Question

I have a SelectList that looks like. . .

new SelectList(new[]
    {
        new { Value = "1", Text = "AK" },
        new { Value = "2", Text = "AL" },
        new { Value = "3", Text = "AR" },
        new { Value = "4", Text = "AZ" },
        etc. . . 

Given an int I need to be able to select the corresponding Value so I can return the associated Text. So if I have the int 3, I want to ultimately return the string “AR” — how do I do this?

I don’t seem to understand how SelectLists work, I’ve been trying something like:

var stringValue = mySelectList.Where(m => m.Value == myInt).Text;  

— This does not work for a couple of reasons:

• .Text is not something I can put at the end of the request as it cannot be resolved
• m.Value - myInt tells me I cannot convert the source type 'int' to target type 'string', and if I change the int to a string I get the error: cannot convert expression type 'string' to return type 'bool'.

I feel like I am overcomplicating something here. Where did I go wrong?

Answer 1

You probably need something like this:

var stringValue = mySelectList.Where(m => m.Value == myInt.ToString())
                              .First()
                              .Text; 

• The Where method does not return a SelectListItem, it returns a query. You need to force the query to execute, and get the first result, by using the First() method.
• You’re using = (assigning a value) instead of == (comparing two values).