ObjectDataSource has no values to insert

Question

I'm using an ObjectDataSource to perform CRUD operations. For some reason I am getting an "ObjectDataSource 'ObjectDataSource1' has no values to insert. Check that the 'values' dictionary contains values."

Any suggestions?

I understand that this control inherits from the ObjectDataSource Control. According to the documentation http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.ui.webcontrols.objectdatasource.insertmethod.aspx

If the DataObjectTypeName property is set, the method is resolved in a different way. The ObjectDataSource looks for a method with the name that is specified in the InsertMethod property that takes one parameter of the type that is specified in the DataObjectTypeName property.

That's how my ObjectDataSource Control is setup.

<asp: ObjectDataSource ID="ObjectDataSource1" runat="server" 
                DataObjectTypeName="MyApplication.Entities.Domain.MyObject" ConflictDetection="CompareAllValues"
                OldValuesParameterFormatString="original{0}" SelectMethod="GetUserDisplays"
                InsertMethod="CreateMyObject" UpdateMethod="UpdateMyObject" DeleteMethod="DeleteDisplay">
            </asp:ObjectDataSource>

I set a breakpoint on the InsertMethod, but the application does not even hit it when I try to save my form. I suspect the DataObjectType is not being instantiated properly for some reason.

I'm trying to perform the Insert operation in the EditForm of an ASPxGridview control and the DataObjectType is an EF POCO which has some additional properties (marked virtual) in it to load related entities from the ObjectContext. I think this may be the problem but don't know how to fix it (have looked everywhere!!!).

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

Although I have not been able to determine exactly why the DataObjectType is not being instantiated automatically, I realized that there was an input parameter that needed to be added prior to calling the InsertMethod on the ObjectDataSource. To do this, I needed to add the input parameter (in my scenario anyway) in the Inserting event. Thanks to another post on StackOverflow I was able to figure out that I needed to remove the 'DataObjectTypeName' attribute from the ObjectDataSource for the Inserting event to fire.

Answer 2

I didn't notice a "TypeName" attribute in your ObjectDataSource definition. The DataObjectTypeName according to MSDN is used to identify the class "that the ObjectDataSource control uses for a parameter in an update, insert, or delete data operation, instead of passing individual values from the data-bound control." If the classes are the same (i.e. the CRUD methods class and the data object definition class) then both attributes should be assigned to the same class. If however, your methods are contained in a separate class from your DTO then you would identify each individually.

Answer 3

This helpful post solved the issue for me: http://dyslexicanaboko.blogspot.com/2012/09/objectdatasource-has-no-values-to.html