Cascading DropDown List in ASP.NET MVC 2 using JQuery

Here I will demonstrate a cascading dropdown list (populating a child dropdown based on selection of parent dropdown) .

This article is continuation of my previous article on Populating Dropdown list in ASP.NET MVC 2 using Entity Framework 4 @ http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/2124ae/5628/ 

Here I will demonstrate Cascading dropdown list (populating a child dropdown based on selection of a parent dropdown) .

We will be using ajax method in Jquery by using JSON.

Over the course of this article - We will also see how to update Models using the Update Model Wizard in Entity Framework 4.0

I would be referring to database, Models, Views and Controllers used in my previous article @ (http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/2124ae/5628/)
and even the code discussed below would be an addition to the existing sample of the previous article.

1. Update ViewModel

Open IndexViewModel.cs and add code for second dropdown- Cities Drop down list which would serve as child dropdown for the State dropdown (parent dropdown).

//2nd  DropDownList ID
public string ddlCityId
       {
          get;
          set;
       }

//2nd DropDownList Values
public List<SelectListItem> CityValue
       {
          get;
          set;
       }

2. Database part

• Here we will be creating a new table for cities.
• Create a new table -> tblCity (CityId(int - primary key, CityName - varchar(30),StateName-varchar(30)) in the existing database - SampleDB.mdf
• Insert sample cities for each corresponding state values(from tblState) in tblCity.

3. Models

Update Model

1. We can use Update Model wizard to update the SampleDBModel.edmx file.
   Update Model Wizard serves for the following purpose:
   
   
   • ADD -> if an object has not been included in the existing model or if an object has been newly added to database - We can add the object to the Model.
   • REFRESH -> if any of objects definition has been changes in the database -> We can update the object definition in the Model.
   • DELETE -> in case any object (table, stored procedure, Views) has been deleted from database, it removes the object from the Model
    
2. Here we will use the Update Model wizard to Add -> to basically include tblCity in our Model.
3. Open SampleDBModel.edmx file.
4. Right Click the Model browser window and select Update Model from database.
   
   
    
5. Add tblCity and click Finish -> With this our model is updated with the new table.
   
   
   

Update Repository Class

1. Open DataRepository.cs from Models folder
    
2. Include Code for fetching Cities based on Selected State Name
   
   //Get the values for City DropDownlist based on Selected State Names
   public List<SelectListItem> GetCityNames(string state_Selected)
          {
                 var vCityName = (from tblCity in entities.tblCities
                 where tblCity.StateName==state_Selected
                 select new SelectListItem
                  {
                        Text=tblCity.CityName,
                        Value=tblCity.CityName
                  }
                                     );
   return vCityName.ToList();
          }

4. Controllers

• Open HomeController.cs file from Controllers folder
• Inside ActionResult Index() get the first item in the state dropdown
  
  //Get the first item of the First drop down list(State ddl)
  string ddlStateId_First_Item = objIndexViewModel.StateValue[0].Value;
   
• Inside ActionResult Index() - for populating the Cities ddl - on the page load - based on first item in the state ddl
  
  //Get the City names based on the first Item in the State ddl
  objIndexViewModel.CityValue = objRepository.GetCityNames(ddlStateId_First_Item);
   
• Write a Controller action that returns a JSONRESULT - to return a list of cities based on selected Sate.
  
  public JsonResult Cities_SelectedState(string Sel_StateName)
     {
         JsonResult result = new JsonResult();
         var vCities = objRepository.GetCityNames(Sel_StateName);
         result.Data = vCities.ToList();
         result.JsonRequestBehavior = JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet;
         return result;
     }

5. Views

• Open Index.aspx from Views -> Home -> Views folder.
• update it with the new Cities label and Cities dropdown
  
     <%:Html.Label("Cities:") %>
    <%:Html.DropDownListFor(m=>m.ddlCityId,Model.CityValue)%>
   
• Include JQuery to populate Cities ddl based on State ddl change.
  
             <script type="text/javascript">
            $(document).ready(function () {
                $("#ddlStateId").change(function () {

                    var url = '<%= Url.Content("~/") %>' + "Home/Cities_SelectedState";
                    var ddlsource = "#ddlStateId";
                    var ddltarget = "#ddlCityId";
                    $.getJSON(url, { Sel_StateName: $(ddlsource).val() }, function (data) {
                        $(ddltarget).empty();
                        $.each(data, function (index, optionData) {
                            $(ddltarget).append("<option value='" + optionData.Text + "'>" + optionData.Value + "</option>");
                        });
   
                    });
                });
            });
         </script>
   

• Open Site.Master (master page) from Views ->Shared folder and include jQuery script files inside Head Section.
  
   <head runat="server">
   <script type="text/javascript" src="../../Scripts/jquery-1.4.1.js"></script>
   </head>

6. Compile And Run the Project (F5) - We can see on Page Load City Dropdown got populated based on first item in the State dropdown.



If we Change the value in the State dropdown -> Cities dropdown gets correspondingly populated.



So in this article we have seen how can we implement Cascading DropDownList in ASP.Net MVC using AJAX methos in Jquery by using JSON.

I have attached the code for this sample application.

Happy Learning!!