Using [Display(Name = "X")] with an enum. Custom HtmlHelper in MVC3 ASP.Net

Question

Im using a snippet of code from another stackoverflow question:

namespace MvcHtmlHelpers
{
    public static class htmlHelpers
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Radio button for : Adapted to support enum labels from display attributes
        /// </summary>
        /// <typeparam name="TModel"></typeparam>
        /// <typeparam name="TProperty"></typeparam>
        /// <param name="htmlHelper"></param>
        /// <param name="expression"></param>
        /// <returns></returns>
        public static MvcHtmlString RadioButtonForEnum<TModel, TProperty>(
            this HtmlHelper<TModel> htmlHelper,
            Expression<Func<TModel, TProperty>> expression
        )
        {
            var metaData = ModelMetadata.FromLambdaExpression(expression, htmlHelper.ViewData);
            var names = Enum.GetNames(metaData.ModelType);
            var sb = new StringBuilder();
            foreach (var name in names)
            {
                var id = string.Format(
                    "{0}_{1}_{2}",
                    htmlHelper.ViewData.TemplateInfo.HtmlFieldPrefix,
                    metaData.PropertyName,
                    name
                );

                var radio =  htmlHelper.RadioButtonFor(expression, name, new { id = id }).ToHtmlString();
                sb.AppendFormat(
                    "<label for=\"{0}\">{1}</label> {2}",
                    id,
                    HttpUtility.HtmlEncode(name),
                    radio
                );
            }
            return MvcHtmlString.Create(sb.ToString());
        }
    }
}

Along side my current enum:

public enum Options
    {
       [Display(Name ="Yes")]
        0,
       [Display(Name = "No")]
        1,
      [Display(Name = "Other")]
        2,
    }

If I then use @html.RadioButtonForEnum(...) It displays my enums with the appropriate box selected no problem. However, I want them to use the label value [Display(Name = "<text>")] so they make more sense! - i.e. not just 0,1,2.

Darin Dimitrov · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-10 11:14:42Z

12

You could use reflection to fetch the value:

public static MvcHtmlString RadioButtonForEnum<TModel, TProperty>(
    this HtmlHelper<TModel> htmlHelper,
    Expression<Func<TModel, TProperty>> expression
)
{
    var metaData = ModelMetadata.FromLambdaExpression(expression, htmlHelper.ViewData);

    var sb = new StringBuilder();
    var enumType = metaData.ModelType;
    foreach (var field in enumType.GetFields(BindingFlags.Static | BindingFlags.GetField | BindingFlags.Public))
    {
        var value = (int)field.GetValue(null);
        var name = Enum.GetName(enumType, value);
        var label = name;
        foreach (DisplayAttribute currAttr in field.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DisplayAttribute), true))
        {
            label = currAttr.Name;
            break;
        }

        var id = string.Format(
            "{0}_{1}_{2}",
            htmlHelper.ViewData.TemplateInfo.HtmlFieldPrefix,
            metaData.PropertyName,
            name
        );
        var radio = htmlHelper.RadioButtonFor(expression, name, new { id = id }).ToHtmlString();
        sb.AppendFormat(
            "<label for=\"{0}\">{1}</label> {2}",
            id,
            HttpUtility.HtmlEncode(label),
            radio
        );
    }
    return MvcHtmlString.Create(sb.ToString());
}

edited Jan 10, 2012 at 11:14

answered Jan 9, 2012 at 16:35

Darin Dimitrov

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3 Comments

JustAnotherDeveloper Over a year ago

This works a treat, unfortunately I'm not getting an auto selected value anymore though: @Html.RadioButtonForEnum(m => m.Options)

Darin Dimitrov Over a year ago

@RawryLions, right, I have updated my answer to fix this. It should work now as expected.

JustAnotherDeveloper Over a year ago

fantastic stuff, thanks for the help. I can now use this as a basis to create enum to other form elements too :)

JoJa · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-09 16:07:48Z

0

You probably need an extension method for your enum to get the display attribute that you put on your enum options. Then when you get the name or value of your options enum value in the RadioButtonForEnum method you would just call the extensions method to fill up the value.

I recently wrote a blog post about this topic: http://joerijans.blogspot.com/2011/10/triple-door-extension-method-custom.html

Hope this helps.

answered Jan 9, 2012 at 16:07

JoJa

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Comments

kamranicus · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-09 16:22:34Z

0

I use [Description] in my code, but you can simply change that to use DisplayAttribute:

https://gist.github.com/1287511

answered Jan 9, 2012 at 16:22

kamranicus

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