.Count - 1;
@Html.EditorFor(m => m.BodyMappings[indexes[0]].ChildMappings[indexes[1]].ChildMappings[indexes[2]].ChildMappings[indexes[3]].ChildMappings[indexes[4]].ChildMappings[last])
                break;
            }
        default:
            break;
    }

So, Is there a way to wrap up what I have working in a package more like my failed first attempt? I've also tried a lambda code block, only to be denied because it can't be converted to an expression tree.

Answer 1

Well, probably this is not the intended way, but it works when you create a new Html-Helper for the object you want to pick:

@{  
    var dd =  new ViewDataDictionary<Mapping>(RecurseMappings(Model.BodyMappings, indexes));
    var dc = new MyDataContainer() { ViewData = dd };
    var help = new HtmlHelper<Mapping>(ViewContext, dc);
}

@help.EditorFor(m => m)

In a source file the definition of a custom data container, since I could not find a class that implements the interface.

public class MyDataContainer : IViewDataContainer
{
    public ViewDataDictionary ViewData { get; set; }
}