MVC3 DropDownList + ViewBag issue

Question

This code works fine

List stateList = (from x in db.States
                                select new StateModelView {
                         


        

Answer 1

The ViewBag is a dynamic object, which cannot be used directly from your View (that is basically what the error is saying). You'll need to cast it:

@Html.DropDownList("StateList", (SelectList) ViewBag.StateList)

Another option would be to use ViewData though it may also require casting.

Answer 2

You need to cast your ViewBag item (which is anonymous) to a SelectList:

@Html.DropDownList("StateList", (SelectList)ViewBag.StateList)

Another method to get around this casting issue and from what I gather the preferred way, is to use a View Model and bypass ViewBag all together.