asp mvc DropDownList how to pass a selected item in visual basic .net

Question

asp mvc DropDownList how to pass a selected item in visual basic .net i put this in the view: <%=Html.DropDownList("Estados", ViewData("EstadosList"))%> and the compiler says that i have to convert to SelectList becouse ViewData Returns an Object any idea to do this?

thxs.. Fernando Soruco

Answer 1

There are two ways to solve your problem. One is faster, and one is better...

1. Better version:

   Change your view to a strongly typed one, by changing the Inherits attribute of the Page tag on the top to

   Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewPage<System.Web.UI.WebControls.SelectList>"
   

   (or whatever the full namespace "path" to the SelectList class is...)

   In your Controller action, you send the SelectList to the view as the Model object, by using

   Return View(theSelectListYouCreatedWithItemsFromTheDataStore)
   

   or, if you're returning a view with a different name than the controller action:

   Return View("theViewName", theSameSelectListAsAbove)
   

   In your view, you pass the Model object, now strongly typed to a SelectList because of the View's inheritance, to the helper method:

   <%= Html.SelectList("Estados", ViewData.Model) %>
   

2. Faster version:

   Cast the ViewData["Estadoslist"] object to a SelectList before you send it to the helper method:

   <%= Html.SelectList("Estados", CCast(ViewData["EstadosList"], SelectList)) %>
   

Answer 2

This is not specifically related to Visual Basic. Please check this article. It describes how to bind MVC dropdownlist: http://www.altafkhatri.com/Technical/How%5Fto%5Fbind%5FIList%5Fwith%5FMVC%5FDropdownlist%5Fbox