Question

I am using asp.net mvc 4 web app c#. I have the following model:

 public class Job
{
    public int id { get; set; }
    public string description { get; set; }
    public string company { get; set; }
    public JobType jobType { get; set; }


    //public int JobTypeId { get { return this.jobType.id; } }
}

Now I want to write a create action where the jobType attribute is set through a DropDownList. The create action:

//
    // GET: /Job/Create

    public ActionResult Create()
    {
        IEnumerable<JobType> jobtypes = db.JobTypes.ToList();
        ViewData.Add("jobTypeList", new SelectList(jobtypes , "id", "name"));
        return View();
    }

    //
    // POST: /Job/Create

    [HttpPost]
    public ActionResult Create(Job job)
    {
        if (ModelState.IsValid)
        {
            db.Jobs.Add(job);
            db.SaveChanges();
            return RedirectToAction("Index");
        }

        return View(job);
    }

View:

<div class="editor-label">
        @Html.LabelFor(model => model.jobType)
    </div>
    <div class="editor-field">
        @Html.DropDownList("jobTypeList")
        @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.jobType)
    </div>

The DropDownList is working fine listing existing jobtypes. However, when a job is created the jobetype of the job is not set (the jobtype id is not set in the job row of the created job). As I am new to asp.net mvc, I am not sure what the form passes to the post create action: Does it pass the jobtype object or the jobtype id? Why does it not set the jobtype id for the created job? Do I have to set the jobtype id my self in post create action? If so how do I get the selected value of the DropDownList?

Answer 1

EDIT:

So to get the id of the selected value in the drop-down list, I just have a line like this:

int contentId= APIFactory.getContentAPI().getID(department.SelectedValue);

where the function getId() takes a name (the value in the drop-down) and then does a database query for the id of the department selected. Here is my getID() function

public int getID(String deptName)
{
    Dictionary<string, object> where = new Dictionary<string, object>();
    where.Add(DEPTNAME, deptName);
    DataTable dt = db.Query(ID, TABLE, where);
    return (int)dt.Rows[0][ID];
}

Note: You don’t need the whole APIFactory thing for this, you could just throw the query in instead of the line I have, and it would work just as well. However, if you are using the same queries a lot, I would recommend it.

EDIT:
Since you are using a cshtml page and not a aspx page, use the method described here to get the value, and then my method to get the id:
How to get Dropdownlist selected value