[c#] There is no ViewData item of type 'IEnumerable<SelectListItem>' that has the key country

While binding dropdown in MVC, I always get this error: There is no ViewData item of type 'IEnumerable<SelectListItem>' that has the key country.

View

@Html.DropDownList("country", (IEnumerable<SelectListItem>)ViewBag.countrydrop,"Select country")

Controller

List<Companyregister> coun = new List<Companyregister>();
coun = ds.getcountry();

List<SelectListItem> item8 = new List<SelectListItem>();
foreach( var c in coun )
{
    item8.Add(new SelectListItem
    {
        Text = c.country,
        Value = c.countryid.ToString()
    });
}

ViewBag.countrydrop = item8;
return View();

I don't know how to resolve it.

If you were using DropDownListFor like this:

@Html.DropDownListFor(m => m.SelectedItemId, Model.MySelectList)

where MySelectList in the model was a property of type SelectList, this error could be thrown if the property was null.

Avoid this by simple initializing it in constructor, like this:

public MyModel()
{
    MySelectList = new SelectList(new List<string>()); // empty list of anything...
}

I know it's not the OP's case, but this might help someone like me which had the same error due to this.

Note that a select list is posted as null, hence your error complains that the viewdata property cannot be found.

Always reinitialize your select list within a POST action.

For further explanation: Persist SelectList in model on Post

Try This.

Controller:

List<CountryModel> countryList = db.countryTable.ToList();
ViewBag.Country = new SelectList(countryList, "Country", "CountryName");

try this

@Html.DropDownList("ddlcountry",(List<SelectListItem>)ViewBag.countrydrop,"Select country")

In Controller

ViewBag.countrydrop = ds.getcountry().Select(x => new SelectListItem { Text = x.country, Value = x.countryid.ToString() }).ToList();

You are facing this problem because when you are posting your forms so after reloading your dropdown is unable to find data in viewbag. So make sure that code you are using in get method while retrieving your data from db or from static list, copy paste that code into post verb as well..

Happy Coding :)

your code is correct because in some cases it does not work, I also do not know where the error comes from but this can help you solve the problem, move the code in the head of the view like this:

index.cshtml:

@using expert.Models;
@{
    ViewBag.Title = "Create";
    Layout = "~/Views/Shared/_Layout.cshtml";
    Manager db = new Manager();
    ViewBag.FORM_PRESTATION = new SelectList(db.T_BDE_PRESTATION_PRES.OrderBy(p => p.PRES_INTITULE).Where(p => p.T_B_PRES_ID == null), "PRES_ID", "PRES_INTITULE");

}


<div class="form-group">                    
<label class = "w3-blue" style ="text-shadow:1px 1px 0 #444">Domaine:</label>
  <div class="col-md-10">
 @Html.DropDownList("FORM_PRESTATION", null, htmlAttributes: new { @class = "w3-select ", @required = "true" })
</div>
</div>

Replace "country" with "countrydrop" in your view like this...

@Html.DropDownList("countrydrop", (IEnumerable<SelectListItem>)ViewBag.countrydrop,"Select country")

In my case, the error occurred because I had not initialized the select list in the controller like this:

viewModel.MySelectList = new List<System.Web.Mvc.SelectListItem>();

As none of the existing answers made this clear to me, I post this. Perhaps it helps anybody.

I had a the same problem and I found the solution that I should put the code to retrieve the drop down list from database in the Edit Method. It worked for me. Solution for the similar problem

you can use this:

 var list = new SelectList(countryList, "Id", "Name");
 ViewBag.countries=list;
 @Html.DropDownList("countries",ViewBag.countries as SelectList)