How can I convert an enumeration into a List<SelectListItem>?

Question

i have an asp.net-mvc webpage and i want to show a dropdown list that is based off an enum. I want to show the text of each enum item and the id being the int value that the enum is associated with. Is there any elegant way of doing this conversion?

Answer 1

You can use LINQ:

Enum.GetValues(typeof(MyEnum)).Cast<MyEnum>().Select(v => new SelectListItem {     Text = v.ToString(),     Value = ((int)v).ToString() }).ToList(); 

Answer 2

Since MVC 5.1, the most elegant way would be to use EnumDropDownListFor method of Html helper if you need to populate select options in your view:

@Html.EnumDropDownListFor(m => m.MyEnumProperty,new { @class="form-control"}) 

or GetSelectList method of EnumHelper in your controller:

var enumList = EnumHelper.GetSelectList(typeof (MyEnum));