Generic partial view: how to set a generic class as model?

Question

I'm trying to build a generic grid view in an ASP.NET MVC application.

Let me explain with some code:

public interface ITrustGrid<T>
{
    IPagedList<T> Elements { get; set; }
    IList<IColumn<T>> Columns { get; set; }
    IList<string> Headers { get; }
}

This is an interface of a class that allows me to set columns and expressions in my controller.

I pass implementations to a partial view like this:

<% Html.RenderPartial("SimpleTrustGridViewer", ViewData["employeeGrid"] as TrustGrid<EmployeeInfoDTO>); %>

The problem is that I can't figure out how to make the partial view that renders the grid generic.

In other words, I want to turn this:

<%@ Control Language="C#" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewUserControl<ITrustGrid<EmployeeInfoDTO>>" %>

into something like this:

<%@ Control Language="C#" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewUserControl<ITrustGrid<T>>" %>

=> How can I make my partial view generic in the most simple way?

EDIT:

I solved this by using a TrustGridBuilder that has a public TrustGrid GetTrustGrid() method which returns a non-generic TrustGrid. The TrustGrid contains strings instead of linq stuff. So I execute the linq in the GetTrustGrid() method and put the strings in a TrustGrid object.

Thanks for everybody to help me on the right track.

Answer 1

You could make all your model types that you would pass into this partial inherit from a base class/interface that establishes the basic behavior that would be used by this partial view and accept any object of that class/interface type, or just have the view accept any type of object and then use reflection to base your partial view behavior off of.

EXAMPLE:

public interface IDisplayModel
{
    string DisplayText{get;set;}
    string ImageUrl{get;set;}
    string AltText{get;set;}
}

public interface ITrustGrid<T> where T : IDisplayModel
{    
    IPagedList<T> Elements { get; set; }    
    IList<IColumn<T>> Columns { get; set; }    
    IList<string> Headers { get; }
}

<%@ Control Language="C#" 
    Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewUserControl<ITrustGrid<IDisplayModel>>" %>

Naturally, your IDisplayModel would vary based on your desired behavior. This would then allow you to pass in anything to this partial that implements this base interface to establish general behavior.