Question

I’m trying to convert an ID into a name when I render a “detail” view in my application. I have successfully been able to display the name in my “edit” and “create” views by using the code:

In my controller:

ViewData["countyViewData"] = new SelectList(db.Counties, "CountyID", "CountyName");

In my views:

<%= Html.DropDownList("CountyID", ViewData["countyViewData"] as SelectList)%>

The heart of my question is what do I need in my controller and in my details view to display as the CountyName instead of the ID? I have this in the view currently:

<%= Html.Encode(Model.CountyID) %>

I assume I need some ViewData code in the controller to tell the view what county name to use for each ID.

Thanks in advance for helping a new programmer!

Added to Clarify: My Details view for a customer displays the value which is the CountyID, and I want it to display the CountyName which is stored in another table. What needs to be in the controller and the view so that the CountyName displays?

Answer 1

I found it – and thanks to all who helped me get to the finish line! Here’s the code that ended up working for me:

In my Model:

public County GetCounty(int id)
    {
        return db.Counties.SingleOrDefault(d => d.CountyID == id);
    }

In my Comtroller:

int countyID = customer.CountyID;
County county = customerRepository.GetCounty(countyID);
ViewData["CountyName"] = county.CountyName;

And in my View:

<%= Html.Encode(ViewData["CountyName"]) %>

I probably would have gotten a quicker solution, but I know I’m not the best at asking the question properly 🙂