How do I populate a dropdownlist with enum values?

Question

I have an enum for one of the properties of my view-model. I want to display a drop-down list that contains all the values of the enum. I can get this to work with the fol

Answer 1

Maybe is too late, but i think it could be useful for people with the same problem. I've found here that now with MVC 5 it's included an EnumDropDownListFor html helper that makes for no longer necesary the use of custom helpers or other workarounds.

In this particular case, just add this:

    @Html.EnumDropDownListFor(x => x.SelectedCurrency)

and that's all!

You can also translate or change the displayed text via data annotations and resources files:

1. Add the following data annotations to your enum:

   public enum Currencies
   {
       [Display(Name="Currencies_CAD", ResourceType=typeof(Resources.Enums)]  
       CAD, 
       [Display(Name="Currencies_USD", ResourceType=typeof(Resources.Enums)]    
       USD,
       [Display(Name="Currencies_EUR", ResourceType=typeof(Resources.Enums)]  
       EUR
   }
   

2. Create the corresponding resources file.