How to set default value for ASP.NET MVC DropDownList from model

Question

i am new in mvc. so i populate dropdown this way

public ActionResult New()
{
    var countryQuery = (from c in db.Customers
                        orderby c.Country ascending
                        select c.Country).Distinct();
    List<SelectListItem> countryList = new List<SelectListItem>();
    string defaultCountry = "USA";
    foreach(var item in countryQuery)
    {
        countryList.Add(new SelectListItem() {
                        Text = item, 
                        Value = item, 
                        Selected=(item == defaultCountry ? true : false) });
    }
    ViewBag.Country = countryList;
    ViewBag.Country = "UK";
    return View();       
}

@Html.DropDownList("Country", ViewBag.Countries as List<SelectListItem>)

i like to know how can i populate dropdown from model and also set default value. any sample code will be great help. thanks

@Html.DropDownList("Country", ViewBag.Country as List, "DefaultValueHere") — Daniel Melo, Apr 10 '14 at 14:51
you should use Model instead of ViewBag. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6807256/dropdownlist-set-selected-value-in-mvc3-razor — Ashwini Verma, Apr 10 '14 at 15:03
@DanielMelo: actually, that parameter determines the name that should be shown for the "empty" option, *not* a default value. — Chris Pratt, Apr 10 '14 at 16:30
Judging by the `@Html...` snippet, `ViewBag.Country = countryList;` should read `ViewBag.Countries = "UK";` — OutstandingBill, Jul 20 '16 at 10:56

Menelaos Vergis · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-13T08:25:36.457

Well this is not a great way to do this.

Create a ViewModel that will hold everything you want to be rendered at the view.

public class MyViewModel{

  public List<SelectListItem> CountryList {get; set}
  public string Country {get; set}

  public MyViewModel(){
      CountryList = new List<SelectListItem>();
      Country = "USA"; //default values go here
}

Fill it with the data you need.

public ActionResult New()
{
    var countryQuery = (from c in db.Customers
                        orderby c.Country ascending
                        select c.Country).Distinct();
    MyViewModel myViewModel = new MyViewModel ();

    foreach(var item in countryQuery)
    {
        myViewModel.CountryList.Add(new SelectListItem() {
                        Text = item, 
                        Value = item
                        });
    }
    myViewModel.Country = "UK";



    //Pass it to the view using the `ActionResult`
    return ActionResult( myViewModel);
}

At the view, declare that this view is expecting a Model with type MyViewModel using the following line at the top of the file

@model namespace.MyViewModel

And at anytime you may use the Model as you please

@Html.DropDownList("Country", Model.CountryList, Model.Country)

what is this line Selected=(item == defaultCountry ? true : false) }); where is defaultCountry ?? it is not there in code. — Mou, Apr 12 '14 at 09:30

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 10 '14 at 16:28

You can't set the default value using Html.DropDownList, if you want to have a default value, the property itself should have a default value.

private string country;
public string Country
{
    get { return country ?? "UK"; }
    set { country = value; }
}

Then, when the drop down list renders, as long as "UK" is actually a value for one of the options, it will be automatically set to that.

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited Nov 25 '16 at 16:31

0

If the DropDownList is filled in the controller and sent to the view via ViewBag, you can do:

ViewBag.MyName = new SelectList(DbContextname.Tablename, "Field_ID", "Description",idtobepresented);

edited Nov 25 '16 at 16:31

jrbedard

3,662
5
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answered Nov 25 '16 at 16:14

Pajoc

104
1
2

How to set default value for ASP.NET MVC DropDownList from model

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