Dictionary, enum or other alternative for implementing a priority of a task in MVC?

Question

I have got a task table in my database with a priority field containing an integer value from 1 to 4 as a test. I am using a LINQ to SQL dbml file so I have a task class and I want to be able to display the text value of the priority to the user in my view, as a value in a select list.

I have added the below code to my task class:

    static enum Priorities {
        High = 1,
        Medium = 2,
        Low = 3,
        None = 4
    }

    public String GetPriority {
        get {
            Priorities p = (Priorities)priority;
            return p.ToString();
        }
    }

I want to use the priority in a drop down list and I am unsure how to do this, by first getting a list of the values to put into the select list and then selecting the correct value for the task object :(

I was thinking about doing the below instead and using a dictionary, but if someone has some advice or a better solution that would be very useful, Thanks.

        static IDictionary<string, int> priorityDictionary =
      new Dictionary<string, int>(){
    {"High", 1},
    {"Medium", 2},
    {"Low", 3},
    {"None", 4}
  };

    public static IEnumerable<string> Priorities {
        get { return priorityDictionary.Keys; }
    }

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered May 31 '09 at 16:34

2

Since eventually you'll need this as an IEnumerable<SelectListItem>, why not create a lazy-loaded, static property that contains this as the menu?

private static List<SelectListItem> priorities;
public static IEnumerable<SelectListItem> PriorityMenu
{
    get
    {
         if (priorities == null)
         {
             priorities = new List<SelectListItem>();
             foreach (var i in Enum.GetValues(typeof(Priority)))
             {
                 priorities.Add( new SelectListItem
                                 {
                                     Text = Enum.GetName( typeof(Priority), i ),
                                     Value = i.ToString()
                                 });
             }
         }
         return priorities;
    }
}

answered May 31 '09 at 16:34

tvanfosson

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Thanks for the great answer. Looks elegant and I have learnt from just seeing it. – Pricey May 31 '09 at 18:29
Since my enum is called Priorities I changed the typeof(Priority) to typeof(Priorities) but other than that this is a nice solution to getting a list of selectlistitems.. I was unaware of the enum class static methods you can use. One question I have is how do you then use the list in a dropdownlist html helper? It seems to call ToString() on each item in the list but since these are SelectListItem's it just gives the name of the object. Thanks again. – Pricey Jun 01 '09 at 11:49
Never mind I was trying to create a selectlist object as a property of my viewmodel class but the Html.Dropdownlist uses an IEnumerable of selectlistitem where as selectlist does not, so I can pass the result of the above method. – Pricey Jun 01 '09 at 23:31

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:27

0

If you wanted your string representations to be different than their Enum.GetName, while still maintaining type safety, check this out: C# String enums

edited May 23 '17 at 10:27

Community

1
1

answered Feb 11 '11 at 20:12

HAL9000

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Dictionary, enum or other alternative for implementing a priority of a task in MVC?

2 Answers2