Foreach doesn't find nested class

Question

I want to make a model for mvc page like this:

public class Body
{
    public int Id { get; set; }

    public class Hand
    {
        public List<Fingers> fingers { get; set; }
    }

    public class Foot
    {
        public List<Toes> toes { get; set; }
    }

    public class Head
    {
        public Nose nose {get; set;}
        public List<Ears> ears { get; set; }
        public List<Eyes> eyes { get; set; }
    }
}

Then have a class for Fingers like this:

public class Fingers
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Description { get; set; }
}

Then access it like this in my view:

@model Models.Body
@foreach (var fingers in Model.Hand.Fingers)
{
    @Html.RadioButton("fingerList", fingers.Description)     
}

Am I doing my model wrong? Right now VS doesn't recognize the Model.Hand in the foreach, much less the Model.Hand.Fingers. I don't want to make the @model IEnumerable because this page should only show one person, but it can have multiple lists of fingers, toes, etc.

What is the error? it does not compíle? or in the execution time fingers are not displayed? — DanielVorph, Apr 29 '16 at 17:19

Tim · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-29T17:27:26.817

Your Body class has no property Hand on it.

Beyond that, your Hand class has fingers but in razor you refer to it with Fingers.

I don't know if you really intend to have your classes be nested, but you need to add properties onto your Body class for the ones you want (sticking with your property capitalization conventions):

public class Body
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public Hand hand { get; set; }
    public Foot foot { get; set; }
    public Head head { get; set; }

    public class Hand
    {
        public List<Fingers> fingers { get; set; }
    }

    public class Foot
    {
        public List<Toes> toes { get; set; }
    }

    public class Head
    {
        public Nose nose {get; set;}
        public List<Ears> ears { get; set; }
        public List<Eyes> eyes { get; set; }
    }
}

and then you need to refer to the properties with casing that matches your properties, not the class names:

@model Models.Body
@foreach (var fingers in Model.hand.fingers)
{
    @Html.RadioButton("fingerList", fingers.Description)     
}

I would also argue that your casing/capitalization is incorrect, but that's not the point of your question.

That's a discussion for another thread. But here's a rabbit hole you can go down: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1083032/why-would-i-ever-need-to-use-c-sharp-nested-classes — Tim, Apr 29 '16 at 17:35

Shyju · Answer 2 · 2016-04-29T17:30:02.127

Since you are accessing the Hand property of your model which is Body type, You should add a property called Hand to your Body class.

public class Hand
{
    public List<Fingers> Fingers { get; set; }
}
public class Body
{
    public int Id { get; set; }    
    public Hand Hand {set;get;}
    public Foot Foot { set;get;}
    public Head Head { set;get;}
}
public class Foot
{
    public List<Toes> toes { get; set; }
}
public class Head
{
   public Nose nose {get; set;}
   public List<Ears> ears { get; set; }
   public List<Eyes> eyes { get; set; }
}

Now in your GET action, you need to initialize the Hand property

public ActionResult Index()
{
  var vm = new Body { Hand= new Hand { Fingers = new List<Finger>()} };
  return View(vm);
}

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 29 '16 at 17:27

I think you need a property called Fingers in your Body class instead of a nested class called Hand:

public List<Fingers> Fingers { get; set; }

Then you could:

@foreach (var fingers in Model.Fingers)
{
    @Html.RadioButton("fingerList", fingers.Description)     
}

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 29 '16 at 17:27

2

You don't add the properties to Body class!?

public class Body
{
    public int Id { get; set; }

    public Hand Hand {get;set;}
    public Foot Foot {get;set;}
    public Head Head {get;set;}
}

answered Apr 29 '16 at 17:27

Joaquín Crippa

161
5

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 29 '16 at 17:28

It looks to me that your Model is missing some itinialization; no setters have been called yet. So...

public class Hand
{
    public Hand()
    {
      Fingers = new List<Fingers>();
    }
}

Same goes for the Hand property. It is likely null, no your foreach loop will not work.

Side note: don't pluralize your class names. It should be Finger and Toe, since you have a list of it.

Foreach doesn't find nested class

5 Answers5