Building DropDownList and Asp.Net MVC

Question

I am trying to build a simple drop down list for my MVC application. I have a method that gets me a List, which is has properties with account name, id, deleted etc etc... and holds different bank accounts.

In my controller, I am calling this, then using Linq, trying to build a SelectItemList... like this:

        public ActionResult AccountTransaction(AccountTransactionView model)
    {
        List<AccountDto> accounts = Services.AccountServices.GetAccounts(false);

        AccountTransactionView v = new AccountTransactionView();
        v.Accounts = (from a in accounts
                      select new SelectListItem
                                 {
                                     Text = a.Description,
                                     Value = a.AccountId.ToString(),
                                     Selected = false
                                 });



        return View();
    }

However, it's failing, saying that I can't convert IEnumerable SelectListItem to SelectList.

My AccountTransactionView is defined like this:

    public class AccountTransactionView
{
    public SelectList Accounts { get; set; }
    public int SelectedAccountId { get; set; }

}

possible duplicate of [Asp.Net MVC with Drop Down List, and SelectListItem Assistance](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4833652/asp-net-mvc-with-drop-down-list-and-selectlistitem-assistance) — Darin Dimitrov, Jan 29 '11 at 08:28

John Landheer · Accepted Answer · 2011-01-29T10:54:18.097

1

A SelectList is a wrapper that contains the SelectListItems. You can create a SelectList by passing in the IEnumerable and optionally the selected item.

Edit: Sorry, I wasnt' really clear. What I mean is that you should use the SelectList with the IEnumerable in the construstor instead of the IEnumerable by itself:

    List<AccountDto> accounts = Services.AccountServices.GetAccounts(false);

    AccountTransactionView v = new AccountTransactionView();
    v.Accounts = new SelectList(
                       (from a in accounts
                        select new SelectListItem
                                   {
                                       Text = a.Description,
                                       Value = a.AccountId.ToString(),
                                       Selected = false
                                   }
                       )
                       );

    return View();
}

edited Jan 29 '11 at 10:54

answered Jan 28 '11 at 21:48

John Landheer

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I thought that I was doing that. What am I doing wrong in the above code? – Craig Jan 28 '11 at 21:50
I have modified my data class to use public IEnumerable Accounts { get; set; }, and that allows the code to compile, but is that right? – Craig Jan 28 '11 at 21:58
Keep the SelectList in your data class, and see my edited answer for the rest. – John Landheer Jan 29 '11 at 10:55

Building DropDownList and Asp.Net MVC

1 Answers1