C# – Create a web app with ASP.NET Core MVC – Video

Creating a web application with ASP.NET could look as a hard task. Still, with the pre-built MVC models from Visual Studio, the task is a bit easier. This is how the application looks like, with 2 search buttons and fully implemented CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) functionality:

The video includes the following steps:

• Getting started with a HelloWorldController.cs
• Add a controller
• Add a view
• Add a model
• Work with SQL Server LocalDB
• Controller methods and views
• Add 2 search fields (one by genre and one by filter word)
• Add a new field (rating 5/7)
• Adding data validation to the model (video at the bottom of the article)

The application is built from scratch (or from New>Project) in the video here:

The most important parts of the application are probably the MoviesController.cs which is about 90% generated by Visual Studio:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Rendering;
using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
using MvcMovie.Models;

namespace MvcMovie.Controllers
{
    public class MoviesController : Controller
    {
        private readonly MvcMovieContext _context;

        public MoviesController(MvcMovieContext context)
        {
            _context = context;
        }

        // GET: Movies
        public async Task<IActionResult> Index(string movieGenre, string searchString)
        {
            IQueryable<string> genreQuery = from m in _context.Movie
                                            orderby m.Genre
                                            select m.Genre;

            var movies = from m in _context.Movie select m;

            if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(searchString))
            {
                movies = movies.Where(s => s.Title.Contains(searchString));
            }

            if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(movieGenre))
            {
                movies = movies.Where(s => s.Genre.Contains(movieGenre));
            }

            var movieGenreVM = new MovieGenreViewModel
            {
                Genres = new SelectList(await genreQuery.Distinct().ToListAsync()),
                Movies = await movies.ToListAsync()
            };

            return View(movieGenreVM);
        }

        // GET: Movies/Details/5
        public async Task<IActionResult> Details(int? id)
        {
            if (id == null)
            {
                return NotFound();
            }

            var movie = await _context.Movie
                .FirstOrDefaultAsync(m => m.Id == id);
            if (movie == null)
            {
                return NotFound();
            }

            return View(movie);
        }

        // GET: Movies/Create
        public IActionResult Create()
        {
            return View();
        }

        // POST: Movies/Create
        // To protect from overposting attacks, please enable the specific properties you want to bind to, for 
        // more details see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=317598.
        [HttpPost]
        [ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
        public async Task<IActionResult> Create([Bind("Id,Title,ReleaseDate,Genre,Price,Rating")] Movie movie)
        {
            if (ModelState.IsValid)
            {
                _context.Add(movie);
                await _context.SaveChangesAsync();
                return RedirectToAction(nameof(Index));
            }
            return View(movie);
        }

        // GET: Movies/Edit/5
        public async Task<IActionResult> Edit(int? id)
        {
            if (id == null)
            {
                return NotFound();
            }

            var movie = await _context.Movie.FindAsync(id);
            if (movie == null)
            {
                return NotFound();
            }
            return View(movie);
        }

        // POST: Movies/Edit/5
        // To protect from overposting attacks, please enable the specific properties you want to bind to, for 
        // more details see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=317598.
        [HttpPost]
        [ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
        public async Task<IActionResult> Edit(int id, [Bind("Id,Title,ReleaseDate,Genre,Price,Rating")] Movie movie)
        {
            if (id != movie.Id)
            {
                return NotFound();
            }

            if (ModelState.IsValid)
            {
                try
                {
                    _context.Update(movie);
                    await _context.SaveChangesAsync();
                }
                catch (DbUpdateConcurrencyException)
                {
                    if (!MovieExists(movie.Id))
                    {
                        return NotFound();
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        throw;
                    }
                }
                return RedirectToAction(nameof(Index));
            }
            return View(movie);
        }

        // GET: Movies/Delete/5
        public async Task<IActionResult> Delete(int? id)
        {
            if (id == null)
            {
                return NotFound();
            }

            var movie = await _context.Movie
                .FirstOrDefaultAsync(m => m.Id == id);
            if (movie == null)
            {
                return NotFound();
            }

            return View(movie);
        }

        // POST: Movies/Delete/5
        [HttpPost, ActionName("Delete")]
        [ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
        public async Task<IActionResult> DeleteConfirmed(int id)
        {
            var movie = await _context.Movie.FindAsync(id);
            _context.Movie.Remove(movie);
            await _context.SaveChangesAsync();
            return RedirectToAction(nameof(Index));
        }

        private bool MovieExists(int id)
        {
            return _context.Movie.Any(e => e.Id == id);
        }
    }
}

And the razor view at Views>Movies>Index.cshtm with the two search fields:

@model MvcMovie.Models.MovieGenreViewModel

@{
    ViewData["Title"] = "Index";
}

<h2>Index</h2>

<p>
    <a asp-action="Create">Create New</a>
</p>
<form asp-controller="Movies" asp-action="Index" >
    <p>
        Title:<input type="text" name="SearchString" />
        <input type ="submit" value="Filter" />

        <select asp-for="MovieGenre" asp-items="Model.Genres">
            <option value= "">All</option>
        </select>
    </p>
</form>


<table class="table">
    <thead>
        <tr>
            <th>
                @Html.DisplayNameFor(model => model.Movies[0].Title)
            </th>
            <th>
                @Html.DisplayNameFor(model => model.Movies[0].ReleaseDate)
            </th>
            <th>
                @Html.DisplayNameFor(model => model.Movies[0].Genre)
            </th>
            <th>
                @Html.DisplayNameFor(model => model.Movies[0].Price)
            </th>
            <th>
                @Html.DisplayNameFor(model => model.Movies[0].Rating)
            </th>

            <th></th>
        </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
@foreach (var item in Model.Movies) {
        <tr>
            <td>
                @Html.DisplayFor(modelItem => item.Title)
            </td>
            <td>
                @Html.DisplayFor(modelItem => item.ReleaseDate)
            </td>
            <td>
                @Html.DisplayFor(modelItem => item.Genre)
            </td>
            <td>
                @Html.DisplayFor(modelItem => item.Price)
            </td>
            <td>
                @Html.DisplayFor(modelItem => item.Rating)
            </td>
            <td>
                <a asp-action="Edit" asp-route-id="@item.Id">Edit</a> |
                <a asp-action="Details" asp-route-id="@item.Id">Details</a> |
                <a asp-action="Delete" asp-route-id="@item.Id">Delete</a>
            </td>
        </tr>
}
    </tbody>
</table>

Adding data validation to the project:

The rest is in GitHub here:

https://github.com/Vitosh/ASP/tree/master/MvcMovie

https://github.com/Vitosh/ASP/tree/master/MvcMovieWithDataValidation

Enjoy!