validate a dropdownlist in asp.net mvc

I just can’t believe that there are people still using ViewData/ViewBag in ASP.NET MVC 3 instead of having strongly typed views and view models:

public class MyViewModel
{
    [Required]
    public string CategoryId { get; set; }

    public IEnumerable<Category> Categories { get; set; }
}

and in your controller:

public class HomeController: Controller
{
    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        var model = new MyViewModel
        {
            Categories = Repository.GetCategories()
        }
        return View(model);
    }

    [HttpPost]
    public ActionResult Index(MyViewModel model)
    {
        if (!ModelState.IsValid)
        {
            // there was a validation error =>
            // rebind categories and redisplay view
            model.Categories = Repository.GetCategories();
            return View(model);
        }
        // At this stage the model is OK => do something with the selected category
        return RedirectToAction("Success");
    }
}

and then in your strongly typed view:

@Html.DropDownListFor(
    x => x.CategoryId, 
    new SelectList(Model.Categories, "ID", "CategoryName"), 
    "-- Please select a category --"
)
@Html.ValidationMessageFor(x => x.CategoryId)

Also if you want client side validation don’t forget to reference the necessary scripts:

<script src="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4729440/@Url.Content("~/Scripts/jquery.validate.js")" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4729440/@Url.Content("~/Scripts/jquery.validate.unobtrusive.js")" type="text/javascript"></script>