Question

I have a view that contains two @Html.DropDownListFor helpers:

 <div class="editor-field">
        @Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.Employee, (IEnumerable<SelectListItem>)ViewBag.emps, "--Select--", new { style = "width:150px", id = "ddl1"})
        @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Employee)
    </div>
    <div class="editor-field">
        @Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.Employee2, (IEnumerable<SelectListItem>)ViewBag.emps, "--Select--", new { style = "width:150px", id = "ddl2"})
        @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Employee2)
    </div>

They are populated like this:

public ActionResult Create()
    {
        List<Employees> emps = new List<Employees>();
        emps.Add(new Employees { Id = 0, Name = "Michael Jordan" });
        emps.Add(new Employees { Id = 1, Name = "Magic Johnson" });
        emps.Add(new Employees { Id = 2, Name = "Larry Bird" });

        var items = emps.Select(i => new SelectListItem
        {
            Value= i.Id.ToString(),
            Text =i.Name
        });
        ViewBag.emps = items;
        return View();
    }

How can I remove the selected item of the first DDL from the second DDL?
I managed to get the selected item using jQuery like this:

<script type="text/javascript">
$(function () {
    $("#ddl1").change(function () {
        alert($("#ddl1").val());
    });
});
</script>

However, I couldn’t find a way to use it for my purpose.

Answer 1

Something like this must work for you:

$(function(){
    var lists = $('#ddl1, #ddl2');
    lists.change(function(){
        var elm = $(this);
        lists.find('option').show();
        var option = lists.not('#' + this.id)
            .find('option[value="' + elm.val() +'"]').hide();

        if(option.is(':selected'))
        {
            var select = option.closest('select');
            select.val(select.find('option:visible:first').val());
        }
    });
});

Link for demo: jsfiddle.net

Added:
Posted solution have problems with IE, alternative way is use disabled attribute: jsfiddle.net/cxZ2H/1/