ASP.NET MVC Display Template for Generic Type

Question

I am trying to use the model ListModel as a generic list model. I would like to enter on the page

@Html.DisplayForModel()

However the MVC is not correctly finding the templated file "ListModel.cshtml". It must work differently for generic models. What should I name the templated file in order for it to correctly be located?

public class ListModel<T>
{
public IEnumerable<T> Models { get; set; }
public string NextPage { get; set; }
}

I would expect it to look for Shared/DisplayTemplates/ListModel.ascx but it doesn't. Does anyone know?

Edit:

I did end up solving this by simply removing the generic parameter like so. I do want to know if you can still have a generic file name though.

public class ListModel
{
    public IEnumerable Models {get;set;}
    public string NextPage {get;set;}
}

I don't understand anything of what you're trying to do, could you explain again ? — AFract
– AFract, Commented Dec 25, 2010 at 23:03
could DisplayForModel overload that takes template name help? — Arnis Lapsa
– Arnis Lapsa, Commented Dec 26, 2010 at 20:14

Derek Morrison · Accepted Answer · 2011-05-02 07:28:13Z

2

As a workaround, could you decorate the ListModel<T> class with the UIHint attribute to force it to use the template you want?

For example,

[UIHint("ListModel")]
public class ListModel<T>
{
...

answered May 2, 2011 at 7:28

Derek Morrison

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2 Comments

Darren Over a year ago

The UIHint attribute cannot be applied to classes like this, only properties and fields.

toddmo Over a year ago

@Darren, that's a damn shame :) This would have been perfect

corvuscorax · Accepted Answer · 2010-12-26 19:29:11Z

2

I don't think this is possible.

Think about it: If you somehow was able to declare the template as generic (say by calling it ListModel`1.ascx or something) how would the MVC runtime handle any specific instances of the model? And how would you display the generic properties/fields in the template?

I haven't been able to find a place where MS specifically states that generic models are disallowed, but I can't see how they would make it work.

This is also supported by the observation that if you try to create a strongly-typed view, then generic classes are filtered out of the drop-down box.

answered Dec 26, 2010 at 19:29

corvuscorax

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2 Comments

Kyle Over a year ago

It would be able t decide what to do with the properties through contravariance and the dynamic type.

chakrit Over a year ago

It could use other DisplayTemplate/EditorTemplate for instances of the generic type just as you could render any type using Object.cshtml template. It'll be really useful if you're able to provide templates for rendering a collection of items e.g. TableListView IconsView MasterDetailsView etc. etc. But I still agree that this isn't possible currently. However it is a totally implementable solution.

Chris F Carroll · Accepted Answer · 2016-03-17 10:49:49Z

0

You can explicitly specify your Template, then MVC will find it as usual.

@Html.DisplayForModel("ListModel")

and similarly

@Html.DisplayFor(m=>m.AProperty,"TemplateName")

answered Mar 17, 2016 at 10:49

Chris F Carroll

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