c# MVC Pass Group Data to View

Question

I have a view where I display a model, but at the model I want to also display a small table of data from another model that comes from the following linq in the controller

var StudentRatings = db.LearnerRatings
                .Where(i => i.LessonId == id)
                .GroupBy(i => i.Rating)
                .Select(group => new { Rating = group.Key, TotalCount = group.Count() });

ViewBag.Ratings = StudentRatings;

I'm already returning another model from the controller, so have added this to the ViewBag. I thought I would be able to iterate through these with a foreach

foreach (var ratings in ViewBag.Ratings){
        @ratings.TotalCount
}

but get an error - Additional information: 'object' does not contain a definition for 'TotalCount'

I take it this has to be cast? If so what does it get casted to?

Is this the best approach for the above?

Answer 1

Anonymous types should not traverse method boundaries: that is, your View doesn't know what type ratings is.

Change your anonymous type to a named struct or class, then you can do it like so:

class Rating {
    public Int32 Rating { get; set; }
    public Int32 TotalCount { get; set; }
}

...
.Select(group => new Rating { Rating = group.Key, TotalCount = group.Count() });
...

foreach(Rating rating in ViewBad.Ratings) {
    @rating.TotalCount
}