MVC.NET MultiSelectList Questions

Question

So 2 questions, I have my html.multiselectlist working fine, however I want to do 2 things...

1. Set a default selected value from my list
2. Append a hardcoded value / entry within my list (which is pulling from a DB), which is basically a select "ALL" option.

This is my controller code, so is there where I need to perform this task, or directly within my view or viewmodel:

Inherits Controller

Dim _DB As New BlackBoxNormalizedEntities()

' Main / Default Lander for TFS Section
Function TFSMain() As ActionResult
    Dim AccTypeList = (From m In _DB.LibAcctType Select m).ToList()
    Dim TrxnTypeList = (From m In _DB.LibTrxnTyp Select m).ToList()
    Dim ActnCodeList = (From m In _DB.LibActnCode Select m).ToList()

    Dim viewModel As New TFS_VModel()
    viewModel.AccType = AccTypeList
    viewModel.Trxntype = TrxnTypeList
    viewModel.ActnCode = ActnCodeList
    viewModel.TStatus = viewModel.TStatus

    Return View(viewModel)
End Function

Answer 1

You should construct and populate your MultiSelectList within the Action as part of your ViewModel rather than in the View and present that ViewModel to the View.