Best way to fill dropdownlist in mvc3 application - asp.net-mvc-3

Question

I have an Index view in an MVC3 application with a #model which is ienumerable. In this model I have an accountID which I want to use to populate my dropdownlist in the view filter with the accounts so that the user will be able to filter for accounts.
Which is the best way to achieve this?
Thanks in advance.
This is the view:
#model IEnumerable<MoneyAdmin.Model.ContaAReceber>
#{
ViewBag.Title = "Index";
Layout = "~/Views/Shared/_Layout.cshtml";
}
#Html.Partial("_SubmenuAdmin")
<div class="tituloCadastro">
Lista de Contas a Receber
</div>
<div class="buttonContainer novo">
#Html.ActionLink("Nova Conta", "Create")
</div>
<div class="filtros">
#using (Html.BeginForm()) {
<div class="filterField">
<label>Data Inicial:</label>
#Html.TextBox("dataInicial", #DateTime.Now.ToShortDateString())
</div>
<div class="filterField">
<label>Data Final:</label>
#Html.TextBox("dataFinal", #DateTime.Now.ToShortDateString())
</div>
<div class="filterField">
<label>Tipo de Conta:</label>
#Html.DropDownList("contaID")
</div>
<input type="submit" value="Atualizar" />
}
</div>
And the controller method:
public ViewResult Index(string dataInicial, string dataFinal, string contaID)
{
var crs = from cr in db.contasareceber.Include("contas")
select cr;
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(dataInicial) && !string.IsNullOrEmpty(dataFinal))
{
DateTime di = DateTime.Parse(dataInicial);
DateTime df = DateTime.Parse(dataFinal);
crs = crs.Where(cr => cr.dataPagamento >= di && cr.dataPagamento <= df);
}
return View(crs.ToList());
}

Answer 1

I think the best way to achieve what you're after would be to use a ViewModel. You'd load the stuff you want to display in your View through this. So you'd create a dropdownlist with your accountlist which will be loaded in your controller. You'll also have your IEnumerable ContaAReceber in there which will also be loaded in your controller. Then your controller will pass the ViewModel to the View. Sort of hard to give you an exact answer as you haven't shown us your Model. But you can use this as a guide.
ViewModel:
public class ContaAReceberViewModel
{
public int ContaAReceberID {get;set;}
public List<SelectListItem> ContaAReceberList {get;set;}
public IEnumerable<ContaAReceber> ContaAReceber {get;set;}
}
Dropdownlist in Razor View :
#Html.DropDownListFor(m => m.ContaAReceberID, Model.ContaAReceberList)

Answer 2

You can use ViewBag instead of creating a ViewModel to transport your data.
ViewModel
public class ContaFilterViewModel
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
}
ActionResult
public ViewResult Index(string dataInicial, string dataFinal, string contaID)
{
var crs = from cr in db.contasareceber.Include("contas")
select cr;
// select uniquely all available Contas
ViewBag.UniqueContas = crs.Select(x => new ContaFilterViewModel() { Id = x.ContaId, Name = x.ContaName}).Unique().ToList();
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(dataInicial) && !string.IsNullOrEmpty(dataFinal))
{
DateTime di = DateTime.Parse(dataInicial);
DateTime df = DateTime.Parse(dataFinal);
crs = crs.Where(cr => cr.dataPagamento >= di && cr.dataPagamento <= df);
}
// return filtered Contas
return View(crs.ToList());
}
View
<div class="filterField">
<label>Tipo de Conta:</label>
#Html.DropDownList("contaID", new SelectList((ContaFilterViewModel)ViewBag.UniqueContas, "Id, "Name"))
</div>

Answer 3

Thanks for everyone!
I found the answer as like this.
Populate the viewbag in the controller like that:
ViewBag.Contas = new SelectList(db.contas, "contaID", "nome");
Then use it in the dropdownlist like that:
#Html.DropDownList("Contas");
Simple and it works!
Thanks for everyone!