Using 2 tables in a View in ASP.Net MVC (Returning 2 LINQ using different models?)

Question

I have a View that needs to display, for example, a User and a Role table. I need to create 2 LINQ queries to be returned in the View, one for the User and the other one for the Role so that I can display 2 tables in the view. So far, I can only return the User, but how do I return also the Role? Here's my current setup:

UserModel

-The ViewModel is being used in View's textboxes and the Model for the looping of records in the table

public class UserModel
    {
        public int user_id { get; set; }
        public string user_name { get; set; }
        ...
    }

UserViewModel

public class UserViewModel
    {
        public IPagedList<CDS.Models.UserModel> Users { set; get; }
        public int userId { get; set; }
        public string userName { get; set; }
        ...
    }

View

@model CDS.Models.UserViewModel
@using PagedList.Mvc;

@using (Html.BeginForm("Create", "User", FormMethod.Get))
{
    @Html.HiddenFor(m => m.userId)
    @Html.LabelFor(m => m.userName)
    @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.userName)

    <table id="dbTable">
        <thead>
            <tr>
                <th class="hidden">
                    @Html.DisplayNameFor(model => model.user_id)
                </th>
                <th>
                    @Html.ActionLink("User", "Create", new { sortOrder = ViewBag.UserSort, currentFilter = ViewBag.CurrentFilter })
                </th>
            </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody id="dbBody">
            @foreach (var item in Model.Users)
            {
                <tr>
                    <td class="hidden">
                        @Html.DisplayFor(modelItem => item.user_id)
                    </td>
                    <td>
                        @Html.DisplayFor(modelItem => item.user_name)
                    </td>
                </tr>
            }
        </tbody>
    </table>

    //Don't mind this code, it's only for the pagination
    Page @(Model.Users.PageCount < Model.Users.PageNumber ? 0 : Model.Users.PageNumber) of @Model.Users.PageCount
    @Html.PagedListPager(Model.Users, page => Url.Action("Create",
    new { page, sortOrder = ViewBag.CurrentSort, currentFilter = ViewBag.CurrentFilter }))
}

UserController - How can I return a ViewModel with another LINQ for the Role?

DBEntities _odb = new DBEntities();

public ActionResult Create(string sortOrder, string currentFilter, string searchString, int? page)
{

    var user = from u in _odb.USR_MSTR
                      select new UserModel
                      {
                          user_id  = u.USR_ID,
                          user_name  = u.USR_NAME,
                      };

    int pageSize = 10;
    int pageNumber = (page ?? 1);

    var vm = new UserViewModel();
    vm.Users = user.ToPagedList(pageNumber, pageSize);

    return View(vm);
}

Answer 1

Two options you can consider.

Add an additional property in you view model for the collection of Role

public IEnumerable<Role> Roles { get; set; }

and in the GET method

var roles = db.Roles..... // your query
var vm = new UserViewModel()
{
    Roles = roles,
    Users = user.ToPagedList(pageNumber, pageSize)
};
return View(vm);

Or create a ChildActionOnly method that returns a partial view of your roles

[ChildActionOnly]
public ActionResult FetchRoles()
{
    var model = ... // your query
    return PartialView(model);
}

and in FetchRoles.cshtml

@model IEnumerable<Role>
... // html to display roles

then in the main view, render it using

@{ Html.RenderAction("FetchRoles", "yourControllerName"); }