MVC 3 Webgrid - how do you hide columns you do not want to be visible?

I have a webgrid an开发者_JS百科d there is a column I want to be visible only to certain users. Currently I have coded the grid as follows

if (Context.User.IsInRole(Role.Inputter) || Context.User.IsInRole(Role.Administrator))
{
    @grid.GetHtml(columns: grid.Columns(
        grid.Column(format: (item) => Html.ActionLink("Select", "Details", new { contractId = item.ContractId })),
        grid.Column(format: (item) => Html.ActionLink("Edit", "Edit", new { contractId = item.ContractId })),
        grid.Column("SignOffDate", "Sign Off Date",
            format: @<text> <span>@item.SignOffDate.ToString("d/M/yyyy")</span></text>),
        grid.Column("FullContractNumber", "Contract Number"),
        grid.Column("ContractTitle", "Title")
    ));
}
else
{ 
    @grid.GetHtml(columns: grid.Columns(
        grid.Column(format: (item) => Html.ActionLink("Select", "Details", new { contractId = item.ContractId })),
        grid.Column("SignOffDate", "Sign Off Date",
            format: @<text> <span>@item.SignOffDate.ToString("d/M/yyyy")</span></text>),
        grid.Column("FullContractNumber", "Contract Number"),
        grid.Column("ContractTitle", "Title")
    ));
}

But surely there is a better way without repeating all that code? The only difference between the 2 column inputs is that I want to display the Edit link for particlaur users. So what is the best alternative way of doing that?

Try like this (untested, don't have access to VS at the moment):

@{
    var gridColumns = new List<WebGridColumn>();
    gridColumns.Add(grid.Column(format: (item) => Html.ActionLink("Select", "Details", new { contractId = item.ContractId })));
    if (Context.User.IsInRole(Role.Inputter) || Context.User.IsInRole(Role.Administrator))
    {
        gridColumns.Add(grid.Column(format: (item) => Html.ActionLink("Edit", "Edit", new { contractId = item.ContractId })));
    }
    gridColumns.Add(grid.Column("SignOffDate", "Sign Off Date", format: @<text> <span>@item.SignOffDate.ToString("d/M/yyyy")</span></text>));
    gridColumns.Add(grid.Column("FullContractNumber", "Contract Number"));
    gridColumns.Add(grid.Column("ContractTitle", "Title"));
}

@grid.GetHtml(columns: grid.Columns(gridColumns.ToArray()));

Not sure if it can me made more simpler like this by using "columnNames" parameter. I wanted to show "CustomerCode" column so have just put "CustomerCode" any other column gets excluded.

WebGrid obj = new WebGrid(Custs,columnNames: new[] { "CustomerCode"});

Taken from

http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/843788/WebGrid-in-ASP-NET-MVC-important-tips#Tip3:-DisplayNecessaryColumnsMVCWebGrid

grid.Column("FriendlyId", style:"hidecol",header:"")

Instead of using it like this you should use it like in the manner bellow. I've tried, it will work successfully.

grid.Column(format: @<input type="hidden" name="FriendlyId" value="@item.FriendlyId" />)