how to pass a where statement in a viewbag - asp.net-mvc

Question

I am trying to pass a where statement in a viewbag to a view. I am trying to pass the equipment status that equals 'In' but it won't work. It wont display the condition.
ViewBag.EquipmentID = new SelectList(db.Equipments.Where(o => o .EquipmentStatus== "In"), "EquipmentID", "EquipmentType", hire.EquipmentID);
my view to select an equipment is:
<div class="form-group">
#Html.LabelFor(model => model.EquipmentID, "EquipmentID", new { #class = "control-label col-md-2" })
<div class="col-md-10">
#Html.DropDownList("EquipmentID", String.Empty)
#Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.EquipmentID)
</div>
</div>
My hire model is:
public class Hire
{
public int HireID { get; set; }
public int EquipmentID { get; set; }
public int PurchaseID { get; set; }
[DataType(DataType.Date)]
[DisplayFormat(DataFormatString = "{0:yyyy-MM-dd}", ApplyFormatInEditMode = true)]
public DateTime ReturnedDate { get; set; }
public virtual Purchase Purchases { get; set; }
public virtual Equipment Equipments { get; set; }
}
using the viewmodel method it says in the view that "the name 'model' does not exist in the current context"
this is my view:
<div class="form-group">
#Html.LabelFor(model => model.EquipmentID, "EquipmentID", new { #class = "control-label col-md-2" })
<div class="col-md-10">
#Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.EquipmentID, model.SelectList)
#Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.EquipmentID)
</div>
</div>
The 'model' in 'model.Equipment' is underlined with the error
this is my controller:
public ActionResult Create(int ID)
{
var hire = new Hire();
Purchase purchase = db.Purchasess.Find(ID);
ViewHire responseModel = new ViewHire()
{
PurchaseID = purchase.PurchaseID,
EquipmentID = hire.EquipmentID,
SelectList = new SelectList(db.Equipments.Where(o => o.EquipmentStatus == "In"), "EquipmentID", "EquipmentType", hire.EquipmentID),
};
ViewBag.PurchaseID = new SelectList(db.Purchasess, "PurchaseID", "PurchaseID");
return View(responseModel );
}

Answer 1

Consider this:
ViewBag.Equipments = new SelectList(db.Equipments.Where(o => o .EquipmentStatus== "In"), "EquipmentID", "EquipmentType");
And in your view write:
#Html.DropDownListFor(model=>model.EquipmentID,(SelectList)ViewBag.Equipments,String.Empty)

Answer 2

I think that the issue is that you are passing your model through the ViewBag and not passing it through to your view using View() in your controller.
Therefore, when you use a Html helper like #Html.DropDownList(model => model.Property) it won't find the values that you're wanting to pass through.
Your view should have a view model defined in there at the top of the file, then your view knows what type of view model to expect, such as:
#model MyViewModel
Your view model should be defined as a class within your project, such as:
public class MyViewModel
{
public int EquipmentId { get; set; }
public SelectList SelectList { get; set; }
}
Then within your controller, assign the values to an instance of your class:
public ActionResult Index(int id)
{
// Code to retrieve hire and db instances...
var responseModel = new MyViewModel()
{
EquipmentId = hire.EquipmentID,
SelectList = new SelectList(db.Equipments.Where(o => o .EquipmentStatus== "In"), "EquipmentID", "EquipmentType", hire.EquipmentID),
};
// Return your view model to the view without using the ViewBag
return View(responseModel);
}
Now that you're passing your model through, your HTML helpers will have access to the values:
#model MyViewModel
#Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.EquipmentId, model.SelectList)