How to add static list of items in MVC Html.DropDownList()

Question

I would like to assign a static list of items in a SelectList() to a Html.DropDownList() in ASP.NET MVC, what is the best practice?

I was about to try to find a way to use new SelectList(new {key = "value"}... but one, that didn't work, and two, would I be breaking a law here, should my static list be declared in ViewData anyway and passed as IList/IENumerable?

Answer 1

OK I decided to take my own advice, and this should be defined in the controller:

FYI, I just returned:

PageData data = new PageData()
           {
               Formats = new[]
                             {
                                 new { ID = "string", Name = "Text" },
                                 new { ID = "int", Name = "Numeric" },
                                 new { ID = "decimal", Name = "Decimal" },
                                 new { ID = "datetime", Name = "Date/Time" },
                                 new { ID = "timespan", Name = "Stopwatch" }
                             },
               .............

           };
return View(data);

... (ignore context) and in the View ASPX side:

<%= Html.DropDownList("type.field", new SelectList(ViewData.Model.Formats, "ID", "Name"...

If anyone has a more optimal way of doing this I'll be happy to accept their answer.

Answer 2

It is a best practice not to create the SelectList in the view. You should create it in the controller and pass it using the ViewData.

Example:

  var list = new SelectList(new []
                                          {
                                              new {ID="1",Name="name1"},
                                              new{ID="2",Name="name2"},
                                              new{ID="3",Name="name3"},
                                          },
                            "ID","Name",1);
            ViewData["list"]=list;
            return View();

you pass to the constratctor: the IEnumerable objec,the value field the text field and the selected value.

in the View:

 <%=Html.DropDownList("list",ViewData["list"] as SelectList) %>