Defining a select list through controller and view model
- by Ibrar Hussain
I have a View Model that looks like this:
public class SomeViewModel
{
public SomeViewModel(IEnumerable<SelectListItem> orderTemplatesListItems)
{
OrderTemplateListItems = orderTemplatesListItems;
}
public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> OrderTemplateListItems { get; set; }
}
I then have an Action in my Controller that does this:
public ActionResult Index()
{
var items = _repository.GetTemplates();
var selectList = items.Select(i => new SelectListItem { Text = i.Name, Value = i.Id.ToString() }).ToList();
var viewModel = new SomeViewModel
{
OrderTemplateListItems = selectList
};
return View(viewModel);
}
Lastly my view:
@Html.DropDownListFor(n => n.OrderTemplateListItems, new SelectList(Model.OrderTemplateListItems, "value", "text"), "Please select an order template")
The code works fine and my select list populates wonderfully. Next thing I need to do is set the selected value that will come from a Session["orderTemplateId"] which is set when the user selects a particular option from the list.
Now after looking online the fourth parameter should allow me to set a selected value, so if I do this:
@Html.DropDownListFor(n => n.OrderTemplateListItems, new SelectList(Model.OrderTemplateListItems, "value", "text", 56), "Please select an order template")
56 is the Id of the item that I want selected, but to no avail. I then thought why not do it in the Controller?
As a final attempt I tried building up my select list items in my Controller and then passing the items into the View:
public ActionResult Index()
{
var items = _repository.GetTemplates();
var orderTemplatesList = new List<SelectListItem>();
foreach (var item in items)
{
if (Session["orderTemplateId"] != null)
{
if (item.Id.ToString() == Session["orderTemplateId"].ToString())
{
orderTemplatesList.Add(new SelectListItem { Text = item.Name, Value = item.Id.ToString(), Selected = true });
}
else
{
orderTemplatesList.Add(new SelectListItem { Text = item.Name, Value = item.Id.ToString() });
}
}
else
{
orderTemplatesList.Add(new SelectListItem { Text = item.Name, Value = item.Id.ToString() });
}
}
var viewModel = new SomeViewModel
{
OrderTemplateListItems = orderTemplatesList
};
return View(viewModel);
}
Leaving my View like so:
@Html.DropDownListFor(n => n.OrderTemplateListItems, new SelectList(Model.OrderTemplateListItems, "value", "text"), "Please select an order template")
Nothing!
Why isn't this working for me?
