Use dropdownlistfor with foreach in Asp.Net MVC View?

Question

I have a View with a foreach loop for a list property of the model. Now, I want to be able to let the user set the value of each of the items in the list using a dropdownlist. But I'm not sure how to do that. I've used something like this when it is not in a foreach loop:

@Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.Level, new SelectList(new[] { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 }, Model.Level))

But how do I do this when I need to reference item.Level in the loop instead? Here's my View code:

<div id="formDiv">
    @using (Html.BeginForm(null, null, FormMethod.Post, new { id = "myForm" }))
    {
        @Html.ValidationSummary(true)
        <fieldset>
            <legend>Ny arbetserfarenhet</legend>
            <table>
                <tr>
                    @*<th></th>*@
                    <th>
                        Program
                    </th>
                    <th>
                        Nivå
                    </th>
                </tr>
                @foreach (var item in Model) {
                    <tr>
                        <td>
                            @item.Program.Name
                        </td>
                        <td>

                            @item.Level
                        </td>
                    </tr>
}
            </table>
        </fieldset>
    }
</div>

Darin Dimitrov · Accepted Answer · 2011-03-24 17:52:53Z

8

I have a View with a foreach loop for a list property of the mode

I would recommend you to avoid writing loops in your views in favor of editor templates. So:

@model IEnumerable<AppName.Models.ModelName>
<div id="formDiv">
    @using (Html.BeginForm(null, null, FormMethod.Post, new { id = "myForm" }))
    {
        @Html.ValidationSummary(true)
        <fieldset>
            <legend>Ny arbetserfarenhet</legend>
            <table>
                <tr>
                    <th>
                        Program
                    </th>
                    <th>
                        Nivå
                    </th>
                </tr>
                @Html.EditorForModel()
            </table>
        </fieldset>
    }
</div>

and in the corresponding editor template (~/Views/Shared/EditorTemplate/ModelName.cshtml):

@model AppName.Models.ModelName
<tr>
    <td>@Model.Program.Name</td>
    <td>
        @Html.DropDownListFor(
            model => model.Level, 
            new SelectList(
                Enumerable.Range(1, 5).Select(x => new { Value = x, Text = x }), 
                "Value", 
                "Text"
            )
        )
    </td>
</tr>

So the editor template will be rendered for each element in your model (which is a collection of some type). The important part is that the editor template must be located in ~/Views/Shared/EditorTemplates and named XXX.cshtml where XXX is the type name used in your main view model collection.

answered Mar 24, 2011 at 17:52

Darin Dimitrov

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4 Comments

Anders Over a year ago

Thanks for the tip! Is the reason for not using for loops that it is just more elegant like this, or some other reason? I could use it, but had to change the selectlist to the same syntax I had before, I got something strange out in the list as value and text, otherwise it worked fine!

Darin Dimitrov Over a year ago

@Anders Svensson, many reasons: cleaner views, less code, strongly typed helpers, no need to worry about generating proper id and names for binding back, ...

Anders Over a year ago

Ok, thanks! In any case, I realized I had to categorize items as well... which makes this a little more complicated. If you feel up to it, you're welcome to take a look at my follow-up question: stackoverflow.com/questions/5433710/…

LordHits Over a year ago

Also, using a DropDownListFor currently does not work well within a loop. There's an open issue for this: link. This problem does not exist with editor templates.

B Z · Accepted Answer · 2011-03-24 18:34:47Z

5

Have you tried:

@Html.DropDownListFor(m => item.Level, new SelectList(new[] { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 }, item.Level))

answered Mar 24, 2011 at 18:34

B Z

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Comments

Mohammed Swillam · Accepted Answer · 2011-03-24 14:21:57Z

0

use this syntax:

  @Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.Level, new SelectList(Model.level as System.Collections.IEnumerable, "VALUE_FIELD", "TEXT_FIELD", YOUR PROPERTY NAME)

answered Mar 24, 2011 at 14:21

Mohammed Swillam

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1 Comment

Anders Over a year ago

It's not the selectlist that's the problem, it's the fact that the dropdownlist is in a foreach loop, so I can't use the model => model.Level syntax...

Richard Maxwell · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-26 19:55:28Z

0

MVC will create the loop. Just use an editor template, partial view in special folder, and the rest works like magic.

Editor Template

@model Models.AdditionalAccountingLine
@Html.HiddenFor(m => m.IsRequired)
@Html.DropDownListFor(m => m.FieldValue, new SelectList(@Model.FieldValueOptions, "Key", "Value"), "")

View

@Html.EditorFor(m => m.AdditionalAccountingLines);

answered Jun 26, 2013 at 19:55

Richard Maxwell

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