MVC where should the logic go the Controller or the View Model
asp.net-mvc
Solution
In the controller. The ViewModel should not be aware of the unit of work you are using. Also, the view model in this case would be a lot more reusable if it didn't have to rely on the logic `x => x.Colour == "Red"`. Even though this could be moved to the arguments, in general, I believe your models (and therefor views) would be much more reusable taking care of that in the controller.
Problem
I have an MVC app where I'm wanting to display a dropdownlist with info from the database. The dropdown will display info from database Cars using the table Make which is the make of the car. So in my view I will have something like: ``` @model VectorCheck.ViewModels.CarsViewModel ... @Html.DropDownListFor(modelItem => Model.MakeId, Model.Makes) ... ``` So somehow I need to get the view model the list of makes. So I might have some logic to go with this say only cars that are colour Red. ``` var redCars = _unitOfWork.Cars(x => x.Colour == "Red"); ``` So my question is where is the best practise to put the logic for this query. Should it go in the viewModel or controller. The way I see it I have two Options. Option 1: The controller. ``` public ActionResult Edit(int id) { var car = _unitOfWork.CarRepository.Get(id); var carMakes = _unitOfWork.CarMakeRepository.Where(x => x.Colour == "Red").Select(u => new SelectListItem { Value = u.CarMakeId.ToString(), Text = u.Name }); return View("Edit", new InsertUpdateCarViewModel(car, carMakes)); } ``` ViewModel ``` public Car Car { get; set; } public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> CarMakes { get; set; } InsertUpdateCarViewModel(Car car, IEnumerable<SelectListItem> carMakes) { Car= car; CarMakes = carMakes; } ``` So in this example I get the carMakes in the controller and give them to the viewModel which is simply a container. Opon 2: The viewModel ``` public ActionResult Edit(int id) { var car = _unitOfWork.CarRepository.Get(id); return View("Edit", new InsertUpdateCarViewModel(car)); } ``` ViewModel ``` public Car Car { get; set; } public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> CarMakes { get; set; } InsertUpdateCarViewModel(Car car) { Car= car; CarMakes = _unitOfWork.CarMakeRepository.Where(x => x.Colour == "Red").Select(u => new SelectListItem { Value = u.CarMakeId.ToString(), Text = u.Name }); } ``` So in this option I'm putting the logic to get the correct carmakes in the view model. It is more than a container. So what I'm wanting to know is which of these ways is the correct way of doing this?