enumerating to a two column table in asp.net mvc view

Question

Right now I have this code which enumerates to a singe column table all the way down the page.

Is there a way to make it two colums next to each other all the way to the end?

 <table>
<% foreach (var item in Model)
   { %>
   <tr>
        <td>
          <%=Html.Encode(item.PartNo)%>
       </td>
   </tr>

<% } %>

</table>

Answer 1

You can just change the foreach loop to a for loop for more flexibility:

<% var itemList = Model.ToList(); %>

<table>
<% for (int i=0; i <= itemList.Count; i+=2))
   { %>
   <tr>
        <td>
          <%= Html.Encode(itemList[i].PartNo) %>
       </td>
       <td>
          <% if (i+1 < itemList.Count) 
             { 
                 Response.Write(Html.Encode(itemList[i+1].PartNo));
             }
           %>
       </td>
   </tr>
<% } %>
</table>

If you're doing this a lot, you could consider turning it into an HTML helper to output any number of columns.

Answer 2

If you're just looking for an extra column, you can keep the foreach and just add a <td></td>:

<table> 
<% foreach (var item in Model) 
   { %> 
   <tr> 
        <td> 
          <%=Html.Encode(item.PartNo)%> 
       </td> 
       <td>
         <%=Html.Encode(item.NextPartNo)%> 
       </td>
   </tr> 

<% } %> 

Answer 3

Building off of womp's answer, here's an example (untested!) that works using an enumerator and can display an arbitrary number of columns. This may address some of the issues you're mentioning as well.

<table><% 
    int numberOfColumns = 2;
    var enumerator = Model.GetEnumerator();
    bool endOfEnumerator = !enumerator.MoveNext();

    while(!endOfEnumerator)
    {   %>
    <tr><%
        for (int i = 0; i < numberOfColumns; i++)
        { %>
        <td>
            <%= Html.Encode(enumerator.Current.PartNo) %>
        </td><%
            if (!enumerator.MoveNext())
            {
                endOfEnumerator = true;
                break;
            }
        } %>
    </tr><%
    } %>
</table>