Populating a razor dropdownlist from a List<object> in MVC

Question

I have a model:

public class DbUserRole
    {
        public int UserRoleId { get; set; }
        public string UserRole { get; set; }
    }

public class DbUserRoles
    {
        public List<DbUserRole> GetRoles()
        {
            BugnetReports RoleDropDown = new BugnetReports();
            List<DbUserRole> Roles = new List<DbUserRole>();
            DataSet table = RoleDropDown.userRoleDropDown();
            foreach (DataRow item in table.Tables[0].Rows)
            {
                DbUserRole ur = new DbUserRole();
                ur.UserRole = Convert.ToString(item["UserRoleName"]);
                ur.UserRoleId = Convert.ToInt32(item["UserRoleID"]);
                Roles.Add(ur);
            }
            return Roles;
        }
    }

And here is the Controller that loads the view:

        //
        // GET: /Admin/AddNewUser

        public ActionResult AddNewUser()
        {
            DbUserRoles Roles = new DbUserRoles();
            return View(Roles.GetRoles());
        }

I can get the items in the list to display using a @foreach loop as shown below:

@foreach (var item in Model)
       {
           <tr>
               <td>
                   @item.UserRoleId
               </td>
               <td>
                   @item.UserRole
               </td>
           </tr>
       }

But how do I populate a dropdownlist with the model that is passed through, I have tried

@Html.DropDownListFor(x => x.UserRole)

but I'm having no luck.

Fennessy

Answer 1

You can separate out your business logic into a viewmodel, so your view has cleaner separation.

First create a viewmodel to store the Id the user will select along with a list of items that will appear in the DropDown.

ViewModel:

public class UserRoleViewModel
{
    // Display Attribute will appear in the Html.LabelFor
    [Display(Name = "User Role")]
    public int SelectedUserRoleId { get; set; }
    public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> UserRoles { get; set; }
}

References:

• DisplayAttribute

Inside the controller create a method to get your UserRole list and transform it into the form that will be presented in the view.

Controller:

private IEnumerable<SelectListItem> GetRoles()
{
    var dbUserRoles = new DbUserRoles();
    var roles = dbUserRoles
                .GetRoles()
                .Select(x =>
                        new SelectListItem
                            {
                                Value = x.UserRoleId.ToString(),
                                Text = x.UserRole
                            });

    return new SelectList(roles, "Value", "Text");
}

public ActionResult AddNewUser()
{
    var model = new UserRoleViewModel
                    {
                        UserRoles = GetRoles()
                    };
    return View(model);
}

References:

• SelectListItem
• SelectList Constructor (IEnumerable, String, String)

Now that the viewmodel is created the presentation logic is simplified

View:

@model UserRoleViewModel

@Html.LabelFor(m => m.SelectedUserRoleId)
@Html.DropDownListFor(m => m.SelectedUserRoleId, Model.UserRoles)

References:

• LabelExtensions.LabelFor
• SelectExtensions.DropDownListFor

This will produce:

<label for="SelectedUserRoleId">User Role</label>
<select id="SelectedUserRoleId" name="SelectedUserRoleId">
    <option value="1">First Role</option>
    <option value="2">Second Role</option>
    <option value="3">Etc...</option>
</select>

Sagacious

I'm glad you found it helpful! – Sagacious

Say this is a list with filters (a grid that shows results filtered by whats in the drop down). Would you add the grids results to this same view? Thanks – Kitchen

Thank you, this is the first good explanation I've found of this razor extension, and that includes reading the official MS docs. – Cristiecristin

Fantastic and very helpful. This will be bookmarked for future! +1 – Ruder

In your controller, how do you do var roles = dbUserRoles.GetRoles() ... when GetRoles method is located in the controller, while dbUserRoles is an instance of the model class? – Tuber

When you submit the form will this data(master data for dropdown) be posted back to controller? If yes, how can we avoid this? – Decadent

When I post to a create action, the relationship is still null, despite the SelectedId being present in the HTTP payload. How do you get the relationship in the controller action? – Kylix

I have implemented this, but I get a object does not exist error on the View (partial view). I have the following items there: @model ListViewModel ; @Html.LabelFor(m => m.SelectedValue) ; @Html.DropDownListFor(m => m.SelectedValue, Model.MyList) – Gear

Simply doesn't work -> VehicleInfoEntities RoleDropDown = new VehicleInfoEntities(); Roles = RoleDropDown.<tablename in entity>; says cannot be used like method. – Imena

Answer 2

One way might be;

    <select name="listbox" id="listbox">
    @foreach (var item in Model)
           {

                   <option value="@item.UserRoleId">
                      @item.UserRole 
                   </option>                  
           }
    </select>

Nomadize

Good answer, I like to have full control on the html I produce – Dryad

Excellent! This have to be the best answer. Really take control of HTML. Thanks :) – Insincerity

Answer 3

  @Html.DropDownList("ddl",Model.Select(item => new SelectListItem
{
    Value = item.RecordID.ToString(),
    Text = item.Name.ToString(),
     Selected = "select" == item.RecordID.ToString()
}))

Affective

Isn't "? true : false" redundant? – Afterdamp

My Model doesn't have a Select. Would you know why? – Adjust

using System.Linq; to get the Select extension method. – Bratton

Answer 4

Something close to:

@Html.DropDownListFor(m => m.UserRole, 
   new SelectList(Model.Roles, "UserRoleId", "UserRole", Model.Roles.First().UserRoleId), 
   new { /* any html  attributes here */ }) 

You need a SelectList to populate the DropDownListFor. For any HTML attributes you need, you can add:

new { @class = "DropDown", @id = "dropdownUserRole" }

Fusil

Answer 5

Instead of a List<UserRole>, you can let your Model contain a SelectList<UserRole>. Also add a property SelectedUserRoleId to store... well... the selected UserRole's Id value.

Fill up the SelectList, then in your View use:

@Html.DropDownListFor(x => x.SelectedUserRoleId, x.UserRole)

and you should be fine.

See also http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.mvc.selectlist(v=vs.108).aspx.

Fermium

Answer 6

Your call to DropDownListFor needs a few more parameters to flesh it out. You need a SelectList as in the following SO question:

MVC3 DropDownListFor - a simple example?

With what you have there, you've only told it where to store the data, not where to load the list from.

Millican

Answer 7

   @{
        List<CategoryModel> CategoryList = CategoryModel.GetCategoryList(UserID);
        IEnumerable<SelectListItem> CategorySelectList = CategoryList.Select(x => new SelectListItem() { Text = x.CategoryName.Trim(), Value = x.CategoryID.Trim() });
    }
    <tr>
        <td>
            <B>Assigned Category:</B>
        </td>
        <td>
            @Html.DropDownList("CategoryList", CategorySelectList, "Select a Category (Optional)")
        </td>
    </tr>

Mchail

Several answers here but this last one should solve the problem best IMO. – Mchail

Answer 8

I'm going to approach this as if you have a Users model:

Users.cs

public class Users
{
    [Key]
    public int UserId { get; set; }

    [Required]
    public string UserName { get; set; }

    public int RoleId { get; set; }

    [ForeignKey("RoleId")]
    public virtual DbUserRoles DbUserRoles { get; set; }
}

and a DbUserRoles model that represented a table by that name in the database:

DbUserRoles.cs

public partial class DbUserRoles
{
    [Key]
    public int UserRoleId { get; set; }

    [Required]
    [StringLength(30)]
    public string UserRole { get; set; }
}

Once you had that cleaned up, you should just be able to create and fill a collection of UserRoles, like this, in your Controller:

var userRoleList = GetUserRolesList();
ViewData["userRoles"] = userRolesList;

and have these supporting functions:

private static SelectListItem[] _UserRolesList;

/// <summary>
/// Returns a static category list that is cached
/// </summary>
/// <returns></returns>
public SelectListItem[] GetUserRolesList()
{
    if (_UserRolesList == null)
    {
        var userRoles = repository.GetAllUserRoles().Select(a => new SelectListItem()
         {
             Text = a.UserRole,
             Value = a.UserRoleId.ToString()
         }).ToList();
         userRoles.Insert(0, new SelectListItem() { Value = "0", Text = "-- Please select your user role --" });

        _UserRolesList = userRoles.ToArray();
    }

    // Have to create new instances via projection
    // to avoid ModelBinding updates to affect this
    // globally
    return _UserRolesList
        .Select(d => new SelectListItem()
    {
         Value = d.Value,
         Text = d.Text
    })
     .ToArray();
}

Repository.cs

My Repository function GetAllUserRoles() for the function, above:

public class Repository
{
    Model1 db = new Model1(); // Entity Framework context

    // User Roles
    public IList<DbUserRoles> GetAllUserRoles()
    {
        return db.DbUserRoles.OrderBy(e => e.UserRoleId).ToList();
    }
}

AddNewUser.cshtml

Then do this in your View:

<table>
    <tr>
        <td>
            @Html.EditorFor(model => model.UserName,
                  htmlAttributes: new { @class = "form-control" }
                  )
        </td>
        <td>
            @Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.RoleId,
                  new SelectList( (IEnumerable<SelectListItem>)ViewData["userRoles"], "Value", "Text", model.RoleId),
                  htmlAttributes: new { @class = "form-control" }
                  )
         </td>
     </tr>
 </table>

Vitriolize

Answer 9

@model AdventureWork.CRUD.WebApp4.Models.EmployeeViewModel
@{
    ViewBag.Title = "Detalle";
    Layout = "~/Views/Shared/_Layout.cshtml";
}

<h2>Ingresar Usuario</h2>

@using (Html.BeginForm())
{

    @Html.AntiForgeryToken()
<div class="form-horizontal">


    <hr />
    @Html.ValidationSummary(true, "", new { @class = "text-danger" })

    <div class="form-group">
        @Html.LabelFor(model => model.Employee.PersonType, labelText: "Tipo de Persona", htmlAttributes: new { @class = "control-label col-md-2" })
        <div class="col-md-10">
            @Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.Employee.PersonType, new List<SelectListItem>
       {
               new SelectListItem{ Text= "SC", Value = "SC" },
               new SelectListItem{ Text= "VC", Value = "VC" },
                  new SelectListItem{ Text= "IN", Value = "IN" },
               new SelectListItem{ Text= "EM", Value = "EM" },
                new SelectListItem{ Text= "SP", Value = "SP" },

       }, htmlAttributes: new { @class = "form-control" })
            @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Employee.PersonType, "", new { @class = "text-danger" })
        </div>
    </div>

    <div class="form-group">
        @Html.LabelFor(model => model.Employee.EmployeeGender, labelText: "Genero", htmlAttributes: new { @class = "control-label col-md-2" })
        <div class="col-md-10">
            @Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.Employee.EmployeeGender, new List<SelectListItem>
       {
           new SelectListItem{ Text= "Masculino", Value = "M" },
           new SelectListItem{ Text= "Femenino", Value = "F" }
       }, htmlAttributes: new { @class = "form-control" })
            @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Employee.EmployeeGender, "", new { @class = "text-danger" })
        </div>
    </div>

    <div class="form-group">
        @Html.LabelFor(model => model.Employee.PersonTitle, labelText: "Titulo", htmlAttributes: new { @class = "control-label col-md-2" })
        <div class="col-md-10">
            @Html.EditorFor(model => model.Employee.PersonTitle, new { htmlAttributes = new { @class = "form-control" } })
            @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Employee.PersonTitle, "", new { @class = "text-danger" })
        </div>
    </div>

    <div class="form-group">
        @Html.LabelFor(model => model.Employee.PersonFirstName, labelText: "Primer Nombre", htmlAttributes: new { @class = "control-label col-md-2" })
        <div class="col-md-10">
            @Html.EditorFor(model => model.Employee.PersonFirstName, new { htmlAttributes = new { @class = "form-control" } })
            @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Employee.PersonFirstName, "", new { @class = "text-danger" })
        </div>
    </div>

    <div class="form-group">
        @Html.LabelFor(model => model.Employee.PersonMiddleName, labelText: "Segundo Nombre", htmlAttributes: new { @class = "control-label col-md-2" })
        <div class="col-md-10">
            @Html.EditorFor(model => model.Employee.PersonMiddleName, new { htmlAttributes = new { @class = "form-control" } })
            @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Employee.PersonMiddleName, "", new { @class = "text-danger" })
        </div>
    </div>

    <div class="form-group">
        @Html.LabelFor(model => model.Employee.PersonLastName, labelText: "Apellido", htmlAttributes: new { @class = "control-label col-md-2" })
        <div class="col-md-10">
            @Html.EditorFor(model => model.Employee.PersonLastName, new { htmlAttributes = new { @class = "form-control" } })
            @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Employee.PersonLastName, "", new { @class = "text-danger" })
        </div>
    </div>

    <div class="form-group">
        @Html.LabelFor(model => model.Employee.PersonSuffix, labelText: "Sufijo", htmlAttributes: new { @class = "control-label col-md-2" })
        <div class="col-md-10">
            @Html.EditorFor(model => model.Employee.PersonSuffix, new { htmlAttributes = new { @class = "form-control" } })
            @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Employee.PersonSuffix, "", new { @class = "text-danger" })
        </div>
    </div>

    <div class="form-group">
        @Html.LabelFor(model => model.Employee.DepartmentID, labelText: "Departamento", htmlAttributes: new { @class = "control-label col-md-2" })
        <div class="col-md-10">
            @Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.Employee.DepartmentID, new SelectList(Model.ListDepartment, "DepartmentID", "DepartmentName"), htmlAttributes: new { @class = "form-control" })
            @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Employee.DepartmentID, "", new { @class = "text-danger" })
        </div>
    </div>


    <div class="form-group">
        @Html.LabelFor(model => model.Employee.EmployeeMaritalStatus, labelText: "Estado Civil", htmlAttributes: new { @class = "control-label col-md-2" })
        <div class="col-md-10">
            @Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.Employee.EmployeeMaritalStatus, new List<SelectListItem>
       {
           new SelectListItem{ Text= "Soltero", Value = "S" },
           new SelectListItem{ Text= "Casado", Value = "M" }
       }, htmlAttributes: new { @class = "form-control" })
            @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Employee.EmployeeMaritalStatus, "", new { @class = "text-danger" })
        </div>
    </div>

    <div class="form-group">
        @Html.LabelFor(model => model.Employee.ShiftId, labelText: "Turno", htmlAttributes: new { @class = "control-label col-md-2" })
        <div class="col-md-10">
            @Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.Employee.ShiftId, new SelectList(Model.ListShift, "ShiftId", "ShiftName"), htmlAttributes: new { @class = "form-control" })
            @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Employee.ShiftId, "", new { @class = "text-danger" })
        </div>
    </div>



    <div class="form-group">
        @Html.LabelFor(model => model.Employee.EmployeeLoginId, labelText: "Login", htmlAttributes: new { @class = "control-label col-md-2" })
        <div class="col-md-10">
            @Html.EditorFor(model => model.Employee.EmployeeLoginId, new { htmlAttributes = new { @class = "form-control" } })
            @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Employee.EmployeeLoginId, "", new { @class = "text-danger" })
        </div>
    </div>

    <div class="form-group">
        @Html.LabelFor(model => model.Employee.EmployeeNationalIDNumber, labelText: "Identificacion Nacional", htmlAttributes: new { @class = "control-label col-md-2" })
        <div class="col-md-10">
            @Html.EditorFor(model => model.Employee.EmployeeNationalIDNumber, new { htmlAttributes = new { @class = "form-control" } })
            @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Employee.EmployeeNationalIDNumber, "", new { @class = "text-danger" })
        </div>
    </div>

    <div class="form-group">
        @Html.LabelFor(model => model.Employee.EmployeeJobTitle, labelText: "Cargo", htmlAttributes: new { @class = "control-label col-md-2" })
        <div class="col-md-10">
            @Html.EditorFor(model => model.Employee.EmployeeJobTitle, new { htmlAttributes = new { @class = "form-control" } })
            @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Employee.EmployeeJobTitle, "", new { @class = "text-danger" })
        </div>
    </div>

    <div class="form-group">
        @Html.LabelFor(model => model.Employee.EmployeeBirthDate, labelText: "Fecha Nacimiento", htmlAttributes: new { @class = "control-label col-md-2" })
        <div class="col-md-10">
            @Html.EditorFor(model => model.Employee.EmployeeBirthDate, new { htmlAttributes = new { @class = "form-control datepicker" } })
            @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Employee.EmployeeBirthDate, "", new { @class = "text-danger" })
        </div>
    </div>

    <div class="form-group">
        @Html.LabelFor(model => model.Employee.EmployeeSalariedFlag, labelText: "Asalariado", htmlAttributes: new { @class = "control-label col-md-2" })
        <div class="col-md-10">
            @Html.EditorFor(model => model.Employee.EmployeeSalariedFlag, new { htmlAttributes = new { @class = "form-control" } })
            @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Employee.EmployeeSalariedFlag, "", new { @class = "text-danger" })
        </div>
    </div>



    <div class="form-group">
        <div class="col-md-offset-2 col-md-10">
            <input type="submit" value="Guardar" class="btn btn-default" />
        </div>
    </div>
    <div class="form-group">
        <div class="col-md-offset-2 col-md-10" style="color:green">
            @ViewBag.Message
        </div>
        <div class="col-md-offset-2 col-md-10" style="color:red">
            @ViewBag.ErrorMessage
        </div>
    </div>
</div>


}

Zealotry

Can you explain your answer, please? That would make it easier to understand your solution. – Intendancy

It is not very helpful if you don't explain your answer and code. Please consider adding some clarification – Collocate

He's manually inserting the items. But this isn't very helpful if you have hundreds or thousands of entries. Should've included EmployeeViewModel and Employee, though, to show the objects there, and their types. – Vitriolize