Passing reference/static data through a viewmodel to a view in MVC3

I created a class to hold some static data:

static public class ReferenceData
    {
        [DisplayName("Status")]
        public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> StatusType
        {
            get
            {
                return new[]
                    {
                        new SelectListItem { Value = "0", Text = "Release" },
                        new SelectListItem { Value = "1", Text = "Beta" },
                        new SelectListItem { Value = "2", Text = "Alpha" },
                    };
            }
        }
    }

Now I would like to use that class data to populate a drop down list in a view. I have the following view model:

public class adminViewModel
{
    public HouseData   HouseData { get; set; }
    public string Status { get; set; }
    public ReferenceData ReferenceData { get; } // <<<<<< My problem here
}


@Html.DropDownListFor(
  x => x.Status,
  new SelectList(Model.ReferenceData.StatusType, "Value", "Text"),
  new { style = "display: inline;" }
)

The problem for me is that I am not sure if this is a valid way to do it because I am using a static class and when I have the get; there inside of the {} it complains during compile with an error message saying:开发者_如何转开发

static types cannot be used as return types

Do I really need to make it a non-static and instantiate the class before I can use it in the viewmodel even though the data is always static?

That's not valid C#. You could use a static method instead:

public static class ReferenceData
{
    public static IEnumerable<SelectListItem> GetStatusType()
    {
        return new[]
        {
            new SelectListItem { Value = "0", Text = "Release" },
            new SelectListItem { Value = "1", Text = "Beta" },
            new SelectListItem { Value = "2", Text = "Alpha" },
        };
    }
}

and then :

public class AdminViewModel
{
    public string Status { get; set; }

    [DisplayName("Status")]
    public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> Statuses
    {
        get
        {
            return ReferenceData.GetStatusType();
        }
    }
}

finally in the view:

@Html.DropDownListFor(
    x => x.Status,
    new SelectList(Model.Statuses, "Value", "Text"),
    new { style = "display: inline;" }
)

Are you sure you want your class to be static and not the property? If you have a static property, you don't have to create an instance in order to access a property. More info: Static Classes and Static Class Members (C# Programming Guide):

You want to do this:

    public class ReferenceData
    {
        private static readonly SelectListItem[] Items = new[]
                {
                    new SelectListItem { Value = "0", Text = "Release" },
                    new SelectListItem { Value = "1", Text = "Beta" },
                    new SelectListItem { Value = "2", Text = "Alpha" },
                };

        [DisplayName("Status")]
        public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> StatusType
        {
            get { return Items; }
        }
    }

(make the items static while using an class instance).

You can also use a singleton:

    public class ReferenceData
    {
        private static readonly ReferenceData _instance = new ReferenceData();

        private ReferenceData()
        {

        }

        public ReferenceData Instance { get { return _instance; } }

        [DisplayName("Status")]
        public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> StatusType
        {
            get
            {
                return new[]
                {
                    new SelectListItem { Value = "0", Text = "Release" },
                    new SelectListItem { Value = "1", Text = "Beta" },
                    new SelectListItem { Value = "2", Text = "Alpha" },
                };
            }
        }
    }

And to use it in your model:

public class adminViewModel
{
    public HouseData   HouseData { get; set; }
    public string Status { get; set; }
    public ReferenceData ReferenceData { get {return ReferenceData.Instance; } }
}

First Of all Create your Model like this..

public class ReferenceData
{
    public string SelectRuleId { get; set; }

    public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> StatusType
    {
        get
        {
            return new[]
            {
                new SelectListItem { Value = "0", Text = "Release" },
                new SelectListItem { Value = "1", Text = "Beta" },
                new SelectListItem { Value = "2", Text = "Alpha" },
            };
        }
    }
}

Then Create new action in any controller like this..

   public ActionResult About()
    {
        var model = new ReferenceData();

        ViewBag.Message = "DropDown Selected For ";

        return View(model);
    }

Then Use this Html in your action view...

@model MVCDropDownList.Models.AnswersViewModel

 @using (Html.BeginForm())  
    {  @Html.DropDownListFor(x => x.SelectRuleId , new SelectList(Model.StatusType, "Value", "Text"), new { id = "DId" })  
    }