MVC3 Bind validation in controller

Question

I spent a good amount of time on google and cannot find the answer.

Instead of having an attribute in the model class like

public class MyModel
{
   [Required]
   public string Name {get; set;}
}

Can I add the Required requirement in the controller instead of attribute?

I am expecting something like ValidationProvider.Add(some model properties, some constraints) Have anyone done that before?

Answer 1

Yeah sure you can (in controller method):

if(string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(model.Name))
  ModelState.AddModelError("Name", "Name is required");

if(!ModelState.IsValid)
  return View();

But really you should use the attributes, or implement IValidatableObject on your model class. Keeps things nicely separated.

Answer 2

If you can use HTML5 you can use the required attribute in the field itself (in the view). Also consider the FluentValidation for .Net (http://fluentvalidation.codeplex.com/). Or you can use knockoutjs framework to control required fields.

Answer 3

您不应该这样做，因为如果这样做，数据层将不需要该属性，并且不会有相应的数据库约束。