How to make a default editor template for enums?

Question

How can I make a default editor template for enums? By which I mean: can I do something like this:

<%@ Control Language="C#" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewUserControl<Enum>" %> 
<% -- any code to read the enum and write a dropdown -->

And put this in the EditorTemplates folder under the name Enum.ascx?

Here's a workaround for my problem that I tried, but it's not what I need.

Here is my Enum:

public enum GenderEnum
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Male
    /// </summary>
    [Description("Male Person")]
    Male,

    /// <summary>
    /// Female
    /// </summary>
    [Description("Female Person")]
    Female
}

I made a template called GenderEnum.acsx and put it in the Shared/EditorTemplates folder. Here is the Template:

<%@ Control Language="C#" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewUserControl<AlefTech.HumanResource.Core.GenderEnum>" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="AlefTech.HumanResource.WebModule.Classes" %>
<%=Html.DropDownListFor(m => m.GetType().Name, Model.GetType()) %>

Of course the method is my own:

public static class HtmlHelperExtension
    {
        public static MvcHtmlString DropDownListFor<TModel, TProperty>(this HtmlHelper<TModel> htmlHelper, Expression<Func<TModel, TProperty>> expression, Type enumType)
        {
            List<SelectListItem> list = new List<SelectListItem>();
            Dictionary<string, string> enumItems = enumType.GetDescription();
            foreach (KeyValuePair<string, string> pair in enumItems)
                list.Add(new SelectListItem() { Value = pair.Key, Text = pair.Value });
            return htmlHelper.DropDownListFor(expression, list);
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// return the items of enum paired with its descrtioption.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="enumeration">enumeration type to be processed.</param>
        /// <returns></returns>
        public static Dictionary<string, string> GetDescription(this Type enumeration)
        {
            if (!enumeration.IsEnum)
            {
                throw new ArgumentException("passed type must be of Enum type", "enumerationValue");
            }

            Dictionary<string, string> descriptions = new Dictionary<string, string>();
            var members = enumeration.GetMembers().Where(m => m.MemberType == MemberTypes.Field);

            foreach (MemberInfo member in members)
            {
                var attrs = member.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DescriptionAttribute), false);
                if (attrs.Count() != 0)
                    descriptions.Add(member.Name, ((DescriptionAttribute)attrs[0]).Description);
            }
            return descriptions;
        }

    }

However, even though this worked for me, it is not what I'm asking. Instead, I need the following to work:

Code for Shared\EditorTemplates\Enum.acsx:

<%@ Control Language="C#" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewUserControl<Enum>" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="System.Web.Mvc.Html" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="WhereMyExtentionMethod" %>
<%=Html.DropDownListFor(m => m.GetType().Name, Model.GetType()) %>

With this I wouldn't have to make a template for every enum any more.

Answer 1

Late to answer but I hope this helps others. Ideally you want all enums to use your Enum template by convention, not by specifying a UIHint each time, and you can accomplish that by creating a custom model metadata provider like this:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Web.Mvc;

public class CustomMetadataProvider : DataAnnotationsModelMetadataProvider
{
    protected override ModelMetadata CreateMetadata(IEnumerable<Attribute> attributes, Type containerType, Func<object> modelAccessor, Type modelType, string propertyName) {
        var mm = base.CreateMetadata(attributes, containerType, modelAccessor, modelType, propertyName);
        if (modelType.IsEnum && mm.TemplateHint == null) {
            mm.TemplateHint = "Enum";
        }
        return mm;
    }
}

Then simply register it in the Application_Start method of Global.asax.cs:

ModelMetadataProviders.Current = new CustomMetadataProvider();

Now all your enum properties will use your Enum template by default.