How to set exist value as selected in dropdown list without hardcoding items in dropdownlist using asp.net mvc?

i have form in asp.net mvc that retrieves records from database.this form have dropdowns. in Edit action of controller it is must to have selected the already inserted items. suppose if i am taking the User information for edit, then its City,State and country开发者_如何转开发 must be selected as they inserted before.Can any one tell me how to set values from database as selected in drop down list when page loads???

Assuming you have a user model with State as property you need to do the following for your view

 <div class="editor-field">
      @Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.State, (SelectList)ViewBag.StateDDL)
      @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.State)
 </div>

here is the code for the controller

public ActionResult Edit(string id)
{   
    UserModel myuser = new UserModel();

    Get the user data from database here
    myuser.State = "AZ";


    List<SelectListItem> mystate= new List<SelectListItem>();
    SelectListItem item = new SelectListItem();
    item.Text = " - SELECT - ";
    item.Value = "";
    mystate.Add(item);

    item = new SelectListItem();
    item.Text = "CA";
    item.Value = "CA";
    mystate.Add(item);

    item = new SelectListItem();
    item.Text = "AZ";
    item.Value = "Az";
    mystate.Add(item);

    ViewBag.StateDDL = new SelectList(mystate.AsEnumerable(), "Value", "Text", myuser .State);
    return View(myuser);
}