DropDownList stays empty

[Valid Development Factory]

I've tried using Ajax Binding (and also ToDataSourceResult Binding) from this article to populate a DropDownList. I copy/pasted the exact code from the article into my solution. The GetProducts method on the controller returns 78 products, yet the DropDownList stays empty.

What am I doing wrong?

Controller

public JsonResult GetProducts()
{
    NorthwindDataContext northwind = new NorthwindDataContext();

    return Json(northwind.Products, JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet);
}

 

View

@(Html.Kendo().DropDownList()
    .Name("productDropDownList")
    .DataTextField("ProductName")
    .DataValueField("ProductID")
    .DataSource(source =>
    {
           source.Read(read =>
           {
                read.Action("GetProducts", "Home");
           })
           .ServerFiltering(true);
    })
    .SelectedIndex(0)
)

[Nencho]

Hello Teun,

If you had checked the "Include foreign key columns in the model" option form the Entity Data Model Wizard, you would have generated these properties in the model as demonstrated in this image:

https://monosnap.com/file/nLJozOufQvQ44EkWZPqk4PrukTCHzS

Hence a circular call to the object could appear (probably a js error with this information is thrown in your browser console). In order to overcome this, you can avoid checking the above described option, or you can have extracted only the needed part from your db context, using an anonymous object:

public JsonResult GetProducts()
{
    NorthwindDataContext northwind = new NorthwindDataContext ();

    var result = northwind.Products.Select(m => new
    {
        ProductID = m.ProductID,
        ProductName = m.ProductName
    });

    return Json(result, JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet);
}

Another option (and preferable) is to have an ViewModel, linked to the model generated to mirror your tables e.g. ProductsViewModel. More information on that usage could be found below:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/mvc/overview/getting-started/getting-started-with-ef-using-mvc/reading-related-data-with-the-entity-framework-in-an-asp-net-mvc-application

Hope this information helps.

Regards,
Nencho
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