MVC5 Razor html.dropdownlistfor set selected when

Question

I'm developing an ASP.NET MVC 5 application, with C# and .NET Framework 4.6.1.

I have this View:

@model MyProject.Web.API.Models.AggregationLevelConfViewModel

[...]

@Html.DropDownListFor(m => m.Configurations[0].HelperCodeType, (SelectList)Model.HelperCodeTypeItems, new { id = "Configurations[0].HelperCodeType" })

The ViewModel is:

public class AggregationLevelConfViewModel
{
    private readonly List<GenericIdNameType> codeTypes;
    private readonly List<GenericIdNameType> helperCodeTypes;

    public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> CodeTypeItems
    {
        get { return new SelectList(codeTypes, "Id", "Name"); }
    }

    public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> HelperCodeTypeItems
    {
        get { return new SelectList(helperCodeTypes, "Id", "Name"); }
    }

    public int ProductionOrderId { get; set; }

    public string ProductionOrderName { get; set; }

    public IList<Models.AggregationLevelConfiguration> Configurations { get; set; }

    public AggregationLevelConfViewModel()
    {
        // Load CodeTypes to show it as a DropDownList
        byte[] values = (byte[])Enum.GetValues(typeof(CodeTypes));

        codeTypes = new List<GenericIdNameType>();
        helperCodeTypes = new List<GenericIdNameType>();

        for (int i = 0; i < values.Length; i++)
        {
            GenericIdNameType cType = new GenericIdNameType()
            {
                Id = values[i].ToString(),
                Name = EnumHelper.GetDescription((CodeTypes)values[i])
            };

            if (((CodeTypes)values[i]) != CodeTypes.NotUsed)
                codeTypes.Add(cType);

            helperCodeTypes.Add(cType);
        }
    }
}

And Models.AggregationLevelConfiguration is:

public class AggregationLevelConfiguration
{
    public byte AggregationLevelConfigurationId { get; set; }
    public int ProductionOrderId { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public byte CodeType { get; set; }
    public byte HelperCodeType { get; set; }
    public int PkgRatio { get; set; }
    public int RemainingCodes { get; set; }
}

I need to set selected value in these properties:

public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> CodeTypeItems
{
    get { return new SelectList(codeTypes, "Id", "Name"); }
}

public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> HelperCodeTypeItems
{
    get { return new SelectList(helperCodeTypes, "Id", "Name"); }
}

But I can't set it in new SelectList(codeTypes, "Id", "Name"); or new SelectList(helperCodeTypes, "Id", "Name"); because the selected value are in Configurations array: fields AggregationLevelConfiguration.CodeType and AggregationLevelConfiguration.HelperCodeType.

I think I have to set selected value in the View, but I don't know how to do it.

How can I set the selected values?

Answer 1

Unfortunately @Html.DropDownListFor() behaves a little differently than other helpers when rendering controls in a loop. This has been previously reported as an issue on CodePlex (not sure if its a bug or just a limitation)

The are 2 option to solve this to ensure the correct option is selected based on the model property

Option 1 (using an EditorTemplate)

Create a custom EditorTemplate for the type in the collection. Create a partial in /Views/Shared/EditorTemplates/AggregationLevelConfiguration.cshtml (note the name must match the name of the type

@model yourAssembly.AggregationLevelConfiguration
@Html.DropDownListFor(m => m.HelperCodeType, (SelectList)ViewData["CodeTypeItems"])
.... // other properties of AggregationLevelConfiguration

and then in the main view, pass the SelectList to the EditorTemplate as additionalViewData

@using (Html.BeginForm())
{
  ...
  @Html.EditorFor(m => m.Configurations , new { CodeTypeItems = Model.CodeTypeItems })
  ...

Option 2 (generate a new SelectList in each iteration and set the selectedValue)

In this option your property CodeTypeItems should to be IEnumerable<GenericIdNameType>, not a SelectList (or just make codeTypes a public property). Then in the main view

@Html.DropDownListFor(m => m.Configurations[0].HelperCodeType, new SelectList(Model.CodeTypeItems, "Id", "Name", Model.Configurations[0].HelperCodeType)

Side note: there is no need to use new { id = "Configurations[0].HelperCodeType" - the DropDownListFor() method already generated that id attribute

Answer 2

I wrote this class to overcome an issue I was having with selecting an option in an html select list. I hope it helps someone.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Web;

namespace Login_page.Models
{
    public class HTMLSelect
    {
        public string id { get; set; }
        public IEnumerable<string> @class { get; set; }
        public string name { get; set; }
        public Boolean required { get; set; }
        public string size { get; set; }
        public IEnumerable<SelectOption> SelectOptions { get; set; }

        public HTMLSelect(IEnumerable<SelectOption> options)
        {

        }

        public HTMLSelect(string id, string name)
        {
            this.id = id;
            this.name = name;
        }

        public HTMLSelect(string id, string name, bool required, IEnumerable<SelectOption> options)
        {
            this.id = id;
            this.name = name;
            this.required = required;
        }

        private string BuildOpeningTag()
        {
            StringBuilder text = new StringBuilder();
            text.Append("<select");
            text.Append(this.id != null ? " id=" + '"' + this.id + '"' : "");
            text.Append(this.name != null ? " name=" + '"' + this.name + '"' : "");
            text.Append(">");
            return text.ToString();

        }

        public string GenerateSelect(IEnumerable<SelectOption> options)
        {
            StringBuilder selectElement = new StringBuilder();
            selectElement.Append(this.BuildOpeningTag());
            foreach (SelectOption option in options)
            {
                StringBuilder text = new StringBuilder();
                text.Append("\t");
                text.Append("<option value=" + '"' + option.Value + '"');
                text.Append(option.Selected != false ? " selected=" + '"' + "selected" + '"' + ">" : ">");
                text.Append(option.Text);
                text.Append("</option>");
                selectElement.Append(text.ToString());
            }
            selectElement.Append("</select");
            return selectElement.ToString();
        }
    }

    public class SelectOption
    {
        public string Text { get; set; }
        public Boolean Selected { get; set; }
        public string Value { get; set; }
    }
}

And

public IEnumerable<SelectOption> getOrderTypes()
{
    List<SelectOption> orderTypes = new List<SelectOption>();
                        if (this.orderType == "OptionText")
                        {
                            orderTypes.Add(new SelectOption() { Value = "1", Text = "OptionText", Selected = true });
                        } else
                        {
                            orderTypes.Add(new SelectOption() { Value = "2", Text = "OptionText2" });
                        }
}

And to use it:

@{
    Login_page.Models.HTMLSelect selectElement = new Login_page.Models.HTMLSelect("order-types", "order-types");

}
@Html.Raw(selectElement.GenerateSelect(Model.getOrderTypes()));