View Model Filling Fields

Question

I'm currently getting into MVC, and I'm working on a simple CRUD application but to make best use of relational database layout I need to use ViewModels so things look prettier on the UI.

I have a ViewModel:

public class CreateAPIViewModel
{
 [Display(Name = "Name")]
 public string Name { get; set; }
 [Display(Name = "Description")]
 public string Description { get; set; }
 [Display(Name = "Team")]
 public int TeamID { get; set; }
 [Display(Name = "Application")]
 public int ApplicationID { get; set; }
 [Display(Name = "Team")]
 public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> Team { get; set; }
 [Display(Name = "Application")]
 public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> Application { get; set; }
 [Display(Name = "Location")]
 public string Location { get; set; }
 [Display(Name = "Keywords")]
 public string Keywords { get; set; }
}

And in my APIController I have this action:

public ActionResult Create()
{
 CreateAPIViewModel viewModel = new CreateAPIViewModel();
 //Fill team - seems a bit long doesn't it? 
 listOfTeams = team.getAllTeams();
 List<SelectListItem> listOfTeamsSelect = new List<SelectListItem>();
 foreach (_Team_Detail item in listOfTeams)
 {
 listOfTeamsSelect.Add(new SelectListItem { Value = Convert.ToString(item.ID), Text = item.Name });
 }
 viewModel.Team = listOfTeamsSelect;
 //Fill application - seems a bit long doesn't it? 
 listOfApplications = application.getAllApplications();
 List<SelectListItem> listOfApplicationsSelect = new List<SelectListItem>();
 foreach (_Application item in listOfApplications)
 {
 listOfApplicationsSelect.Add(new SelectListItem { Value = Convert.ToString(item.ID), Text = item.Name });
 }
 viewModel.Application = listOfApplicationsSelect;
 //Send view model back
 return View(viewModel);
}

Is this the best way to be going about this process for creating a Create page so I can have dropdowns?

Answer 1

If you aren't considering using a mapping solution such as AutoMapper, you could make this code a bit more succient by removing some of the local variables and creating a couple of local methods that are responsible for creating the select lists.

The end solution would look something along the lines of:

public ActionResult Create()
{
 var viewModel = new CreateAPIViewModel
 {
 Team = ToSelectList(team.getAllTeams(),0),
 Application = ToSelectList(application.getAllApplications(),0)
 };
 //Send view model back
 return View(viewModel);
}
private List<SelectListItem> ToSelectList(IEnumerable<Team> applications, int selectedApplicationId)
{
 return applications
 .ToList()
 .Select(p =>
 new SelectListItem 
 { 
 Value = Convert.ToString(item.ID), 
 Text = item.Name,
 Selected = item.ID == selectedApplicationId
 }); 
}
private List<SelectListItem> ToSelectList(IEnumerable<Team> teams)
{
 return teams
 .ToList()
 .Select(p =>
 new SelectListItem 
 { 
 Value = Convert.ToString(item.ID), 
 Text = item.Name,
 Selected = item.ID == selectedTeamId
 }); 
}

This has the added benefit in that you most likely have a Edit() action as well. You could re-use these methods.

public ActionResult Edit()
{
 var viewModel = new CreateAPIViewModel
 {
 Team = ToSelectList(team.getAllTeams(),team.Id),
 Application = ToSelectList(application.getAllApplications(),application.Id)
 };
 //Send view model back
 return View(viewModel);
}