Use Enum & Description to create select list item in MVC

There are always situations that we make good use of enums in projects. I like to use an Enum values to make my select list to save select-list-creation time. Here is what I always do,

Create an Enum, Eg. MonthFilter

 public enum MonthFilter
    { 
        [Description("Last Month")]
        LastMonth = 1,
        [Description("Last 3 Months")]
        Last3Months = 3,
        [Description("Last 6 Months")]
        Last6Months = 6,
        [Description("Last 12 Months")]
        Last12Months = 12,
        [Description("Year on Year")]
        YearOnYear = -1
    }

And then create the SelectListItem using this Enum and its descriptions,

    var monthFilters = from MonthFilter n in Enum.GetValues(typeof(MonthFilter))
                     select new SelectListItem { 
                            Value = ((int)n).ToString(), 
                            Text = Enumerations.GetEnumDescription(n)
                     };

Last step is create the dropdown list, by passing in the “monthFilters” Select List Items,

                @Html.DropDownList("MonthFilterDropDown", monthFilters, "Select...", null)

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