CODEWITHSUNDEEP
asp.netasp.net-mvcasp.net-mvc-5
Cathal O 'Donnell
Cathal O 'Donnell

Reputation: 525

Html.DropdownList with selected value

I have a drop down list that is being populated via a ViewBag variable, I am wondering how I can set the selected index of this list using the id value.

This is where I create the ViewBag variable, note the id, this is what I want to use to set the default selected item in the list:

 var events = db.Events.Select(e => new
            {
                id = e.EventID,
                Name = e.EventTitle

            }).OrderBy(e => e.Name).ToList();
            ViewBag.EventsList = new MultiSelectList(events, "id", "Name");

This is the dropdown in the View:

 @Html.DropDownList("id", (MultiSelectList)ViewBag.EventsList, new { @class = "form-control", id = "lstTopFeaturedEvent" })

Is there anyway I could set the default select value using the id property set in the controller?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 675

Answers (1)

Yazan Ati
Yazan Ati

Reputation: 351

You should use view models and forget about ViewBag Think of it as if it didn't exist. You will see how easier things will become. So define a view model:

public class MyViewModel
{
    public int SelectedCategoryId { get; set; }
    public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> Categories { get; set; } 
}

and then populate this view model from the controller:

public ActionResult NewsEdit(int ID, dms_New dsn)
{
    var dsn = (from a in dc.dms_News where a.NewsID == ID select a).FirstOrDefault();
    var categories = (from b in dc.dms_NewsCategories select b).ToList();

    var model = new MyViewModel
    {
        SelectedCategoryId = dsn.NewsCategoriesID,
        Categories = categories.Select(x => new SelectListItem
        {
            Value = x.NewsCategoriesID.ToString(),
            Text = x.NewsCategoriesName
        })
    };
    return View(model);
}

and finally in your view use the strongly typed DropDownListFor helper:

@model MyViewModel

@Html.DropDownListFor(
    x => x.SelectedCategoryId,
    Model.Categories
)

Upvotes: 1

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