validate a dropdownlist in asp.net mvc

Question

//in controller
ViewBag.Categories = categoryRepository.GetAllCategories().ToList();

//in view
 @Html.DropDownList(\"Cat\", new SelectList(ViewBag.Categories,\"ID\"         


        

Answer 1

There is an overload with 3 arguments. Html.DropdownList(name, selectList, optionLabel) Update: there was a typo in the below code snippet.

@Html.DropDownList("Cat", new SelectList(ViewBag.Categories,"ID", "CategoryName"), "-Select Category-")

For the validator use

@Html.ValidationMessage("Cat")