MVC, Entity Framework Select data from multiple models - asp.net

Question

In a ASP.NET MVC3 Razor project I have 2 Models
public class Post
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Title { get; set; }
public string Contents { get; set; }
public int Author { get; set; }
}
public class Author
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Email { get; set; }
}
Post.Author field links to Author.Id field
In a view, I need to display list of
Post.Title
Post.Contents
Author.Name
How to display the information joining (from) both models?
Note : I guess I need to use a ViewModel and bind the view with IEnumerable List, but I have no idea how to select the data from both models

Answer 1

You can create a viewmodel which will have ONLY properties which u want to be displayed on view
public class PostViewModel
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Title { get; set; }
public string Contents { get; set; }
public string AuthorName { get; set; }
}
You populate this viewmodel with your data in your controller action taking necessary joins
public ActionResult GetAuthorInfor()
{
var query = //context.Post join with context.Author
Select new PostViewModel()
{
Id = post.id,
Title = post.title,
Contents = post.contents,
AuthorName = author.authorname
}
return view(query.Single());
}
and create a typed view to render this model.

Answer 2

Model Post.cs:
public class Post
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Title { get; set; }
public string Contents { get; set; }
public int AuthorID { get; set; }
public virtual Author Author { get; set; }
}
Model Author.cs :
public class Author
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Email { get; set; }
public virtual ICollection<Post> Posts { get; set; }
}
DBContext Class:
public class SampleDB : DbContext
{
public DbSet<Author> Authors{ get; set; }
public DbSet<Post> Posts{ get; set; }
}
I.Way(using direkt view)
you can use on View like this :
Samp.Models.SampleDB dbPosts = new Samp.Models.SampleDB();
foreach (var post in dbPosts.Posts.ToList())
{
string post_Title = post.title;
string post_Contents = post.Contents;
string author_Name = post.Author.Name;
}
II.Way (Using via Controller) -Recommended-
you can use on Controller like this :
Samp.Models.SampleDB db = new Samp.Models.SampleDB();
public ActionResult Index()
{
return View(db.Posts.ToList());
}
Using this on View:
#model IEnumerable<Samp.Models.Post>
foreach (var post in Model.Posts.ToList())
{
string post_Title = post.title;
string post_Contents = post.Contents;
string author_Name = post.Author.Name;
}