Razor: @Html.HiddenFor() need to turn off validation

Could you help me, please.

I have a class:

public class Product
{
   ...

   // NOT REQUIRED!
   public virtual Category Category{ get; set; }
}

But when in a view I create

@Html.HiddenFor(model => model.Category.Id), or
@Html.Hidden("model.Category.Id", model => model.Category.Id)

razor adds validation attribute to this.

1. How to turn it off? (in model, in view)
2. How to turn off validation event if a property has the attribute [Required]?

I found out that this is not a razor problem, it is somewhere in MV开发者_JS百科C. Even if I manage to pass "Category.Id" value = "" to the server, TryModelUpdate() will fail - it requires "Category.Id" to be set, but it's not required in my model.

Why is it so??!

I solved the same issue with an crutch like this:

  @{ Html.EnableUnobtrusiveJavaScript(false); }

  @Html.HiddenFor(t => t.Prop1)
  @Html.HiddenFor(t => t.Prop2)

  ...

  @{ Html.EnableUnobtrusiveJavaScript(true); }

Setup a hidden like:

@Html.Hidden("CategoryIdHidden", model => model.Category.Id)

And process the posted hidden value separate from the model binding stuff... I think the validation is UI specific, and not model specific, so it wouldn't validate the category ID.

Or, supply in the hidden a default value of "0". A value of "" probably won't evaluate correctly if the category.ID is of type int, hence its null, hence it errors.

HTH.