How to Bind DropDownList with Enum MVC

Earlier article was about to bind DropDownList with simple select list of type selectlistitems. These select list may by any type of list either from database or temporary for that view only. In this article we will create an enum, then create a select list through that enum and finally will bind that to drop-down list.

Create an Enum like I have, named OptionType

enum OptionTypes
{
value1,
value2,
value3,
value4
}

After creating enum, write a class that will work like a helper to create select list for that enum:

public static class EnumHelper
{
// Get the value of the description attribute if the   
// enum has one, otherwise use the value.  
public static string GetDescription<TEnum>(this TEnum value)
{
var fleid = value.GetType().GetField(value.ToString());

if (fleid != null)
{
var attributes = (DescriptionAttribute[])fleid.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DescriptionAttribute), false);

if (attributes.Length > 0)
{
return attributes[0].Description;
}
}

return value.ToString();
}

/// <summary>
/// Build a select list for an enum
/// </summary>
public static SelectList SelectListFor<T>() where T : struct
{
Type t = typeof(T);
return !t.IsEnum ? null
: new SelectList(CreateSelectList(t), "Value", "Text");
}

/// <summary>
/// Build a select list for an enum with a particular value selected 
/// </summary>
public static SelectList SelectListFor<T>(T selected) where T : struct
{
Type t = typeof(T);
return !t.IsEnum ? null
: new SelectList(CreateSelectList(t), "Text", "Value", selected.ToString());
}

private static IEnumerable<SelectListItem> CreateSelectList(Type t)
{
return Enum.GetValues(t)
  .Cast<Enum>()
  .Select(e => new SelectListItem { Value = e.ToString(), Text = e.GetDescription()                            });
}
}

Go to your controller and write the line as I have:

ViewBag.values = EnumHelper.SelectListFor<OptionTypes>();

Open your view page and write

@Html.DropDownList("values");

Run this view in browser and check, your drop-down list has been bind. This will create a simple list named “values” as specified as parameter. If we want to create a drop-down list for a model then:

@Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.property, (IEnumerable<SelectListItem>)ViewBag.values, new { html parameters })

This will bind this drop-down list as strongly with the property of the model.