ASP.NET MVC - Populate a drop down list

Question

I\'m new to ASP.NET MVC. I\'m trying to figure out how create a basic drop down list from values in my database. In ASP.NET web forms, I know I can load a drop down list lik

Answer 1

Model

public class EditSongViewModel
{        
    public int AlbumId { get; set; }
    public string Title { get; set; }                
    public int TrackNumber { get; set; }
    public IEnumerable Albums { get; set; }
}

Extension method

public static IEnumerable ToSelectListItems(
              this IEnumerable albums, int selectedId)
{
    return 
        albums.OrderBy(album => album.Name)
              .Select(album => 
                  new SelectListItem
                  {
                    Selected = (album.ID == selectedId),
                    Text = album.Name,
                    Value = album.ID.ToString()
                   });
}

Getting data from database

model.Albums = _repository.FindAllAlbums().ToSelectItems(selectedId);

View

@Html.DropDownList("AlbumId", Model.Albums)

or better yet:

@Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.AlbumId, Model.Albums)

Take a look at this blog post that explains it all:

Drop-down Lists and ASP.NET MVC