如何在DropDownListFor中的模型中设置默认值？

Question

I'm using DropDownListFor to create a drop-down of enums. I am creating an edit profile page that lets the user edit there level, so I want by default to have what they had in their profile selected, just in case they don't want to change that field. So if they had sophomore in their profile the drop-down should default to sophomore selected. How do I set the default value to be what was from the model(or the database)?

I have tried adding an option label like so, but it adds an extra select item, that I don't need. I just need what they already have in the model to be selected.

@Html.DropDownListFor(x => x.AcademicInfo.ClassLevel, Html.GetEnumSelectList<ClassLevel>(), Model.ClassLevel.ToString())

Model:

public class ViewModel
{
 [Display(Name = "Class Level")]
 public ClassLevel ClassLevel { get; set; }
}

HTML in View:

@Html.DropDownListFor(x => x.AcademicInfo.ClassLevel, Html.GetEnumSelectList<ClassLevel>())

Enum:

public enum ClassLevel
{
    Freshman = 1,
    Sophomore = 2,
    Junior = 3,
    Senior = 4
    //Other = 5
}

How I add it to the model:

ViewModel model = new  ViewModel();
model.ClassLevel = (ClassLevel)latestYear.ClassLevelId;

I need to be able to set a default value from the model

Answer 1

This happens naturally when you map the data onto your view model. In other words, if the entity has ClassLevel set to ClassLevel.Sophmore , then you would map that value onto the ClassLevel property on your view model, which will then also be ClassLevel.Sophmore . Then, since you've bound the select to the ClassLevel property, the value of the dropdown will automatically be set to the value of the property, ie ClassLevel.Sophmore in this case.