asp.net mvc How to add placeholder for html.dropdownlist

asp.net-mvc drop-down-menu placeholder
user2093360 picture user2093360 · Apr 18, 2013 · Viewed 40.8k times · Source

I'm using asp.net mvc 3.

I have this dropdownlist of countries and I want to add a placeholder for it. Here's my code:

@Html.DropDownList("country",
     new SelectList(ViewBag.countries as System.Collections.IEnumerable,
     "name", "name"), new { @class="chzn-select", @placeholder="-select-",
     @style="width:160px;" } )

But the placeholder doesn't work, while the style works.

How do I set a placeholder for this?

PS. I just want to use @Html.DropDownList, not @Html.DropDownListFor

Answer

Ovidiu G picture Ovidiu G · May 20, 2015

You could try this: 

@Html.DropDownList("country", new SelectList(ViewBag.countries), "-select- ", new { @class="chzn-select", @style="width:160px;" })

Related questions

ASP.NET MVC Dropdown List From SelectList

I am building the following SelectList in my controller. var u = new NewUser(); u.UserTypeOptions = new SelectList(new List<SelectListItem> { new SelectListItem { Selected = true, Text = string.Empty, Value = "-1"}, new SelectListItem { Selected = false, Text = "Homeowner", Value = ((int)UserType.…

Read More
There is no ViewData item of type 'IEnumerable<SelectListItem>' that has the key 'xxx'

There are a couple of posts about this on Stack Overflow but none with an answer that seem to fix the problem in my current situation. I have a page with a table in it, each row has a number …

Read More
Invoking particular action on dropdown list selection in MVC

I have a dropdown list in an MVC view. On selection change of dropdown list I want to call specific action method in the controller. What I have done on view is this : <%=Html.DropDownList("ddl", ViewData["AvailableList"] as …

Read More