How to use SelectList in View without a model?

Question

I have read many times experts of MVC saying that if I were to use a SelectList, it's best to have a IEnumerable<SelectList> defined in my model.
For example, in this question.
Consider this simple example:

public class Car()
{
    public string MyBrand { get; set; }
    public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> CarBrands { get; set; } // Sorry, mistyped, it shoudl be SelectListItem rather than CarBrand
}

In Controller, people would do:

public ActionResult Index() 
{
    var c = new Car
    {
        CarBrands = new List<CarBrand>
        {
            // And here goes all the options..
        }
    }
    return View(c);
}

However, from Pro ASP.NET MVC, I learned this way of Creating a new instance.

public ActionResult Create() // Get
{
    return View()
}
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Create(Car c)
{
    if(ModelState.IsValid) // Then add it to database
}

My question is: How should I pass the SelectList to View? Since in the Get method there is no model existing, there seems to be no way that I could do this.
I could certainly do it using ViewBag, but I was told to avoid using ViewBag as it causes problems. I'm wondering what are my options.

if you want to pass data from controller to view means you should use either model or ViewBag also ViewData can use. Without that you can make static view. — Chandu, Jul 17 '13 at 15:43

codingbiz · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-17T16:47:09.707

1

You could create a ViewModel that has all the properties of Car which you want on your form then make your SelectList a property of that ViewModel class

public class AddCarViewModel
{
   public int CarName { get; set; }
   public string CarModel { get; set; }
   ... etc

   public SelectList MyList
   {
      get;
      set;
   }
}

Your controller will look like

public ActionResult Create() // Get
{
    AddCarViewModel model = new AddCarViewModel();
    return View(model)
}

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Create(AddCarViewModel c)
{
    if(ModelState.IsValid) // Then add it to database
}

MarkUp

@Html.DropDownListFor(@model => model.ListProperty, Model.MyList, ....)

edited Jul 17 '13 at 16:47

answered Jul 17 '13 at 15:36

codingbiz

26,179
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Sorry, I tried exactly this before but it doesn't work. The problem is that the Controller first direct to the Create of HttpGet, where I would not be able to use any Concrete attributes of model since it just use `return View()`. – octref Jul 17 '13 at 15:43
And, by the way, it should be IEnumerable, right? – octref Jul 17 '13 at 15:47
@octref I have removed `IEnumerable<...>`. Your create view should instantiate the viewmodel with default properties – codingbiz Jul 17 '13 at 16:48

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 16 '19 at 08:23

1

Easy way, this is a copy of my code without model

In the controller

ViewBag.poste_id = new SelectList(db.Postes, "Id", "designation");

In the view

@Html.DropDownList("poste_id", null," -- ", htmlAttributes: new { @class = "form-control" })

edited Apr 16 '19 at 08:23

barbsan

3,418
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answered Apr 16 '19 at 08:12

direction.Moudjahidine.Chlef

11
1

How to use SelectList in View without a model?

2 Answers2