Why? This doesn't make sense. A checkbox has two states: checked/unchecked, or True/False if you will. There is no third state.
Or wait you are using your domain models in your views instead of view models? That's your problem. So the solution for me is to use a view model in which you will define a simple boolean property:
public class MyViewModel
{
public bool Foo { get; set; }
}
and now you will have your controller action pass this view model to the view and generate the proper checkbox.
Complicating a primitive with hidden fields to clarify whether False or Null is not recommended.
Checkbox isn't what you should be using -- it really only has one state: Checked. Otherwise, it could be anything.
When your database field is a nullable boolean (bool?), the UX should use 3-Radio Buttons, where the first button represents your "Checked", the second button represents "Not Checked" and the third button represents your null, whatever the semantics of null means. You could use a <select><option> drop down list to save real estate, but the user has to click twice and the choices aren't nearly as instantaneously clear.
1 0 null
True False Not Set
Yes No Undecided
Male Female Unknown
On Off Not Detected
The RadioButtonList, defined as an extension named RadioButtonForSelectList, builds the radio buttons for you, including the selected/checked value, and sets the <div class="RBxxxx"> so you can use css to make your radio buttons go horizontal (display: inline-block), vertical, or in a table fashion (display: inline-block; width:100px;)
In the model (I'm using string, string for the dictionary definition as a pedagogical example. You can use bool?, string)
public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> Sexsli { get; set; }
SexDict = new Dictionary<string, string>()
{
{ "M", "Male"},
{ "F", "Female" },
{ "U", "Undecided" },
};
//Convert the Dictionary Type into a SelectListItem Type
Sexsli = SexDict.Select(k =>
new SelectListItem
{
Selected = (k.Key == "U"),
Text = k.Value,
Value = k.Key.ToString()
});
<fieldset id="Gender">
<legend id="GenderLegend" title="Gender - Sex">I am a</legend>
@Html.RadioButtonForSelectList(m => m.Sexsli, Model.Sexsli, "Sex")
@Html.ValidationMessageFor(m => m.Sexsli)
</fieldset>
public static class HtmlExtensions
{
public static MvcHtmlString RadioButtonForSelectList<TModel, TProperty>(
this HtmlHelper<TModel> htmlHelper,
Expression<Func<TModel, TProperty>> expression,
IEnumerable<SelectListItem> listOfValues,
String rbClassName = "Horizontal")
{
var metaData = ModelMetadata.FromLambdaExpression(expression, htmlHelper.ViewData);
var sb = new StringBuilder();
if (listOfValues != null)
{
// Create a radio button for each item in the list
foreach (SelectListItem item in listOfValues)
{
// Generate an id to be given to the radio button field
var id = string.Format("{0}_{1}", metaData.PropertyName, item.Value);
// Create and populate a radio button using the existing html helpers
var label = htmlHelper.Label(id, HttpUtility.HtmlEncode(item.Text));
var radio = String.Empty;
if (item.Selected == true)
{
radio = htmlHelper.RadioButtonFor(expression, item.Value, new { id = id, @checked = "checked" }).ToHtmlString();
}
else
{
radio = htmlHelper.RadioButtonFor(expression, item.Value, new { id = id }).ToHtmlString();
}// Create the html string to return to client browser
// e.g. <input data-val="true" data-val-required="You must select an option" id="RB_1" name="RB" type="radio" value="1" /><label for="RB_1">Choice 1</label>
sb.AppendFormat("<div class=\"RB{2}\">{0}{1}</div>", radio, label, rbClassName);
}
}
return MvcHtmlString.Create(sb.ToString());
}
}
For me the solution was to change the view model. Consider you are searching for invoices. These invoices can be paid or not. So your search has three options: Paid, Unpaid, or "I don't Care".
I had this originally set as a bool? field:
public bool? PaidInvoices { get; set; }
This made me stumble onto this question. I ended up created an Enum type and I handled this as follows:
Checkbox only offer you 2 values (true, false). Nullable boolean has 3 values (true, false, null) so it's impossible to do it with a checkbox.
A good option is to use a drop down instead.
Model
public bool? myValue;
public List<SelectListItem> valueList;
Controller
model.valueList = new List<SelectListItem>();
model.valueList.Add(new SelectListItem() { Text = "", Value = "" });
model.valueList.Add(new SelectListItem() { Text = "Yes", Value = "true" });
model.valueList.Add(new SelectListItem() { Text = "No", Value = "false" });
This is an old question, and the existing answers describe most of the alternatives. But there's one simple option, if you have bool? in your viewmodel, and you don't care about null in your UI:
I would actually create a template for it and use that template with an EditorFor().
Here is how I did it:
Create My template, which is basically a partial view I created in the EditorTemplates directory, under Shared, under Views name it as (for example): CheckboxTemplate:
Templates are so powerful in MVC, use them.. You can create an entire page as a template, which you would use with the @Html.EditorFor(); provided that you pass its view model in the lambda expression..
When making an EditorTemplate for a model which contains a nullable bool...
Split the nullable bool into 2 booleans:
// Foo is still a nullable boolean.
public bool? Foo
{
get
{
if (FooIsNull)
return null;
return FooCheckbox;
}
set
{
FooIsNull = (value == null);
FooCheckbox = (value ?? false);
}
}
// These contain the value of Foo. Public only so they are visible in Razor views.
public bool FooIsNull { get; set; }
public bool FooCheckbox { get; set; }
The cleanest approach I could come up with is to expand the extensions available to HtmlHelper while still reusing functionality provided by the framework.
public static MvcHtmlString CheckBoxFor<T>(this HtmlHelper<T> htmlHelper, Expression<Func<T, bool?>> expression, IDictionary<string, object> htmlAttributes) {
ModelMetadata modelMeta = ModelMetadata.FromLambdaExpression(expression, htmlHelper.ViewData);
bool? value = (modelMeta.Model as bool?);
string name = ExpressionHelper.GetExpressionText(expression);
return htmlHelper.CheckBox(name, value ?? false, htmlAttributes);
}
I experimented with 'shaping' the expression to allow a straight pass through to the native CheckBoxFor<Expression<Func<T, bool>>> but I don't think it's possible.
In my scenario, a nullable checkbox means that a staff member had not yet asked the question to the client, so it's wrapped in a .checkbox-nullable so that you may style appropriately and help the end-user identify that it is neither true nor false
Radio buttons are useful, but they don't allow you to deselect. If you want this behaviour, then consider using a drop-down/select. The following code will generate the SelectList and this binds successfully to a nullable boolean:
public static SelectList GetBoolTriState()
{
var items = new List<SelectListItem>
{
new SelectListItem {Value = "", Text = ""},
new SelectListItem {Value = "True", Text = "Yes"},
new SelectListItem {Value = "False", Text = "No"},
};
return new SelectList(items, "Value", "Text");
}