MVC3 Html.DisplayFor — Is it possible to have this control generate an ID?

Question

I want to be able to display some text, but also have the text be modifiable via jQuery.

<%= Html.DisplayFor(model => model.DeviceComponentName)%>
         


        

Answer 1

To avoid 'magic string' inputs (in case your model properties change), you could do this with an extension. It also makes for much cleaner code:

public static MvcHtmlString DisplayWithIdFor(this HtmlHelper helper, Expression> expression, string wrapperTag = "div")
{
    var id = helper.ViewContext.ViewData.TemplateInfo.GetFullHtmlFieldId(ExpressionHelper.GetExpressionText(expression));
    return MvcHtmlString.Create(string.Format("<{0} id=\"{1}\">{2}", wrapperTag, id, helper.DisplayFor(expression)));
}

Then simply use it like this:

@Html.DisplayWithIdFor(x => x.Name)

Will produce

Bill

Or if you want it to be wrapped in a span:

@Html.DisplayWithIdFor(x => x.Name, "span")

Which will make:

Bill

Non-Razor

For non Razor syntax, you simply use it like this:

<%= Html.DisplayWithIdFor(x => x.Name) %>

and:

<%= Html.DisplayWithIdFor(x => x.Name, "span") %>