Cast List<ViewModel> to ViewModel? - asp.net-mvc

Question

I want to preface this by saying I am new to working with models. Please forgive me if this question has a simple answer.
I have been struggling to revert a listed view model back to view model. To give some background, I have a search form being passed to a model coming from my ActionResult and am then getting a filter out the results.
[ Controller ]
public ActionResult GetFilters(MembershipVM model)
{
var uDataList = new List<MembershipVM>();
model = _service.GetFilters(model);
return View("SendEmail", model);
}
[ Service ]
public List<MembershipVM> GetFilters(MembershipVM model)
{
var query = _context.Members.Where(f => f.Deleted == 0).AsQueryable();
var members = _context.Members.ToList();
query = query.Where(f => agencyTypes.Contains(f.AgencyType));
var uDataList = new List<MembershipVM>();
foreach (var member in members)
{
var uData = new MembershipVM();
uData.Email = member.Email;
uData.AgencyType = member.AgencyType;
...
uDataList.Add(uData);
}
return uDataList;
}
How can I cast the List from "_service.GetFilters" to MembershipVM? Is there a better/easier way to get the results as an object from the "_service.GetFilters" service?
Thanks so much in advance!
Daisy

Answer 1

I am not sure what you are trying to do here. First you get the results of your filter from this code:
model = _service.GetFilters(model);
And the definition of your method is this:
public List<MembershipVM> GetFilters(MembershipVM model)
So you would expect that this is a list of results. In short, a collection of results.
Now if you want to pass it on your ActionResult as one entity only, then getting one of your results will do the trick:
return View("SendEmail", model.Take(1).SingleOrDefault());
But why do you need to pass one entity only? But that should work with your current requirement.