Dropdown list population from ViewModel - asp.net-mvc

Question

First of all, I know this question has been asked many, many times. I've read countless articles and Stack Overflow answers. I've tried to figure this problem out for four days and I think I need help if someone doesn't mind.
I have two databases. The employee database has a field called "DisplayName" -- the second database has a relationship with the first and they work together great. I'm able to call the two databases perfectly in another application.
You can see the in the picture Index Page
that I have a list of people. I want a dropdown below it that lists all display names in the database so employees can add themselves to the list. You'll see a dropdown in the image but it's not populated.
Seems simple. But geez. Part of a problem I'm having is my home controller already has a function to populate the list in the picture so I can't do another on that page. I've tried a lot of suggestions on a lot of sites. I get IEnumerable errors or display reference errors....
Here's my controller (again - it has nothing in it that helps the dropdown):
namespace SeatingChart.Controllers
{
public class HomeController : Controller
{
private ApplicationDbContext db = new ApplicationDbContext();
// GET: Employee
public ActionResult Index()
{
var lists = db.BreakModels
.Include("Employee")
.Include("TimeEntered")
.Include("TimeCleared")
.Include("DisplayName")
.Select(a => new HomeIndexViewModels
{
Employee = a.Employee,
DisplayName = a.EmployeeModels.DisplayName,
TimeEntered = a.TimeEntered,
TimeCleared = a.TimeCleared.Value,
Id = a.EmployeeModels.Id,
});
return View(lists);
}
View:
#model IEnumerable<SeatingChart.Models.HomeIndexViewModels>
#{
Layout = null;
}
#Html.Partial("_Header")
<div class="container_lists">
<div class="container_break col-md-8">
<h5 style="text-align:center">Break List</h5>
<table class="table-bordered col-lg-12">
#if (Model != null)
{
foreach (var item in Model)
{
if (item.TimeCleared == null)
{
<tr>
<td>
#Html.DisplayFor(modelItem => item.DisplayName)
</td>
<td>
 BV
</td>
<td>
 #item.TimeEntered.ToString("HH:mm")
</td>
</tr>
}
}
}
</table>
#using (Html.BeginForm())
{
<div class="row site-spaced">
<div class="col-3">
#Html.DropDownList("DisplayName", new SelectList(new List<string>() { "---Dispatcher---" }), new { #class = "required " })
</div>
</div>
<div class="col-3">
<input type="submit" value="Submit" class="site-control" />
</div>
}
</div>
</div>
ViewModel:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Mvc;
using System.Web.Mvc.Html;
namespace SeatingChart.Models
{
public class HomeIndexViewModels
{
//Break Model
public int BreakId { get; set; }
public int Employee { get; set; }
public DateTime TimeEntered { get; set; }
public DateTime? TimeCleared { get; set; }
//Employee Model
public int Id { get; set; }
public string DisplayName { get; set; }
public string DisplayNames { get; set; }
public string FirstName { get; set; }
public string LastName { get; set; }
public bool NotActive { get; set; }
public int Force { get; set; }
public string EmployeeList { get; set; }
}
}
I hope this is clear enough. I've tried so many different ways with so much code - the errors are different with everything I've tried.
Thanks in advance for your patience and help!

Answer 1

You can add to your viewmodel
public List<SelectListItem> Employees { get; set; }
Then you can populate this list with controller then in view just call it with:
#Html.DropDownListFor(m => m.Id, Model.Employees, new { #class = "form-control", required = "required" })
Update - how to populate list. Should work (but not tested code).
public List<SelectListItem> GetEmployeeForDropdown(List<HomeIndexViewModels> list)
{
List<SelectListItem> empList = new List<SelectListItem>();
try
{
if (list != null && list.Count > 0)
{
foreach (var item in list)
{
empList.Add(new SelectListItem { Text = item.DisplayName, Value = item.Id.ToString() });
}
}
else
{
empList.Add(new SelectListItem { Text = "No items", Value = string.Empty });
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
//handle exceptions here
}
return empList;
}
Edit: Remember to use your model in view!