Can I pass an enum into a controller so the Model Binder binds it?

Question

if so, how should i pass the parameter? would a string matching the enum name be ok? This would be handy if I was passing a dropdown box that matched enumerated items.

It would be useful to use a solution presented in this answer if I could just as easily bind to the enum when I submit the data back.

score 15 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 06 '10 at 11:58

Yes, when having a controller like:

enum MyAction { Lalala }

public ActionResult Index(MyAction action) { ... }

You can just do Index/Lalala, and everything works fine.

If you need more complex binding (like mapping a certain string value to a complex class), use something like StructureMap.

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 10 '15 at 13:43

It gets even better you can also pass Enum as get parameter

@Html.ActionLink("Email Quote", "UnitDetails", "Journey", new { product = product.ProductTitle, button = "email" }, new { @class = "btn btn--main btn--main-orange" })

that ends up following url: http://localhost:50766/UnitDetails?product=Your%20quote&button=email

Action method that accepts looks like this:

    [SessionTimeout]
    public ActionResult UnitDetails(QuoteViewModel viewModel)

QuoteViewModel and enum:

public class QuoteViewModel : IQuoteViewModel
{
    public QuoteViewModelProducts Products { get; set; }

    public bool HasDiscount { get; set; }

    public string Product { get; set; }

    public DetailButtonType Button { get; set; }
}

public enum DetailButtonType
{
    Buy,
    Callback,
    Email
}

What I love most is even if you pass enum parameter and value as lowercase it maps correctly to Uppercase property and Value, which makes my grin profusely.

Can I pass an enum into a controller so the Model Binder binds it?

2 Answers2