JSON custom binder null for derived abstract class asp.net mvc

I have made a custom binder for an abstract class. The binder decides which implementation to use. It works well, but when I add a property which does not exist in the abstract class to a child class, it is always null.

Here is the code for the abstract class Pet and derived classes Dog and Cat.

public abstract class Pet
{
    public string name { get; set; }
    public string species { get; set; }
    abstract public string talk { get; }
}

public class Dog : Pet
{
    override public string talk { get { return "Bark!"; } }
}
public class Cat : Pet
{
    override public string talk { get { return "Miaow."; } }
    public string parasite { get;set; } 
}


public class DefaultPetBinder : DefaultModelBinder
{
    protected override object CreateModel(ControllerContext controllerContext,ModelBindingContext bindingContext,Type modelType)
    {
        bool hasPrefix = bindingContext.ValueProvider.ContainsPrefix(bindingContext.ModelName);
        string prefix = ((hasPrefix)&&(bindingContext.ModelName!="")) ? bindingContext.ModelName + "." : "";

        // get the parameter species
        ValueProviderResult result;
        result = bindingContext.ValueProvider.GetValue(prefix+"species");

        if (result.AttemptedValue.Equals("cat")){
            //var model = base.CreateModel(controllerContext, bindingContext, typeof(Cat));
            return base.CreateModel(controllerContext,bindingContext,typeof(Cat));
        }
        else (result.AttemptedValue.Equals("dog"))
        {
            return base.CreateModel(controllerContext,bindingContext,typeof(Dog));
        }
    }
}

The controller just takes a Pet parameter and returns it as JSON.

If I send

{name:"Odie", species:"dog"}

I get back

{"talk":"Bark!","name":"Odie","species":"dog"}开发者_StackOverflow中文版

For the Cat, there is a parasite property which does not exist in the abstract class Pet. If I send

{"parasite":"cockroaches","name":"Oggy","species":"cat"}

I get back

{"talk":"Miaow.","parasite":null,"name":"Oggy","species":"cat"}

I have tried this with other more complex classes, this is just a simple example. I have looked in the debugger, the parasite value is in the value provider, the model the binder returns contains a field for the parasite. Can anyone see where the problem is?

Try like this:

protected override object CreateModel(ControllerContext controllerContext,ModelBindingContext bindingContext,Type modelType)
{
    bool hasPrefix = bindingContext.ValueProvider.ContainsPrefix(bindingContext.ModelName);
    string prefix = ((hasPrefix)&&(bindingContext.ModelName!="")) ? bindingContext.ModelName + "." : "";

    // get the parameter species
    ValueProviderResult result;
    result = bindingContext.ValueProvider.GetValue(prefix+"species");

    if (result.AttemptedValue.Equals("cat")) 
    {
        var model = Activator.CreateInstance(typeof(Cat));
        bindingContext.ModelMetadata = ModelMetadataProviders.Current.GetMetadataForType(() => model, typeof(Cat));
        return model;
    }
    else if (result.AttemptedValue.Equals("dog"))
    {
        var model = Activator.CreateInstance(typeof(Dog));
        bindingContext.ModelMetadata = ModelMetadataProviders.Current.GetMetadataForType(() => model, typeof(Dog));
        return model;
    }

    throw new Exception(string.Format("Unknown type \"{0}\"", result.AttemptedValue));
}