asp.net mvc - The conversion of a datetime2 data type to a datetime data type resulted in an out-of-range value

Question

I have the following code in my HomeController:

public ActionResult Edit(int id)
{
    var ArticleToEdit = (from m in _db.ArticleSet where m.storyId == id select m).First();
    return View(ArticleToEdit);
}

[ValidateInput(false)]
[AcceptVerbs(HttpVerbs.Post)]
public ActionResult Edit(Article ArticleToEdit)
{
    var originalArticle = (from m in _db.ArticleSet where m.storyId == ArticleToEdit.storyId select m).First();
    if (!ModelState.IsValid)
        return View(originalArticle);

    _db.ApplyPropertyChanges(originalArticle.EntityKey.EntitySetName, ArticleToEdit);
    _db.SaveChanges();
    return RedirectToAction("Index");
}

And this is the view for the Edit method:

<% using (Html.BeginForm()) {%>

    <fieldset>
        <legend>Fields</legend>
        <p>
            <label for="headline">Headline</label>
            <%= Html.TextBox("headline") %>
        </p>
        <p>
            <label for="story">Story <span>( HTML Allowed )</span></label>
            <%= Html.TextArea("story") %>
        </p>
        <p>
            <label for="image">Image URL</label>
            <%= Html.TextBox("image") %>
        </p>
        <p>
            <input type="submit" value="Post" />
        </p>
    </fieldset>

<% } %>

When I hit the submit button I get the error: {"The conversion of a datetime2 data type to a datetime data type resulted in an out-of-range value. The statement has been terminated."} Any ideas what the problem is? I'm assuming that the edit method is trying to update the posted value in the DB to the edited on but for some reason it's not liking it... Although I don't see why the date is involved as it's not mentioned in the controller method for edit?

Answer 1

The issue is that you're using ApplyPropertyChanges with a model object that has only been populated with data in the form (headline, story, and image). ApplyPropertyChanges applies changes to all properties of the object, including your uninitialized DateTime, which is set to 0001-01-01, which is outside of the range of SQL Server's DATETIME.

Rather than using ApplyPropertyChanges, I'd suggest retrieving the object being modified, change the specific fields your form edits, then saving the object with those modifications; that way, only changed fields are modified. Alternately, you can place hidden inputs in your page with the other fields populated, but that wouldn't be very friendly with concurrent edits.

Update:

Here's an untested sample of just updating some fields of your object (this is assuming you're using LINQ to SQL):

var story = _db.ArticleSet.First(a => a.storyId == ArticleToEdit.storyId);
story.headline = ArticleToEdit.headline;
story.story = ArticleToEdit.story;
story.image = ArticleToEdit.image;
story.modifiedDate = DateTime.Now;
_db.SubmitChanges();