How do you create a dropdownlist from an enum in ASP NET MVC

Question

I m trying to use the Html DropDownList extension method but can t figure out how to use it with an enumeration   Let s say I have an enumeration like this   public enum ItemTypes       Movie   1      Game   2      Book   3     How do I go about creating a dropdown with these values using the Html DropDownList extension method   Or is my best bet to simply create a for loop and create the Html elements manually

User · Answer

Another fix to this extension method - the current version didn t select the enum s current value  I fixed the last line   public static SelectList ToSelectList lt TEnum gt  this TEnum enumObj  where TEnum   struct               if   typeof TEnum  IsEnum  throw new ArgumentException  An Enumeration type is required     enumObj             var values   from TEnum e in Enum GetValues typeof TEnum                          select new                                                     ID    int Enum Parse typeof TEnum   e ToString                                Name   e ToString                                       return new SelectList values   ID    Name     int Enum Parse typeof TEnum   enumObj ToString     ToString

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Html DropdownListFor model model- gt Gender new List lt SelectListItem gt     new ListItem Text  Male  Value  Male     new ListItem Text  Female  Value  Female     new ListItem Text  --- Select -----  Value  -----Select ----

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In ASP NET MVC 5 1  they added the EnumDropDownListFor   helper  so no need for custom extensions   Model   public enum MyEnum        Display Name    First Value - desc          FirstValue       Display Name    Second Value - desc           SecondValue     View    Html EnumDropDownListFor model   gt  model MyEnum    Using Tag Helper  ASP NET MVC 6     lt select asp-for   Model SelectedValue  asp-items  Html GetEnumSelectList lt MyEnum gt     gt

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Well I m really late to the party  but for what it is worth  I have blogged about this very subject whereby I create a EnumHelper class that enables very easy transformation   http   jnye co Posts 4 creating-a-dropdown-list-from-an-enum-in-mvc-and-c 23  In your controller     If you don t have an enum value use the type ViewBag DropDownList   EnumHelper SelectListFor lt MyEnum gt        If you do have an enum value use the value  the value will be marked as selected      ViewBag DropDownList   EnumHelper SelectListFor MyEnum MyEnumValue     In your View    Html DropDownList  DropDownList      OR     Html DropDownListFor m   gt  m Property  ViewBag DropDownList as SelectList  null    The helper class   public static class EnumHelper          Get the value of the description attribute if the           enum has one  otherwise use the value        public static string GetDescription lt TEnum gt  this TEnum value                var fi   value GetType   GetField value ToString              if  fi    null                        var attributes    DescriptionAttribute   fi GetCustomAttributes typeof DescriptionAttribute   false                if  attributes Length  gt  0                                return attributes 0  Description                                   return value ToString                    lt summary gt          Build a select list for an enum          lt  summary gt      public static SelectList SelectListFor lt T gt    where T   struct               Type t   typeof T           return  t IsEnum   null                            new SelectList BuildSelectListItems t    Value    Text                    lt summary gt          Build a select list for an enum with a particular value selected           lt  summary gt      public static SelectList SelectListFor lt T gt  T selected  where T   struct               Type t   typeof T           return  t IsEnum   null                            new SelectList BuildSelectListItems t    Text    Value   selected ToString                private static IEnumerable lt SelectListItem gt  BuildSelectListItems Type t                return Enum GetValues t                      Cast lt Enum gt                        Select e   gt  new SelectListItem   Value   e ToString    Text   e GetDescription

User · Answer

Building on Simon s answer  a similar approach is to get the Enum values to display from a Resource file  instead of in a description attribute within the Enum itself  This is helpful if your site needs to be rendered in more than one language and if you were to have a specific resource file for Enums  you could go one step further and have just Enum values  in your Enum and reference them from the extension by a convention such as  EnumName   EnumValue  - ultimately less typing   The extension then looks like   public static IHtmlString EnumDropDownListFor lt TModel  TEnum gt  this HtmlHelper lt TModel gt  html  Expression lt Func lt TModel  TEnum gt  gt  expression                    var metadata   ModelMetadata FromLambdaExpression expression  html ViewData        var enumType   Nullable GetUnderlyingType metadata ModelType     metadata ModelType       var enumValues   Enum GetValues enumType  Cast lt object gt          var items   from enumValue in enumValues                                         select new SelectListItem                                       Text   GetResourceValueForEnumValue enumValue                       Value     int enumValue  ToString                        Selected   enumValue Equals metadata Model                           return html DropDownListFor expression  items  string Empty  null      private static string GetResourceValueForEnumValue lt TEnum gt  TEnum enumValue        var key   string Format   0   1    enumValue GetType   Name  enumValue        return Enums ResourceManager GetString key     enumValue ToString        Resources in the Enums Resx file looking like ItemTypes Movie   Film  One other thing I like to do is  instead of calling the extension method directly  I d rather call it with a  Html EditorFor x    x MyProperty   or ideally just have the whole form  in one neat  Html EditorForModel    To do this I change the string template to look like this   using MVCProject Extensions         var type   Nullable GetUnderlyingType ViewData ModelMetadata ModelType     ViewData ModelMetadata ModelType         typeof  Enum  IsAssignableFrom type    Html EnumDropDownListFor x   gt  x    Html TextBoxFor x   gt  x       If this interests you  I ve put a much more detailed answer here on my blog   http   paulthecyclist com 2013 05 24 enum-dropdown

User · Answer

Now this feature is supported out-of-the-box in MVC 5 1 through  Html EnumDropDownListFor    Check the following link   https   docs microsoft com en-us aspnet mvc overview releases mvc51-release-notes Enum  It is really shame that it took Microsoft 5 years to implement such as feature which is so in demand according to the voting above

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So without Extension functions if you are looking for simple and easy   This is what I did   lt    Html DropDownListFor x   gt  x CurrentAddress State  new SelectList Enum GetValues typeof XXXXX Sites YYYY Models State      gt    where XXXXX Sites YYYY Models State is an enum  Probably better to do helper function  but when time is short this will get the job done

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You can also use my custom HtmlHelpers in Griffin MvcContrib  The following code    Html2 CheckBoxesFor model   gt  model InputType   lt br   gt   Html2 RadioButtonsFor model   gt  model InputType   lt br   gt   Html2 DropdownFor model   gt  model InputType   lt br   gt    Generates     https   github com jgauffin griffin mvccontrib

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I bumped into the same problem  found this question  and thought that the solution provided by Ash wasn t what I was looking for  Having to create the HTML myself means less flexibility compared to the built-in Html DropDownList   function   Turns out C 3 etc  makes this pretty easy  I have an enum called TaskStatus   var statuses   from TaskStatus s in Enum GetValues typeof TaskStatus                  select new   ID   s  Name   s ToString      ViewData  taskStatus     new SelectList statuses   ID    Name   task Status     This creates a good ol  SelectList that can be used like you re used to in the view    lt td gt  lt b gt Status  lt  b gt  lt  td gt  lt td gt  lt   Html DropDownList  taskStatus    gt  lt  td gt  lt  tr gt    The anonymous type and LINQ makes this so much more elegant IMHO  No offence intended  Ash

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I know I m late to the party on this  but thought you might find this variant useful  as this one also allows you to use descriptive strings rather than enumeration constants in the drop down  To do this  decorate each enumeration entry with a  System ComponentModel Description  attribute   For example   public enum TestEnum      Description  Full test      FullTest      Description  Incomplete or partial test      PartialTest      Description  No test performed      None     Here is my code   using System  using System Collections Generic  using System Linq  using System Web Mvc  using System Web Mvc Html  using System Reflection  using System ComponentModel  using System Linq Expressions          private static Type GetNonNullableModelType ModelMetadata modelMetadata                Type realModelType   modelMetadata ModelType           Type underlyingType   Nullable GetUnderlyingType realModelType           if  underlyingType    null                        realModelType   underlyingType                    return realModelType             private static readonly SelectListItem   SingleEmptyItem   new     new SelectListItem   Text       Value                public static string GetEnumDescription lt TEnum gt  TEnum value                FieldInfo fi   value GetType   GetField value ToString              DescriptionAttribute   attributes    DescriptionAttribute   fi GetCustomAttributes typeof DescriptionAttribute   false            if   attributes    null   amp  amp   attributes Length  gt  0               return attributes 0  Description          else             return value ToString               public static MvcHtmlString EnumDropDownListFor lt TModel  TEnum gt  this HtmlHelper lt TModel gt  htmlHelper  Expression lt Func lt TModel  TEnum gt  gt  expression                return EnumDropDownListFor htmlHelper  expression  null              public static MvcHtmlString EnumDropDownListFor lt TModel  TEnum gt  this HtmlHelper lt TModel gt  htmlHelper  Expression lt Func lt TModel  TEnum gt  gt  expression  object htmlAttributes                ModelMetadata metadata   ModelMetadata FromLambdaExpression expression  htmlHelper ViewData           Type enumType   GetNonNullableModelType metadata           IEnumerable lt TEnum gt  values   Enum GetValues enumType  Cast lt TEnum gt              IEnumerable lt SelectListItem gt  items   from value in values             select new SelectListItem                               Text   GetEnumDescription value                   Value   value ToString                    Selected   value Equals metadata Model                             If the enum is nullable  add an  empty  item to the collection         if  metadata IsNullableValueType              items   SingleEmptyItem Concat items            return htmlHelper DropDownListFor expression  items  htmlAttributes           You can then do this in your view    Html EnumDropDownListFor model   gt  model MyEnumProperty    Hope this helps you     EDIT 2014-JAN-23  Microsoft have just released MVC 5 1  which now has an EnumDropDownListFor feature  Sadly it does not appear to respect the  Description  attribute so the code above still stands See Enum section in Microsoft s release notes for MVC 5 1   Update  It does support the Display attribute  Display Name    Sample    though  so one can use that    Update - just noticed this  and the code looks like an extended version of the code here  https   blogs msdn microsoft com stuartleeks 2010 05 21 asp-net-mvc-creating-a-dropdownlist-helper-for-enums   with a couple of additions  If so  attribution would seem fair  -

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UPDATED - I would suggest using the suggestion by Rune below rather than this option     I assume that you want something like the following spat out    lt select name  blah  gt       lt option value  1  gt Movie lt  option gt       lt option value  2  gt Game lt  option gt       lt option value  3  gt Book lt  option gt   lt  select gt    which you could do with an extension method something like the following   public static string DropdownEnum this System Web Mvc HtmlHelper helper                                    Enum values        System Text StringBuilder sb   new System Text StringBuilder        sb Append   lt select name   blah   gt         string   names   Enum GetNames values GetType         foreach string name in names                sb Append   lt option value               sb Append   int Enum Parse values GetType    name   ToString             sb Append     gt             sb Append name           sb Append   lt  option gt               sb Append   lt  select gt         return sb ToString        BUT things like this aren t localisable  i e  it will be hard to translate into another language     Note  you need to call the static method with an instance of the Enumeration  i e  Html DropdownEnum ItemTypes Movie    There may be a more elegant way of doing this  but the above does work

User · Answer

You want to look at using something like Enum GetValues

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ViewModel          public class RegisterViewModel                      public RegisterViewModel                             ActionsList   new List lt SelectListItem gt                          public IEnumerable lt SelectListItem gt  ActionsList   get  set             public string StudentGrade   get  set                               Enum Class          public enum GradeTypes                               A                 B                 C                 D                 E                 F                 G                 H                             Controller action              public ActionResult Student                        RegisterViewModel vm   new RegisterViewModel        IEnumerable lt GradeTypes gt  actionTypes   Enum GetValues typeof GradeTypes                                             Cast lt GradeTypes gt                           vm ActionsList   from action in actionTypes                      select new SelectListItem                                                 Text   action ToString                             Value   action ToString                                         return View vm                                     View Action      lt div class  form-group  gt                               lt label class  col-lg-2 control-label  for  hobies  gt Student Grade  lt  label gt                               lt div class  col-lg-10  gt                                  Html DropDownListFor model   gt  model StudentGrade  Model ActionsList  new    class    form-control                                  lt  div gt

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You can also use my custom HtmlHelpers in Griffin MvcContrib  The following code    Html2 CheckBoxesFor model   gt  model InputType   lt br   gt   Html2 RadioButtonsFor model   gt  model InputType   lt br   gt   Html2 DropdownFor model   gt  model InputType   lt br   gt    Generates     https   github com jgauffin griffin mvccontrib

User · Answer

In ASP NET MVC 5 1  they added the EnumDropDownListFor   helper  so no need for custom extensions   Model   public enum MyEnum        Display Name    First Value - desc          FirstValue       Display Name    Second Value - desc           SecondValue     View    Html EnumDropDownListFor model   gt  model MyEnum    Using Tag Helper  ASP NET MVC 6     lt select asp-for   Model SelectedValue  asp-items  Html GetEnumSelectList lt MyEnum gt     gt

User · Answer

Now this feature is supported out-of-the-box in MVC 5 1 through  Html EnumDropDownListFor    Check the following link   https   docs microsoft com en-us aspnet mvc overview releases mvc51-release-notes Enum  It is really shame that it took Microsoft 5 years to implement such as feature which is so in demand according to the voting above

User · Answer

In MVC4  I would do like this    Html DropDownList  RefType   new SelectList Enum GetValues typeof WebAPIApp Models RefType       Select   new    class    form-control      public enum RefType               Web   3          API   4          Security   5          FE   6            public class Reference               public int Id   get  set            public RefType RefType   get  set

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I ended up creating extention methods to do what is essentially the accept answer here  The last half of the Gist deals with Enum specifically   https   gist github com 3813767

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UPDATED - I would suggest using the suggestion by Rune below rather than this option     I assume that you want something like the following spat out    lt select name  blah  gt       lt option value  1  gt Movie lt  option gt       lt option value  2  gt Game lt  option gt       lt option value  3  gt Book lt  option gt   lt  select gt    which you could do with an extension method something like the following   public static string DropdownEnum this System Web Mvc HtmlHelper helper                                    Enum values        System Text StringBuilder sb   new System Text StringBuilder        sb Append   lt select name   blah   gt         string   names   Enum GetNames values GetType         foreach string name in names                sb Append   lt option value               sb Append   int Enum Parse values GetType    name   ToString             sb Append     gt             sb Append name           sb Append   lt  option gt               sb Append   lt  select gt         return sb ToString        BUT things like this aren t localisable  i e  it will be hard to translate into another language     Note  you need to call the static method with an instance of the Enumeration  i e  Html DropdownEnum ItemTypes Movie    There may be a more elegant way of doing this  but the above does work

User · Answer

Building on Simon s answer  a similar approach is to get the Enum values to display from a Resource file  instead of in a description attribute within the Enum itself  This is helpful if your site needs to be rendered in more than one language and if you were to have a specific resource file for Enums  you could go one step further and have just Enum values  in your Enum and reference them from the extension by a convention such as  EnumName   EnumValue  - ultimately less typing   The extension then looks like   public static IHtmlString EnumDropDownListFor lt TModel  TEnum gt  this HtmlHelper lt TModel gt  html  Expression lt Func lt TModel  TEnum gt  gt  expression                    var metadata   ModelMetadata FromLambdaExpression expression  html ViewData        var enumType   Nullable GetUnderlyingType metadata ModelType     metadata ModelType       var enumValues   Enum GetValues enumType  Cast lt object gt          var items   from enumValue in enumValues                                         select new SelectListItem                                       Text   GetResourceValueForEnumValue enumValue                       Value     int enumValue  ToString                        Selected   enumValue Equals metadata Model                           return html DropDownListFor expression  items  string Empty  null      private static string GetResourceValueForEnumValue lt TEnum gt  TEnum enumValue        var key   string Format   0   1    enumValue GetType   Name  enumValue        return Enums ResourceManager GetString key     enumValue ToString        Resources in the Enums Resx file looking like ItemTypes Movie   Film  One other thing I like to do is  instead of calling the extension method directly  I d rather call it with a  Html EditorFor x    x MyProperty   or ideally just have the whole form  in one neat  Html EditorForModel    To do this I change the string template to look like this   using MVCProject Extensions         var type   Nullable GetUnderlyingType ViewData ModelMetadata ModelType     ViewData ModelMetadata ModelType         typeof  Enum  IsAssignableFrom type    Html EnumDropDownListFor x   gt  x    Html TextBoxFor x   gt  x       If this interests you  I ve put a much more detailed answer here on my blog   http   paulthecyclist com 2013 05 24 enum-dropdown

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I would like to answer this question in a different way where  user need not to do anything in controller or Linq expression  This way     I have a ENUM   public enum AccessLevelEnum                    lt summary gt              The user cannot access              lt  summary gt           EnumMember  Description  No Access            NoAccess   0x0                lt summary gt              The user can read the entire record in question              lt  summary gt           EnumMember  Description  Read Only            ReadOnly   0x01                lt summary gt              The user can read or write              lt  summary gt           EnumMember  Description  Read   Modify            ReadModify   0x02                lt summary gt              User can create new records  modify and read existing ones              lt  summary gt           EnumMember  Description  Create   Read   Modify            CreateReadModify   0x04                lt summary gt              User can read  write  or delete              lt  summary gt           EnumMember  Description  Create   Read   Modify   Delete            CreateReadModifyDelete   0x08                  lt summary gt              User can read  write  or delete              lt  summary gt           EnumMember  Description  Create   Read   Modify   Delete   Verify   Edit Capture Value            CreateReadModifyDeleteVerify   0x16           Now I canto simply create a dropdown by using this enum     Html DropDownList  accessLevel  new SelectList AccessLevelEnum GetValues typeof AccessLevelEnum    new    class    form-control       OR   Html DropDownListFor m  gt m accessLevel new SelectList AccessLevelEnum GetValues typeof AccessLevelEnum    new    class    form-control       If you want to make a index selected then try  this    Html DropDownListFor m  gt m accessLevel new SelectList AccessLevelEnum GetValues typeof AccessLevelEnum     AccessLevelEnum NoAccess   new    class    form-control       Here I have used AccessLevelEnum NoAccess as an extra parameter for default selecting the dropdown

User · Answer

The best solution I found for this was combining this blog with Simon Goldstone s answer   This allows use of the enum in the model  Essentially the idea is to use an integer property as well as the enum  and emulate the integer property   Then use the  System ComponentModel Description  attribute for annotating the model with your display text  and use an  EnumDropDownListFor  extension in your view   This makes both the view and model very readable and maintainable   Model   public enum YesPartialNoEnum        Description  Yes        Yes       Description  Still undecided        Partial       Description  No        No                 Display Name    The label for my dropdown list    public virtual Nullable lt YesPartialNoEnum gt  CuriousQuestion  get  set    public virtual Nullable lt int gt  CuriousQuestionId       get   return  Nullable lt int gt  CuriousQuestion        set   CuriousQuestion    Nullable lt YesPartialNoEnum gt  value        View    using MyProject Extensions              Html EnumDropDownListFor model   gt  model CuriousQuestion            Extension  directly from Simon Goldstone s answer  included here for completeness    using System  using System Collections Generic  using System Linq  using System Web  using System Web Mvc  using System ComponentModel  using System Reflection  using System Linq Expressions  using System Web Mvc Html   namespace MyProject Extensions         Extension methods must be defined in a static class     public static class MvcExtensions               private static Type GetNonNullableModelType ModelMetadata modelMetadata                        Type realModelType   modelMetadata ModelType               Type underlyingType   Nullable GetUnderlyingType realModelType               if  underlyingType    null                                realModelType   underlyingType                            return realModelType                     private static readonly SelectListItem   SingleEmptyItem   new     new SelectListItem   Text       Value                    public static string GetEnumDescription lt TEnum gt  TEnum value                        FieldInfo fi   value GetType   GetField value ToString                  DescriptionAttribute   attributes    DescriptionAttribute   fi GetCustomAttributes typeof DescriptionAttribute   false                if   attributes    null   amp  amp   attributes Length  gt  0                   return attributes 0  Description              else                 return value ToString                       public static MvcHtmlString EnumDropDownListFor lt TModel  TEnum gt  this HtmlHelper lt TModel gt  htmlHelper  Expression lt Func lt TModel  TEnum gt  gt  expression                        return EnumDropDownListFor htmlHelper  expression  null                      public static MvcHtmlString EnumDropDownListFor lt TModel  TEnum gt  this HtmlHelper lt TModel gt  htmlHelper  Expression lt Func lt TModel  TEnum gt  gt  expression  object htmlAttributes                        ModelMetadata metadata   ModelMetadata FromLambdaExpression expression  htmlHelper ViewData               Type enumType   GetNonNullableModelType metadata               IEnumerable lt TEnum gt  values   Enum GetValues enumType  Cast lt TEnum gt                  IEnumerable lt SelectListItem gt  items   from value in values                                                 select new SelectListItem                                                                                                       Text   GetEnumDescription value                                                       Value   value ToString                                                        Selected   value Equals metadata Model                                                                     If the enum is nullable  add an  empty  item to the collection             if  metadata IsNullableValueType                  items   SingleEmptyItem Concat items                return htmlHelper DropDownListFor expression  items  htmlAttributes

User · Answer

I ended up creating extention methods to do what is essentially the accept answer here  The last half of the Gist deals with Enum specifically   https   gist github com 3813767

User · Answer

Html DropDownListFor only requires an IEnumerable  so an alternative to Prise s solution is as follows  This will allow you to simply write    Html DropDownListFor m   gt  m SelectedItemType  Model SelectedItemType ToSelectList       Where SelectedItemType is a field on your model of type ItemTypes  and your model is non-null   Also  you don t really need to genericize the extension method as you can use enumValue GetType   rather than typeof T    EDIT  Integrated Simon s solution here as well  and included ToDescription extension method   public static class EnumExtensions       public static IEnumerable lt SelectListItem gt  ToSelectList this Enum enumValue                return from Enum e in Enum GetValues enumValue GetType                   select new SelectListItem                                     Selected   e Equals enumValue                      Text   e ToDescription                       Value   e ToString                                public static string ToDescription this Enum value                var attributes    DescriptionAttribute   value GetType   GetField value ToString    GetCustomAttributes typeof DescriptionAttribute   false           return attributes Length  gt  0   attributes 0  Description   value ToString

User · Answer

Html DropdownListFor model model- gt Gender new List lt SelectListItem gt     new ListItem Text  Male  Value  Male     new ListItem Text  Female  Value  Female     new ListItem Text  --- Select -----  Value  -----Select ----

User · Answer

I am very late on this one but I just found a really cool way to do this with one line of code  if you are happy to add the Unconstrained Melody NuGet package  a nice  small library from Jon Skeet    This solution is better because    It ensures  with generic type constraints  that the value really is an enum value  due to Unconstrained Melody  It avoids unnecessary boxing  due to Unconstrained Melody  It caches all the descriptions to avoid using reflection on every call  due to Unconstrained Melody  It is less code than the other solutions    So  here are the steps to get this working    In Package Manager Console   Install-Package UnconstrainedMelody  Add a property on your model like so     Replace  YourEnum  with the type of your enum public IEnumerable lt SelectListItem gt  AllItems       get               return Enums GetValues lt YourEnum gt    Select enumValue   gt  new SelectListItem   Value   enumValue ToString    Text   enumValue GetDescription                  Now that you have the List of SelectListItem exposed on your model  you can use the  Html DropDownList or  Html DropDownListFor using this property as the source

User · Answer

You want to look at using something like Enum GetValues

User · Answer

Html DropDownListFor model   gt  model Type  Enum GetNames typeof Rewards Models PropertyType   Select e   gt  new SelectListItem   Text   e

User · Answer

This is Rune  amp  Prise answers altered to use the Enum int value as the ID     Sample Enum   public enum ItemTypes       Movie   1      Game   2      Book   3     Extension method       public static SelectList ToSelectList lt TEnum gt  this TEnum enumObj                var values   from TEnum e in Enum GetValues typeof TEnum                        select new   Id    int Enum Parse typeof TEnum   e ToString     Name   e ToString               return new SelectList values   Id    Name    int Enum Parse typeof TEnum   enumObj ToString              Sample of usage     lt     Html DropDownList  MyEnumList   ItemTypes Game ToSelectList      gt    Remember to Import the namespace containing the Extension method   lt    Import Namespace  MyNamespace LocationOfExtensionMethod    gt    Sample of generated HTML    lt select id  MyEnumList  name  MyEnumList  gt       lt option value  1  gt Movie lt  option gt       lt option selected  selected  value  2  gt Game lt  option gt       lt option value  3  gt Book  lt  option gt   lt  select gt    Note that the item that you use to call the ToSelectList on is the selected item

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Well I m really late to the party  but for what it is worth  I have blogged about this very subject whereby I create a EnumHelper class that enables very easy transformation   http   jnye co Posts 4 creating-a-dropdown-list-from-an-enum-in-mvc-and-c 23  In your controller     If you don t have an enum value use the type ViewBag DropDownList   EnumHelper SelectListFor lt MyEnum gt        If you do have an enum value use the value  the value will be marked as selected      ViewBag DropDownList   EnumHelper SelectListFor MyEnum MyEnumValue     In your View    Html DropDownList  DropDownList      OR     Html DropDownListFor m   gt  m Property  ViewBag DropDownList as SelectList  null    The helper class   public static class EnumHelper          Get the value of the description attribute if the           enum has one  otherwise use the value        public static string GetDescription lt TEnum gt  this TEnum value                var fi   value GetType   GetField value ToString              if  fi    null                        var attributes    DescriptionAttribute   fi GetCustomAttributes typeof DescriptionAttribute   false                if  attributes Length  gt  0                                return attributes 0  Description                                   return value ToString                    lt summary gt          Build a select list for an enum          lt  summary gt      public static SelectList SelectListFor lt T gt    where T   struct               Type t   typeof T           return  t IsEnum   null                            new SelectList BuildSelectListItems t    Value    Text                    lt summary gt          Build a select list for an enum with a particular value selected           lt  summary gt      public static SelectList SelectListFor lt T gt  T selected  where T   struct               Type t   typeof T           return  t IsEnum   null                            new SelectList BuildSelectListItems t    Text    Value   selected ToString                private static IEnumerable lt SelectListItem gt  BuildSelectListItems Type t                return Enum GetValues t                      Cast lt Enum gt                        Select e   gt  new SelectListItem   Value   e ToString    Text   e GetDescription

User · Answer

I ve done the following and works successfully    In the view cshtml     model MyModel cs   Html EnumDropDownListFor m  gt m MyItemType      In the Model  MyModel cs      public ItemTypes MyItemType   get  set

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This is version for Razor          var itemTypesList   new List lt SelectListItem gt         itemTypesList AddRange Enum GetValues typeof ItemTypes   Cast lt ItemTypes gt    Select                   item  index    gt  new SelectListItem                                       Text   item ToString                        Value    index  ToString                        Selected   Model ItemTypeId    index                    ToList           Html DropDownList  ItemTypeId   itemTypesList

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If you want to add localization support just change the s toString   method to something like this   ResourceManager rManager   new ResourceManager typeof Resources    var dayTypes   from OperatorCalendarDay OperatorDayType s in Enum GetValues typeof OperatorCalendarDay OperatorDayType                  select new   ID   s  Name   rManager GetString s ToString         In here the typeof Resources  is the resource you want to load  and then you get the localized String  also useful if your enumerator has values with multiple words

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Html DropDownListFor only requires an IEnumerable  so an alternative to Prise s solution is as follows  This will allow you to simply write    Html DropDownListFor m   gt  m SelectedItemType  Model SelectedItemType ToSelectList       Where SelectedItemType is a field on your model of type ItemTypes  and your model is non-null   Also  you don t really need to genericize the extension method as you can use enumValue GetType   rather than typeof T    EDIT  Integrated Simon s solution here as well  and included ToDescription extension method   public static class EnumExtensions       public static IEnumerable lt SelectListItem gt  ToSelectList this Enum enumValue                return from Enum e in Enum GetValues enumValue GetType                   select new SelectListItem                                     Selected   e Equals enumValue                      Text   e ToDescription                       Value   e ToString                                public static string ToDescription this Enum value                var attributes    DescriptionAttribute   value GetType   GetField value ToString    GetCustomAttributes typeof DescriptionAttribute   false           return attributes Length  gt  0   attributes 0  Description   value ToString

User · Answer

You want to look at using something like Enum GetValues

User · Answer

So without Extension functions if you are looking for simple and easy   This is what I did   lt    Html DropDownListFor x   gt  x CurrentAddress State  new SelectList Enum GetValues typeof XXXXX Sites YYYY Models State      gt    where XXXXX Sites YYYY Models State is an enum  Probably better to do helper function  but when time is short this will get the job done

User · Answer

I am very late on this one but I just found a really cool way to do this with one line of code  if you are happy to add the Unconstrained Melody NuGet package  a nice  small library from Jon Skeet    This solution is better because    It ensures  with generic type constraints  that the value really is an enum value  due to Unconstrained Melody  It avoids unnecessary boxing  due to Unconstrained Melody  It caches all the descriptions to avoid using reflection on every call  due to Unconstrained Melody  It is less code than the other solutions    So  here are the steps to get this working    In Package Manager Console   Install-Package UnconstrainedMelody  Add a property on your model like so     Replace  YourEnum  with the type of your enum public IEnumerable lt SelectListItem gt  AllItems       get               return Enums GetValues lt YourEnum gt    Select enumValue   gt  new SelectListItem   Value   enumValue ToString    Text   enumValue GetDescription                  Now that you have the List of SelectListItem exposed on your model  you can use the  Html DropDownList or  Html DropDownListFor using this property as the source

User · Answer

In MVC4  I would do like this    Html DropDownList  RefType   new SelectList Enum GetValues typeof WebAPIApp Models RefType       Select   new    class    form-control      public enum RefType               Web   3          API   4          Security   5          FE   6            public class Reference               public int Id   get  set            public RefType RefType   get  set

User · Answer

In  NET Core you can just use this    Html DropDownListFor x   gt  x Foo  Html GetEnumSelectList lt MyEnum gt

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This is Rune  amp  Prise answers altered to use the Enum int value as the ID     Sample Enum   public enum ItemTypes       Movie   1      Game   2      Book   3     Extension method       public static SelectList ToSelectList lt TEnum gt  this TEnum enumObj                var values   from TEnum e in Enum GetValues typeof TEnum                        select new   Id    int Enum Parse typeof TEnum   e ToString     Name   e ToString               return new SelectList values   Id    Name    int Enum Parse typeof TEnum   enumObj ToString              Sample of usage     lt     Html DropDownList  MyEnumList   ItemTypes Game ToSelectList      gt    Remember to Import the namespace containing the Extension method   lt    Import Namespace  MyNamespace LocationOfExtensionMethod    gt    Sample of generated HTML    lt select id  MyEnumList  name  MyEnumList  gt       lt option value  1  gt Movie lt  option gt       lt option selected  selected  value  2  gt Game lt  option gt       lt option value  3  gt Book  lt  option gt   lt  select gt    Note that the item that you use to call the ToSelectList on is the selected item

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Here a Martin Faartoft variation where you can put custom labels which is nice for localization   public static class EnumHtmlHelper       public static SelectList ToSelectList lt TEnum gt  this TEnum enumObj  Dictionary lt int  string gt  customLabels          where TEnum   struct  IComparable  IFormattable  IConvertible               var values   from TEnum e in Enum GetValues typeof TEnum                        select new   Id   e  Name   customLabels First x   gt  x Key    Convert ToInt32 e   Value ToString               return new SelectList values   Id    Name   enumObj             Use in view    Html DropDownListFor m   gt  m Category  Model Category ToSelectList new Dictionary lt int  string gt                   1  ContactResStrings FeedbackCategory                 2  ContactResStrings ComplainCategory                 3  ContactResStrings CommentCategory                4  ContactResStrings OtherCategory             new    class    form-control      Html ValidationMessageFor m   gt  m Category

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Here a Martin Faartoft variation where you can put custom labels which is nice for localization   public static class EnumHtmlHelper       public static SelectList ToSelectList lt TEnum gt  this TEnum enumObj  Dictionary lt int  string gt  customLabels          where TEnum   struct  IComparable  IFormattable  IConvertible               var values   from TEnum e in Enum GetValues typeof TEnum                        select new   Id   e  Name   customLabels First x   gt  x Key    Convert ToInt32 e   Value ToString               return new SelectList values   Id    Name   enumObj             Use in view    Html DropDownListFor m   gt  m Category  Model Category ToSelectList new Dictionary lt int  string gt                   1  ContactResStrings FeedbackCategory                 2  ContactResStrings ComplainCategory                 3  ContactResStrings CommentCategory                4  ContactResStrings OtherCategory             new    class    form-control      Html ValidationMessageFor m   gt  m Category

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This is my version of helper method  I use this   var values   from int e in Enum GetValues typeof TEnum                select new   ID   e  Name   Enum GetName typeof TEnum   e       Instead of that   var values   from TEnum e in Enum GetValues typeof TEnum              select new   ID    int Enum Parse typeof TEnum  e ToString                           Name   e ToString        Here it is   public static SelectList ToSelectList lt TEnum gt  this TEnum self  where TEnum   struct               if   typeof TEnum  IsEnum                        throw new ArgumentException  self must be enum    self                       Type t   typeof TEnum            var values   from int e in Enum GetValues typeof TEnum                        select new   ID   e  Name   Enum GetName typeof TEnum   e              return new SelectList values   ID    Name   self

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I bumped into the same problem  found this question  and thought that the solution provided by Ash wasn t what I was looking for  Having to create the HTML myself means less flexibility compared to the built-in Html DropDownList   function   Turns out C 3 etc  makes this pretty easy  I have an enum called TaskStatus   var statuses   from TaskStatus s in Enum GetValues typeof TaskStatus                  select new   ID   s  Name   s ToString      ViewData  taskStatus     new SelectList statuses   ID    Name   task Status     This creates a good ol  SelectList that can be used like you re used to in the view    lt td gt  lt b gt Status  lt  b gt  lt  td gt  lt td gt  lt   Html DropDownList  taskStatus    gt  lt  td gt  lt  tr gt    The anonymous type and LINQ makes this so much more elegant IMHO  No offence intended  Ash

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You want to look at using something like Enum GetValues

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In  NET Core you can just use this    Html DropDownListFor x   gt  x Foo  Html GetEnumSelectList lt MyEnum gt

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UPDATED - I would suggest using the suggestion by Rune below rather than this option     I assume that you want something like the following spat out    lt select name  blah  gt       lt option value  1  gt Movie lt  option gt       lt option value  2  gt Game lt  option gt       lt option value  3  gt Book lt  option gt   lt  select gt    which you could do with an extension method something like the following   public static string DropdownEnum this System Web Mvc HtmlHelper helper                                    Enum values        System Text StringBuilder sb   new System Text StringBuilder        sb Append   lt select name   blah   gt         string   names   Enum GetNames values GetType         foreach string name in names                sb Append   lt option value               sb Append   int Enum Parse values GetType    name   ToString             sb Append     gt             sb Append name           sb Append   lt  option gt               sb Append   lt  select gt         return sb ToString        BUT things like this aren t localisable  i e  it will be hard to translate into another language     Note  you need to call the static method with an instance of the Enumeration  i e  Html DropdownEnum ItemTypes Movie    There may be a more elegant way of doing this  but the above does work

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Html DropDownListFor model   gt  model MaritalStatus  new List lt SelectListItem gt        new SelectListItem   Text    ----Select----   Value    -1       new SelectListItem   Text    Marrid   Value    M        new SelectListItem   Text    Single   Value    S

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Here is a better encapsulated solution   https   www spicelogic com Blog enum-dropdownlistfor-asp-net-mvc-5  Say here is your model     Sample Usage     Generated UI    And generated HTML    The Helper Extension Source Code snap shot     You can download the sample project from the link I provided   EDIT  Here s the code   public static class EnumEditorHtmlHelper            lt summary gt          Creates the DropDown List  HTML Select Element  from LINQ          Expression where the expression returns an Enum type           lt  summary gt           lt typeparam name  TModel  gt The type of the model  lt  typeparam gt           lt typeparam name  TProperty  gt The type of the property  lt  typeparam gt           lt param name  htmlHelper  gt The HTML helper  lt  param gt           lt param name  expression  gt The expression  lt  param gt           lt returns gt  lt  returns gt      public static MvcHtmlString DropDownListFor lt TModel  TProperty gt  this HtmlHelper lt TModel gt  htmlHelper          Expression lt Func lt TModel  TProperty gt  gt  expression           where TModel   class               TProperty value   htmlHelper ViewData Model    null                default TProperty                 expression Compile   htmlHelper ViewData Model           string selected   value    null   String Empty   value ToString            return htmlHelper DropDownListFor expression  createSelectList expression ReturnType  selected                    lt summary gt          Creates the select list           lt  summary gt           lt param name  enumType  gt Type of the enum  lt  param gt           lt param name  selectedItem  gt The selected item  lt  param gt           lt returns gt  lt  returns gt      private static IEnumerable lt SelectListItem gt  createSelectList Type enumType  string selectedItem                return  from object item in Enum GetValues enumType                  let fi   enumType GetField item ToString                    let attribute   fi GetCustomAttributes typeof  DescriptionAttribute   true  FirstOrDefault                   let title   attribute    null   item ToString       DescriptionAttribute  attribute  Description                 select new SelectListItem                                           Value   item ToString                           Text   title                         Selected   selectedItem    item ToString                        ToList

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Simon Goldstone  Thanks for your solution  it can be perfectly applied in my case  The only problem is I had to translate it to VB  But now it is done and to save other people s time  in case they need it  I put it here   Imports System Runtime CompilerServices Imports System ComponentModel Imports System Linq Expressions  Public Module HtmlHelpers     Private Function GetNonNullableModelType modelMetadata As ModelMetadata  As Type         Dim realModelType   modelMetadata ModelType          Dim underlyingType   Nullable GetUnderlyingType realModelType           If Not underlyingType Is Nothing Then             realModelType   underlyingType         End If          Return realModelType     End Function      Private ReadOnly SingleEmptyItem   As SelectListItem    New SelectListItem   With   Text        Value             Private Function GetEnumDescription Of TEnum  value As TEnum  As String         Dim fi   value GetType   GetField value ToString             Dim attributes   DirectCast fi GetCustomAttributes GetType DescriptionAttribute   False   DescriptionAttribute             If Not attributes Is Nothing AndAlso attributes Length  gt  0 Then             Return attributes 0  Description         Else             Return value ToString           End If     End Function       lt Extension   gt      Public Function EnumDropDownListFor Of TModel  TEnum  ByVal htmlHelper As HtmlHelper Of TModel   expression As Expression Of Func Of TModel  TEnum    As MvcHtmlString         Return EnumDropDownListFor htmlHelper  expression  Nothing      End Function       lt Extension   gt      Public Function EnumDropDownListFor Of TModel  TEnum  ByVal htmlHelper As HtmlHelper Of TModel   expression As Expression Of Func Of TModel  TEnum    htmlAttributes As Object  As MvcHtmlString         Dim metaData As ModelMetadata   ModelMetadata FromLambdaExpression expression  htmlHelper ViewData          Dim enumType As Type   GetNonNullableModelType metaData          Dim values As IEnumerable Of TEnum     Enum  GetValues enumType  Cast Of TEnum             Dim items As IEnumerable Of SelectListItem    From value In values             Select New SelectListItem With                                Text   GetEnumDescription value                    Value   value ToString                     Selected   value Equals metaData Model                           If the enum is nullable  add an  empty  item to the collection         If metaData IsNullableValueType Then             items   SingleEmptyItem Concat items          End If          Return htmlHelper DropDownListFor expression  items  htmlAttributes      End Function End Module   End You use it like this    Html EnumDropDownListFor Function model   model EnumField

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1- Create your ENUM  public enum LicenseType       xxx   1      yyy   2     2- Create your Service Class  public class LicenseTypeEnumService                public static Dictionary lt int  string gt  GetAll                          var licenseTypes   new Dictionary lt int  string gt                  licenseTypes Add  int LicenseType xxx   xxx                licenseTypes Add  int LicenseType yyy   yyy                 return licenseTypes                      public static string GetById int id                         var q    from p in this GetAll   where p Key    id select p  Single                return q Value                      3- Set the ViewBag in your controller  var licenseTypes   LicenseTypeEnumService GetAll    ViewBag LicenseTypes   new SelectList licenseTypes   Key    Value      4- Bind your DropDownList   Html DropDownList  LicenseType    SelectList ViewBag LicenseTypes

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Html DropDownListFor model   gt  model MaritalStatus  new List lt SelectListItem gt        new SelectListItem   Text    ----Select----   Value    -1       new SelectListItem   Text    Marrid   Value    M        new SelectListItem   Text    Single   Value    S

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ViewModel          public class RegisterViewModel                      public RegisterViewModel                             ActionsList   new List lt SelectListItem gt                          public IEnumerable lt SelectListItem gt  ActionsList   get  set             public string StudentGrade   get  set                               Enum Class          public enum GradeTypes                               A                 B                 C                 D                 E                 F                 G                 H                             Controller action              public ActionResult Student                        RegisterViewModel vm   new RegisterViewModel        IEnumerable lt GradeTypes gt  actionTypes   Enum GetValues typeof GradeTypes                                             Cast lt GradeTypes gt                           vm ActionsList   from action in actionTypes                      select new SelectListItem                                                 Text   action ToString                             Value   action ToString                                         return View vm                                     View Action      lt div class  form-group  gt                               lt label class  col-lg-2 control-label  for  hobies  gt Student Grade  lt  label gt                               lt div class  col-lg-10  gt                                  Html DropDownListFor model   gt  model StudentGrade  Model ActionsList  new    class    form-control                                  lt  div gt

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I found an answer here  However  some of my enums have  Description       attribute  so I ve modified the code to provide support for that       enum Abc                Description  Cba            Abc           Def             public static MvcHtmlString EnumDropDownList lt TEnum gt  this HtmlHelper htmlHelper  string name  TEnum selectedValue                IEnumerable lt TEnum gt  values   Enum GetValues typeof TEnum                Cast lt TEnum gt              List lt SelectListItem gt  items   new List lt SelectListItem gt             foreach  var value in values                        string text   value ToString                 var member   typeof TEnum  GetMember value ToString                 if  member Count    gt  0                                var customAttributes   member 0  GetCustomAttributes typeof DescriptionAttribute   false                   if  customAttributes Count    gt  0                                        text     DescriptionAttribute customAttributes 0   Description                                               items Add new SelectListItem                               Text   text                  Value   value ToString                    Selected    value Equals selectedValue                                      return htmlHelper DropDownList              name              items                        Hope that helps

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To solve the problem of getting the number instead of text using Prise s extension method   public static SelectList ToSelectList lt TEnum gt  this TEnum enumObj      var values   from TEnum e in Enum GetValues typeof TEnum                  select new   ID    int Enum Parse typeof TEnum  e ToString                               Name   e ToString         return new SelectList values   Id    Name   enumObj

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1- Create your ENUM  public enum LicenseType       xxx   1      yyy   2     2- Create your Service Class  public class LicenseTypeEnumService                public static Dictionary lt int  string gt  GetAll                          var licenseTypes   new Dictionary lt int  string gt                  licenseTypes Add  int LicenseType xxx   xxx                licenseTypes Add  int LicenseType yyy   yyy                 return licenseTypes                      public static string GetById int id                         var q    from p in this GetAll   where p Key    id select p  Single                return q Value                      3- Set the ViewBag in your controller  var licenseTypes   LicenseTypeEnumService GetAll    ViewBag LicenseTypes   new SelectList licenseTypes   Key    Value      4- Bind your DropDownList   Html DropDownList  LicenseType    SelectList ViewBag LicenseTypes

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This is my version of helper method  I use this   var values   from int e in Enum GetValues typeof TEnum                select new   ID   e  Name   Enum GetName typeof TEnum   e       Instead of that   var values   from TEnum e in Enum GetValues typeof TEnum              select new   ID    int Enum Parse typeof TEnum  e ToString                           Name   e ToString        Here it is   public static SelectList ToSelectList lt TEnum gt  this TEnum self  where TEnum   struct               if   typeof TEnum  IsEnum                        throw new ArgumentException  self must be enum    self                       Type t   typeof TEnum            var values   from int e in Enum GetValues typeof TEnum                        select new   ID   e  Name   Enum GetName typeof TEnum   e              return new SelectList values   ID    Name   self

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I bumped into the same problem  found this question  and thought that the solution provided by Ash wasn t what I was looking for  Having to create the HTML myself means less flexibility compared to the built-in Html DropDownList   function   Turns out C 3 etc  makes this pretty easy  I have an enum called TaskStatus   var statuses   from TaskStatus s in Enum GetValues typeof TaskStatus                  select new   ID   s  Name   s ToString      ViewData  taskStatus     new SelectList statuses   ID    Name   task Status     This creates a good ol  SelectList that can be used like you re used to in the view    lt td gt  lt b gt Status  lt  b gt  lt  td gt  lt td gt  lt   Html DropDownList  taskStatus    gt  lt  td gt  lt  tr gt    The anonymous type and LINQ makes this so much more elegant IMHO  No offence intended  Ash

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Html DropDownListFor model   gt  model Type  Enum GetNames typeof Rewards Models PropertyType   Select e   gt  new SelectListItem   Text   e

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I bumped into the same problem  found this question  and thought that the solution provided by Ash wasn t what I was looking for  Having to create the HTML myself means less flexibility compared to the built-in Html DropDownList   function   Turns out C 3 etc  makes this pretty easy  I have an enum called TaskStatus   var statuses   from TaskStatus s in Enum GetValues typeof TaskStatus                  select new   ID   s  Name   s ToString      ViewData  taskStatus     new SelectList statuses   ID    Name   task Status     This creates a good ol  SelectList that can be used like you re used to in the view    lt td gt  lt b gt Status  lt  b gt  lt  td gt  lt td gt  lt   Html DropDownList  taskStatus    gt  lt  td gt  lt  tr gt    The anonymous type and LINQ makes this so much more elegant IMHO  No offence intended  Ash

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I would like to answer this question in a different way where  user need not to do anything in controller or Linq expression  This way     I have a ENUM   public enum AccessLevelEnum                    lt summary gt              The user cannot access              lt  summary gt           EnumMember  Description  No Access            NoAccess   0x0                lt summary gt              The user can read the entire record in question              lt  summary gt           EnumMember  Description  Read Only            ReadOnly   0x01                lt summary gt              The user can read or write              lt  summary gt           EnumMember  Description  Read   Modify            ReadModify   0x02                lt summary gt              User can create new records  modify and read existing ones              lt  summary gt           EnumMember  Description  Create   Read   Modify            CreateReadModify   0x04                lt summary gt              User can read  write  or delete              lt  summary gt           EnumMember  Description  Create   Read   Modify   Delete            CreateReadModifyDelete   0x08                  lt summary gt              User can read  write  or delete              lt  summary gt           EnumMember  Description  Create   Read   Modify   Delete   Verify   Edit Capture Value            CreateReadModifyDeleteVerify   0x16           Now I canto simply create a dropdown by using this enum     Html DropDownList  accessLevel  new SelectList AccessLevelEnum GetValues typeof AccessLevelEnum    new    class    form-control       OR   Html DropDownListFor m  gt m accessLevel new SelectList AccessLevelEnum GetValues typeof AccessLevelEnum    new    class    form-control       If you want to make a index selected then try  this    Html DropDownListFor m  gt m accessLevel new SelectList AccessLevelEnum GetValues typeof AccessLevelEnum     AccessLevelEnum NoAccess   new    class    form-control       Here I have used AccessLevelEnum NoAccess as an extra parameter for default selecting the dropdown

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I ve done the following and works successfully    In the view cshtml     model MyModel cs   Html EnumDropDownListFor m  gt m MyItemType      In the Model  MyModel cs      public ItemTypes MyItemType   get  set

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Another fix to this extension method - the current version didn t select the enum s current value  I fixed the last line   public static SelectList ToSelectList lt TEnum gt  this TEnum enumObj  where TEnum   struct               if   typeof TEnum  IsEnum  throw new ArgumentException  An Enumeration type is required     enumObj             var values   from TEnum e in Enum GetValues typeof TEnum                          select new                                                     ID    int Enum Parse typeof TEnum   e ToString                                Name   e ToString                                       return new SelectList values   ID    Name     int Enum Parse typeof TEnum   enumObj ToString     ToString

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I found an answer here  However  some of my enums have  Description       attribute  so I ve modified the code to provide support for that       enum Abc                Description  Cba            Abc           Def             public static MvcHtmlString EnumDropDownList lt TEnum gt  this HtmlHelper htmlHelper  string name  TEnum selectedValue                IEnumerable lt TEnum gt  values   Enum GetValues typeof TEnum                Cast lt TEnum gt              List lt SelectListItem gt  items   new List lt SelectListItem gt             foreach  var value in values                        string text   value ToString                 var member   typeof TEnum  GetMember value ToString                 if  member Count    gt  0                                var customAttributes   member 0  GetCustomAttributes typeof DescriptionAttribute   false                   if  customAttributes Count    gt  0                                        text     DescriptionAttribute customAttributes 0   Description                                               items Add new SelectListItem                               Text   text                  Value   value ToString                    Selected    value Equals selectedValue                                      return htmlHelper DropDownList              name              items                        Hope that helps

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For MVC v5 1 use Html EnumDropDownListFor   Html EnumDropDownListFor      x   gt  x YourEnumField       Select My Type        new    class    form-control         For MVC v5 use EnumHelper   Html DropDownList  MyType       EnumHelper GetSelectList typeof MyType          Select My Type       new    class    form-control         For MVC 5 and lower  I rolled Rune s answer into an extension method   namespace MyApp Common       public static class MyExtensions          public static SelectList ToSelectList lt TEnum gt  this TEnum enumObj              where TEnum   struct  IComparable  IFormattable  IConvertible                       var values   from TEnum e in Enum GetValues typeof TEnum                   select new   Id   e  Name   e ToString                  return new SelectList values   Id    Name   enumObj                       This allows you to write   ViewData  taskStatus     task Status ToSelectList      by using MyApp Common

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Simon Goldstone  Thanks for your solution  it can be perfectly applied in my case  The only problem is I had to translate it to VB  But now it is done and to save other people s time  in case they need it  I put it here   Imports System Runtime CompilerServices Imports System ComponentModel Imports System Linq Expressions  Public Module HtmlHelpers     Private Function GetNonNullableModelType modelMetadata As ModelMetadata  As Type         Dim realModelType   modelMetadata ModelType          Dim underlyingType   Nullable GetUnderlyingType realModelType           If Not underlyingType Is Nothing Then             realModelType   underlyingType         End If          Return realModelType     End Function      Private ReadOnly SingleEmptyItem   As SelectListItem    New SelectListItem   With   Text        Value             Private Function GetEnumDescription Of TEnum  value As TEnum  As String         Dim fi   value GetType   GetField value ToString             Dim attributes   DirectCast fi GetCustomAttributes GetType DescriptionAttribute   False   DescriptionAttribute             If Not attributes Is Nothing AndAlso attributes Length  gt  0 Then             Return attributes 0  Description         Else             Return value ToString           End If     End Function       lt Extension   gt      Public Function EnumDropDownListFor Of TModel  TEnum  ByVal htmlHelper As HtmlHelper Of TModel   expression As Expression Of Func Of TModel  TEnum    As MvcHtmlString         Return EnumDropDownListFor htmlHelper  expression  Nothing      End Function       lt Extension   gt      Public Function EnumDropDownListFor Of TModel  TEnum  ByVal htmlHelper As HtmlHelper Of TModel   expression As Expression Of Func Of TModel  TEnum    htmlAttributes As Object  As MvcHtmlString         Dim metaData As ModelMetadata   ModelMetadata FromLambdaExpression expression  htmlHelper ViewData          Dim enumType As Type   GetNonNullableModelType metaData          Dim values As IEnumerable Of TEnum     Enum  GetValues enumType  Cast Of TEnum             Dim items As IEnumerable Of SelectListItem    From value In values             Select New SelectListItem With                                Text   GetEnumDescription value                    Value   value ToString                     Selected   value Equals metaData Model                           If the enum is nullable  add an  empty  item to the collection         If metaData IsNullableValueType Then             items   SingleEmptyItem Concat items          End If          Return htmlHelper DropDownListFor expression  items  htmlAttributes      End Function End Module   End You use it like this    Html EnumDropDownListFor Function model   model EnumField

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UPDATED - I would suggest using the suggestion by Rune below rather than this option     I assume that you want something like the following spat out    lt select name  blah  gt       lt option value  1  gt Movie lt  option gt       lt option value  2  gt Game lt  option gt       lt option value  3  gt Book lt  option gt   lt  select gt    which you could do with an extension method something like the following   public static string DropdownEnum this System Web Mvc HtmlHelper helper                                    Enum values        System Text StringBuilder sb   new System Text StringBuilder        sb Append   lt select name   blah   gt         string   names   Enum GetNames values GetType         foreach string name in names                sb Append   lt option value               sb Append   int Enum Parse values GetType    name   ToString             sb Append     gt             sb Append name           sb Append   lt  option gt               sb Append   lt  select gt         return sb ToString        BUT things like this aren t localisable  i e  it will be hard to translate into another language     Note  you need to call the static method with an instance of the Enumeration  i e  Html DropdownEnum ItemTypes Movie    There may be a more elegant way of doing this  but the above does work

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This is version for Razor          var itemTypesList   new List lt SelectListItem gt         itemTypesList AddRange Enum GetValues typeof ItemTypes   Cast lt ItemTypes gt    Select                   item  index    gt  new SelectListItem                                       Text   item ToString                        Value    index  ToString                        Selected   Model ItemTypeId    index                    ToList           Html DropDownList  ItemTypeId   itemTypesList

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For MVC v5 1 use Html EnumDropDownListFor   Html EnumDropDownListFor      x   gt  x YourEnumField       Select My Type        new    class    form-control         For MVC v5 use EnumHelper   Html DropDownList  MyType       EnumHelper GetSelectList typeof MyType          Select My Type       new    class    form-control         For MVC 5 and lower  I rolled Rune s answer into an extension method   namespace MyApp Common       public static class MyExtensions          public static SelectList ToSelectList lt TEnum gt  this TEnum enumObj              where TEnum   struct  IComparable  IFormattable  IConvertible                       var values   from TEnum e in Enum GetValues typeof TEnum                   select new   Id   e  Name   e ToString                  return new SelectList values   Id    Name   enumObj                       This allows you to write   ViewData  taskStatus     task Status ToSelectList      by using MyApp Common

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Expanding on Prise and Rune s answers  if you d like to have the value attribute of your select list items map to the integer value of the Enumeration type  rather than the string value  use the following code   public static SelectList ToSelectList lt T  TU gt  T enumObj       where T   struct     where TU   struct       if  typeof T  IsEnum  throw new ArgumentException  Enum is required     enumObj         var values   from T e in Enum GetValues typeof T                    select new                        Value    TU Convert ChangeType e  typeof TU                        Text   e ToString                             return new SelectList values   Value    Text   enumObj       Instead of treating each Enumeration value as a TEnum object  we can treat it as a object and then cast it to integer to get the unboxed value    Note  I also added a generic type constraint to restrict the types for which this extension is available to only structs  Enum s base type   and a run-time type validation which ensures that the struct passed in is indeed an Enum   Update 10 23 12  Added generic type parameter for underlying type and fixed non-compilation issue affecting  NET 4

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Expanding on Prise and Rune s answers  if you d like to have the value attribute of your select list items map to the integer value of the Enumeration type  rather than the string value  use the following code   public static SelectList ToSelectList lt T  TU gt  T enumObj       where T   struct     where TU   struct       if  typeof T  IsEnum  throw new ArgumentException  Enum is required     enumObj         var values   from T e in Enum GetValues typeof T                    select new                        Value    TU Convert ChangeType e  typeof TU                        Text   e ToString                             return new SelectList values   Value    Text   enumObj       Instead of treating each Enumeration value as a TEnum object  we can treat it as a object and then cast it to integer to get the unboxed value    Note  I also added a generic type constraint to restrict the types for which this extension is available to only structs  Enum s base type   and a run-time type validation which ensures that the struct passed in is indeed an Enum   Update 10 23 12  Added generic type parameter for underlying type and fixed non-compilation issue affecting  NET 4

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To solve the problem of getting the number instead of text using Prise s extension method   public static SelectList ToSelectList lt TEnum gt  this TEnum enumObj      var values   from TEnum e in Enum GetValues typeof TEnum                  select new   ID    int Enum Parse typeof TEnum  e ToString                               Name   e ToString         return new SelectList values   Id    Name   enumObj

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If you want to add localization support just change the s toString   method to something like this   ResourceManager rManager   new ResourceManager typeof Resources    var dayTypes   from OperatorCalendarDay OperatorDayType s in Enum GetValues typeof OperatorCalendarDay OperatorDayType                  select new   ID   s  Name   rManager GetString s ToString         In here the typeof Resources  is the resource you want to load  and then you get the localized String  also useful if your enumerator has values with multiple words

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The best solution I found for this was combining this blog with Simon Goldstone s answer   This allows use of the enum in the model  Essentially the idea is to use an integer property as well as the enum  and emulate the integer property   Then use the  System ComponentModel Description  attribute for annotating the model with your display text  and use an  EnumDropDownListFor  extension in your view   This makes both the view and model very readable and maintainable   Model   public enum YesPartialNoEnum        Description  Yes        Yes       Description  Still undecided        Partial       Description  No        No                 Display Name    The label for my dropdown list    public virtual Nullable lt YesPartialNoEnum gt  CuriousQuestion  get  set    public virtual Nullable lt int gt  CuriousQuestionId       get   return  Nullable lt int gt  CuriousQuestion        set   CuriousQuestion    Nullable lt YesPartialNoEnum gt  value        View    using MyProject Extensions              Html EnumDropDownListFor model   gt  model CuriousQuestion            Extension  directly from Simon Goldstone s answer  included here for completeness    using System  using System Collections Generic  using System Linq  using System Web  using System Web Mvc  using System ComponentModel  using System Reflection  using System Linq Expressions  using System Web Mvc Html   namespace MyProject Extensions         Extension methods must be defined in a static class     public static class MvcExtensions               private static Type GetNonNullableModelType ModelMetadata modelMetadata                        Type realModelType   modelMetadata ModelType               Type underlyingType   Nullable GetUnderlyingType realModelType               if  underlyingType    null                                realModelType   underlyingType                            return realModelType                     private static readonly SelectListItem   SingleEmptyItem   new     new SelectListItem   Text       Value                    public static string GetEnumDescription lt TEnum gt  TEnum value                        FieldInfo fi   value GetType   GetField value ToString                  DescriptionAttribute   attributes    DescriptionAttribute   fi GetCustomAttributes typeof DescriptionAttribute   false                if   attributes    null   amp  amp   attributes Length  gt  0                   return attributes 0  Description              else                 return value ToString                       public static MvcHtmlString EnumDropDownListFor lt TModel  TEnum gt  this HtmlHelper lt TModel gt  htmlHelper  Expression lt Func lt TModel  TEnum gt  gt  expression                        return EnumDropDownListFor htmlHelper  expression  null                      public static MvcHtmlString EnumDropDownListFor lt TModel  TEnum gt  this HtmlHelper lt TModel gt  htmlHelper  Expression lt Func lt TModel  TEnum gt  gt  expression  object htmlAttributes                        ModelMetadata metadata   ModelMetadata FromLambdaExpression expression  htmlHelper ViewData               Type enumType   GetNonNullableModelType metadata               IEnumerable lt TEnum gt  values   Enum GetValues enumType  Cast lt TEnum gt                  IEnumerable lt SelectListItem gt  items   from value in values                                                 select new SelectListItem                                                                                                       Text   GetEnumDescription value                                                       Value   value ToString                                                        Selected   value Equals metadata Model                                                                     If the enum is nullable  add an  empty  item to the collection             if  metadata IsNullableValueType                  items   SingleEmptyItem Concat items                return htmlHelper DropDownListFor expression  items  htmlAttributes

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I know I m late to the party on this  but thought you might find this variant useful  as this one also allows you to use descriptive strings rather than enumeration constants in the drop down  To do this  decorate each enumeration entry with a  System ComponentModel Description  attribute   For example   public enum TestEnum      Description  Full test      FullTest      Description  Incomplete or partial test      PartialTest      Description  No test performed      None     Here is my code   using System  using System Collections Generic  using System Linq  using System Web Mvc  using System Web Mvc Html  using System Reflection  using System ComponentModel  using System Linq Expressions          private static Type GetNonNullableModelType ModelMetadata modelMetadata                Type realModelType   modelMetadata ModelType           Type underlyingType   Nullable GetUnderlyingType realModelType           if  underlyingType    null                        realModelType   underlyingType                    return realModelType             private static readonly SelectListItem   SingleEmptyItem   new     new SelectListItem   Text       Value                public static string GetEnumDescription lt TEnum gt  TEnum value                FieldInfo fi   value GetType   GetField value ToString              DescriptionAttribute   attributes    DescriptionAttribute   fi GetCustomAttributes typeof DescriptionAttribute   false            if   attributes    null   amp  amp   attributes Length  gt  0               return attributes 0  Description          else             return value ToString               public static MvcHtmlString EnumDropDownListFor lt TModel  TEnum gt  this HtmlHelper lt TModel gt  htmlHelper  Expression lt Func lt TModel  TEnum gt  gt  expression                return EnumDropDownListFor htmlHelper  expression  null              public static MvcHtmlString EnumDropDownListFor lt TModel  TEnum gt  this HtmlHelper lt TModel gt  htmlHelper  Expression lt Func lt TModel  TEnum gt  gt  expression  object htmlAttributes                ModelMetadata metadata   ModelMetadata FromLambdaExpression expression  htmlHelper ViewData           Type enumType   GetNonNullableModelType metadata           IEnumerable lt TEnum gt  values   Enum GetValues enumType  Cast lt TEnum gt              IEnumerable lt SelectListItem gt  items   from value in values             select new SelectListItem                               Text   GetEnumDescription value                   Value   value ToString                    Selected   value Equals metadata Model                             If the enum is nullable  add an  empty  item to the collection         if  metadata IsNullableValueType              items   SingleEmptyItem Concat items            return htmlHelper DropDownListFor expression  items  htmlAttributes           You can then do this in your view    Html EnumDropDownListFor model   gt  model MyEnumProperty    Hope this helps you     EDIT 2014-JAN-23  Microsoft have just released MVC 5 1  which now has an EnumDropDownListFor feature  Sadly it does not appear to respect the  Description  attribute so the code above still stands See Enum section in Microsoft s release notes for MVC 5 1   Update  It does support the Display attribute  Display Name    Sample    though  so one can use that    Update - just noticed this  and the code looks like an extended version of the code here  https   blogs msdn microsoft com stuartleeks 2010 05 21 asp-net-mvc-creating-a-dropdownlist-helper-for-enums   with a couple of additions  If so  attribution would seem fair  -

User · Answer

Here is a better encapsulated solution   https   www spicelogic com Blog enum-dropdownlistfor-asp-net-mvc-5  Say here is your model     Sample Usage     Generated UI    And generated HTML    The Helper Extension Source Code snap shot     You can download the sample project from the link I provided   EDIT  Here s the code   public static class EnumEditorHtmlHelper            lt summary gt          Creates the DropDown List  HTML Select Element  from LINQ          Expression where the expression returns an Enum type           lt  summary gt           lt typeparam name  TModel  gt The type of the model  lt  typeparam gt           lt typeparam name  TProperty  gt The type of the property  lt  typeparam gt           lt param name  htmlHelper  gt The HTML helper  lt  param gt           lt param name  expression  gt The expression  lt  param gt           lt returns gt  lt  returns gt      public static MvcHtmlString DropDownListFor lt TModel  TProperty gt  this HtmlHelper lt TModel gt  htmlHelper          Expression lt Func lt TModel  TProperty gt  gt  expression           where TModel   class               TProperty value   htmlHelper ViewData Model    null                default TProperty                 expression Compile   htmlHelper ViewData Model           string selected   value    null   String Empty   value ToString            return htmlHelper DropDownListFor expression  createSelectList expression ReturnType  selected                    lt summary gt          Creates the select list           lt  summary gt           lt param name  enumType  gt Type of the enum  lt  param gt           lt param name  selectedItem  gt The selected item  lt  param gt           lt returns gt  lt  returns gt      private static IEnumerable lt SelectListItem gt  createSelectList Type enumType  string selectedItem                return  from object item in Enum GetValues enumType                  let fi   enumType GetField item ToString                    let attribute   fi GetCustomAttributes typeof  DescriptionAttribute   true  FirstOrDefault                   let title   attribute    null   item ToString       DescriptionAttribute  attribute  Description                 select new SelectListItem                                           Value   item ToString                           Text   title                         Selected   selectedItem    item ToString                        ToList

User · Answer

A super easy way to get this done - without all the extension stuff that seems overkill is this   Your enum       public enum SelectedLevel              Level1         Level2         Level3         Level4         Inside of your controller bind the Enum to a List       List lt SelectedLevel gt  myLevels   Enum GetValues typeof SelectedLevel   Cast lt SelectedLevel gt    ToList      After that throw it into a ViewBag       ViewBag RequiredLevel   new SelectList myLevels     Finally simply bind it to the View        Html DropDownList  selectedLevel    SelectList ViewBag RequiredLevel  new    class    form-control       This is by far the easiest way I found and does not require any extensions or anything that crazy   UPDATE  See Andrews comment below

User · Answer

A super easy way to get this done - without all the extension stuff that seems overkill is this   Your enum       public enum SelectedLevel              Level1         Level2         Level3         Level4         Inside of your controller bind the Enum to a List       List lt SelectedLevel gt  myLevels   Enum GetValues typeof SelectedLevel   Cast lt SelectedLevel gt    ToList      After that throw it into a ViewBag       ViewBag RequiredLevel   new SelectList myLevels     Finally simply bind it to the View        Html DropDownList  selectedLevel    SelectList ViewBag RequiredLevel  new    class    form-control       This is by far the easiest way I found and does not require any extensions or anything that crazy   UPDATE  See Andrews comment below

[c#] How do you create a dropdownlist from an enum in ASP.NET MVC?

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