How do I do pagination in ASP.NET MVC?

Question

What is the most preferred and easiest way to do pagination in ASP.NET MVC? I.e. what is the easiest way to break up a list into several browsable pages.

As an example lets say I get a list of elements from a database/gateway/repository like this:

public ActionResult ListMyItems()
{
    List<Item> list = ItemDB.GetListOfItems();
    ViewData["ItemList"] = list;

    return View();
}

For simplicity's sake I'd like to specify just a page number for my action as parameter. Like this:

public ActionResult ListMyItems(int page)
{
   //...
}

Answer 1

Well, what is the data source? Your action could take a few defaulted arguments, i.e.

ActionResult Search(string query, int startIndex, int pageSize) {...}

defaulted in the routes setup so that startIndex is 0 and pageSize is (say) 20:

        routes.MapRoute("Search", "Search/{query}/{startIndex}",
                        new
                        {
                            controller = "Home", action = "Search",
                            startIndex = 0, pageSize = 20
                        });

To split the feed, you can use LINQ quite easily:

var page = source.Skip(startIndex).Take(pageSize);

(or do a multiplication if you use "pageNumber" rather than "startIndex")

With LINQ-toSQL, EF, etc - this should "compose" down to the database, too.

You should then be able to use action-links to the next page (etc):

<%=Html.ActionLink("next page", "Search", new {
                query, startIndex = startIndex + pageSize, pageSize }) %>

Answer 2

I had the same problem and found a very elegant solution for a Pager Class from

http://blogs.taiga.nl/martijn/2008/08/27/paging-with-aspnet-mvc/

In your controller the call looks like:

return View(partnerList.ToPagedList(currentPageIndex, pageSize));

and in your view:

<div class="pager">
    Seite: <%= Html.Pager(ViewData.Model.PageSize, 
                          ViewData.Model.PageNumber,
                          ViewData.Model.TotalItemCount)%>
</div>

Answer 3

Curious how I get the startIndex and pageSize within the view. I'm getting a "Compiler Error Message: CS0103: The name 'startIndex' does not exist in the current context" error