Display Template For Generics - View is not found - asp.net-mvc-3

Question

I have the following classes:
public class Widget
{
public string Name { get; set; }
}
GenericModel
public class GenericModel<T>
{
public List<T> Data { get; set; }
}
My Controller action is:
public ActionResult Simple()
{
var model = new GenericModel<Widget>()
{
Data = new List<Widget>
{
new Widget {Name = "a"}
}
};
return View(model);
}
And my view is:
#model MyApp.GenericModel<MyApp.Widget>
#{
ViewBag.Title = "Simple";
}
<h2>Simple</h2>
#Html.DisplayFor(m=>m)
I have a file called GenericModel.cshtml in Views/Shared/DisplayTemplate folder:
#model MyApp.GenericModel<MyApp.Widget>
<ul>
#for (int i = 0; i < Model.Data.Count; i++ )
{
<li>
#Html.EditorFor(m=> Model.Data[i].Name)
</li>
}
</ul>
This view can not be found. I see when I print out the name of the type of my model I get "GenericModel1". Seeing that, I renamed my template "GenericModel1.cshtml". This seems like a bit of a hack, is there an easier way to find this display template without resorting to this?

Answer 1

You have to set it in your viewstart:
#Code
Layout = "~/Views/Shared/DisplayTemplate.cshtml"
End Code
Note: The above is VB.
You can also pass it via your controller like this:
public ActionResult Simple()
{
var model = new GenericModel<Widget>()
{
Data = new List<Widget>
{
new Widget {Name = "a"}
}
};
return View("", "DisplayTemplate", model);
}