The model item passed into the dictionary is of type 'System.String', but this dictionary requires a model item of type 'JFS.Data.Model.Address'

Question

I am quite new to MVC but have been making steady progress however I have recently hit a problem that I can't seem to overcome despite reading a number of similar posts on similar topics.

I have a model as follows (simplified for brevity)

public virtual int Id { get; set; }

public virtual string Name { get; set; }

public virtual Address Address { get; set; }

I have a strongly typed view as follows:

@model JFS.Data.Model.Supplier

@using (Html.BeginForm())
{
    @Html.ValidationSummary(true)  

     <fieldset>
        <legend>Supplier Address</legend>

        <div class="editor-label">
            @Html.LabelFor(model => model.Address.AddressLine1)
        </div>
        <div class="editor-field">
            @Html.EditorFor(model => model.Address.AddressLine1)
            @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Address.AddressLine1)
        </div>

        <div class="editor-label">
            @Html.LabelFor(model => model.Address.Country)
        </div>
        <div class="editor-field">
            @Html.EditorFor(model => model.Address.Country)
            @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Address.Country)
        </div>

    </fieldset>

And I have a shared EditorTemplate for the Country field as follows:

 @model JFS.Data.Model.Address

    @using System.Globalization

    @Html.DropDownListFor(o => o.Country, GetCountries(Model), "Please select")

    @functions
    {
        private static IEnumerable<SelectListItem> GetCountries(object country)
        {
            var regions = CultureInfo.GetCultures(CultureTypes.SpecificCultures)
                            .Select(cultureInfo => new RegionInfo(cultureInfo.LCID))
                            .OrderBy(r => r.EnglishName)
                            .Distinct()
                            .ToList();
            return new SelectList(regions, "TwoLetterISORegionName", "EnglishName", country);
        }
    }

I understand the problem but not sure how best to overcome it, any advice would be very much appreciated.

Mauricio Morales Mauricio Morales · Accepted Answer · 2012-02-29T15:42:35

Though your particular scenario was already answered by @ProNotion, I have had this issue before when you are passing null into your View or Templates. It may help someone else coming this way.

The model item passed into the dictionary is of type 'System.String', but this dictionary requires a model item of type 'JFS.Data.Model.Address'

3 Answers