how to use enum with DescriptionAttribute in asp.net mvc

Question

I am new to asp.net MVC. I am trying to use dropdown control on my view page, which populates from enum. I also want to add custom descriptions to dropdown values. I searched so

Answer 1

There is no need to create a helper class if you're using .Net Framework 4.0 or newer.

You can just use the Display attribute in conjunction with EnumDropDownListFor

public enum SearchBy
{
    [Display(Name = "SID/PID")]
    SID = 1,
    [Display(Name = "Name")]
    Name,
    [Display(Name = "Birth Date")]
    DOB,
    [Display(Name = "Cause#")]
    Cause
}

In your View:

@Html.EnumDropDownListFor(model => model.SearchBy, "Search By", new { @class = "form-control" })

Microsoft documentation:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.componentmodel.dataannotations.displayattribute?view=netframework-4.8