not working dropdown list in edit view in mvc4 razor - asp.net-mvc-4

Question

am unable to get correct value from drop down in mvc4. my edit view code is
#Html.DropDownList("IDCountry", (IEnumerable<SelectListItem>)ViewBag.IDCountry,
new { #class = "span6" })
if i use below code am able to get correct value but am unable to apply style for dropdownlist
#Html.DropDownList("IDCountry",String.empty)
please solve my problem.

Answer 1

You should not use the same value (IDCountry) as first and second argument for the dropdown. The first argument represents the value to bind the dropdown to while the second represents the available values. So:
#Html.DropDownList(
"SelectedCountryID",
(IEnumerable)ViewBag.IDCountry,
new { #class = "span6" }
)
To avoid all those confusions with Dropdowns I would recommend you using a view model:
public class MyViewModel
{
public string SelectedCountryID { get; set; }
public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> Countries { get; set; }
}
and then your controller action will populate and pass this view model to the view:
public class HomeController: Controller
{
public ActionResult Index()
{
var model = new MyViewModel();
// preselected an element with Value = "2"
model.SelectedCountryID = "2";
// obviously those values could come from a database or something
model.Countries = new[]
{
new SelectListItem { Value = "1", Text = "Country 1" },
new SelectListItem { Value = "2", Text = "Country 2" },
new SelectListItem { Value = "3", Text = "Country 3" },
new SelectListItem { Value = "4", Text = "Country 4" },
};
return View(model);
}
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Index(MyViewModel model)
{
return Content("Thanks for selecting country ID: " + model.SelectedCountryID);
}
}
and finally in your view use the strongly typed helper:
#model MyViewModel
#using (Html.BeginForm())
{
<div>
#Html.LabelFor(x => x.SelectedCountryID)
#Html.DropDownListFor(
x => x.SelectedCountryID,
Model.Countries,
new { #class = "span6" }
)
</div>
<button type="submit">OK</button>
}
See how the very instant you STOP using ViewBag and remove absolutely all traces from it in your application everything becomes crystal clear?