Q:

Is it possible to apply ModelState.IsValid to just one table of a Data Entity Model?

So I currently have a view that needs an entire data entity for display purposes, but I only want to post data for one table to the controller and validate it.
@model MvcExample.Models.DataEntities   
@using(Html.BeginForm("ActionMethod", "Controller")){
         @Html.AntiForgeryToken()
         @Html.ValidationSummary(true)
        <table id="setupTable">
            <tr>
                <td>@Html.LabelFor(model => model.DataField.Local.First().data, "Data:")</td>
                <td>@Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.DataField.Local.First().data, new{id="dataField"})
                    @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.DataField.Local.First().dataField)
                </td>
            </tr> 
<input type="submit" value="submit" />  
} 

Is it possible to post this to an ActionMethod and use ModelState.IsValid?
      [ActionName("Setup")]
      [AcceptVerbs(HttpVerbs.Post)]
      [ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
      public ActionResult ActionMethod(FormCollection formCollection)
      {
         if( ModelState.IsValid )
         {
            // Do Stuff
            db.SaveChanges();
         }

         var dataField= new DataField();
         db.DataField.Add( dataField);

         return View( db );
      }

A:

Imagine you have these two models. The MainModel is your entire dataset and the SubsetModel is the data you need to post back to a Controller Action.
public class MainModel
{
   public FieldOne First {get;set}
   public FieldTwo Second {get;set}
   public FieldThree Third {get;set;}
   public FieldFour Fourth {get;set;}
}

public class SubsetModel 
{
   public FieldOne First {get;set;}
   public FieldTwo Second {get;set;}
}

your Controller Action can be told to just expect the SubSetModel back on post.
public ActionResult DoSomething(SubsetModel subset)
{
  //do something
}

In your View, you need to just have the relevant fields within the form, or use Javascript/JQuery to post the data back to the Controller. As long as the fields in your form has the correct names, the model binder will create the SubsetModel which your action expects

