How can I create a SelectList with multiple select

Question

I'm trying to set multiple values in a select list:

SelectList List = new SelectList(MyListItems, "valField", "dataField", <selected values>);

What object/values do I use for to select multiple items?

Answer 1

Example:

class Person
{
    int Id{ get; set; }
    string Name { get; set; }
}

...

var people = new List<Person>()
{
    new Person{ Id = 1, Name = "Steve" },
    new Person{ Id = 2, Name = "Bill" },
    new Person{ Id = 3, Name = "John" },
    new Person{ Id = 4, Name = "Larry" }
}
SelectList List = new MultiSelectList(people, "Id", "Name", new[]{ 2, 3 });

Answer 2

Use the The Harvest Chosen jQuery plugin. See my tutorial Working with the DropDownList Box and jQuery which shows how to do this.

Answer 3

You want to use MultiSelectList instead which has a constructor to meet your needs:

public MultiSelectList(
    IEnumerable items,
    string dataValueField,
    string dataTextField,
    IEnumerable selectedValues
)