Solved: C# Generic Extension Method Help

Hi All,

I am trying to create a generic extension method for converting a List<T> to a List<SelectListItem> for dropdown lists in the view.

Now, I have the following Generic Repository System

    public interface IRepository<T>
    {
        void Insert(T entity);
        void Update(T entity);
        void Delete(T entity);
        IQueryable<T> SearchFor(Expression<Func<T, bool>> predicate);
        IQueryable<T> GetAll();
        IOrderedEnumerable<T> GetPage(int pageIndex, int pageSize, string sortBy, string sortDirection);
        T GetById(int id);
    }

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   public class Repository<T> : IRepository<T> where T : class, IEntity
    {
        protected Table<T> DataTable;

        public Repository(DBDataContext dataContext)
        {
            DataTable = dataContext.GetTable<T>();
        }
        
        public Repository(DataContext dataContext)
        {
            DataTable = dataContext.GetTable<T>();
        }

        #region IRepository<T> Members

        public void Insert(T entity)
        {
            DataTable.InsertOnSubmit(entity);
        }

        public void Update(T entity)
        {
            DataTable.Attach(entity, true);
        }

        public void Delete(T entity)
        {
            DataTable.DeleteOnSubmit(entity);
        }

        public IQueryable<T> SearchFor(Expression<Func<T, bool>> predicate)
        {
            return DataTable.Where(predicate);
        }

        public IQueryable<T> GetAll()
        {
            return DataTable;
        }

        public IOrderedEnumerable<T> GetPage(int pageIndex = 0, int pageSize = 10, string sortBy = "ID", string sortDirection = "asc")
        {
            var param = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T));

            var sortExpression = Expression.Lambda<Func<T, object>>
                (Expression.Convert(Expression.Property(param, sortBy), typeof(object)), param).Compile();

            var results = DataTable.Skip((pageIndex - 1)*pageSize).Take(pageSize);

            switch (sortDirection.ToLower())
            {
                case "asc":
                    return results.OrderBy(sortExpression);
                default:
                    return results.OrderByDescending(sortExpression);
            }
        }

        public T GetById(int id)
        {
            return DataTable.Single(e => e.ID.Equals(id));
        }

        #endregion
    }

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Where I entity is simply enforcing the ID

    public interface IEntity
    {
        int ID { get; }
    }

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All the classes in my DBML are implementing IEntity.

and My Extensions Class is simply;

public static class RepositoryExtensions
    {
       public static IEnumerable<SelectListItem> ToSelectListItems<T>(
            this IEnumerable<T> items,
            Func<T, string> nameSelector,
            Func<T, string> valueSelector,
            Func<T, bool> selected)
       {
           return items.OrderBy(item => nameSelector(item))
                  .Select(item =>
                          new SelectListItem
                          {
                              Selected = selected(item),
                              Text = nameSelector(item),
                              Value = valueSelector(item)
                          });
       }
    }

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Now for example when I try to get a dropdown list for all countries in my datbase as an example I have and call the following method

public static List<Country> GetCountries()
        {
            using (DBDataContext db = new DBDataContext())
            {
                return db.Countries.OrderBy(c => c.NiceName).ToList();
            }
        }

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which I implment in the view as follows;

@Html.DropDownListFor(x => x.ID, Core.MiscRepository.GetCountries().ToSelectListItems("ID", "NiceName", true))

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however, its not finding the extension method? Could anyone point me in the right direction please?

Many Thanks in Advance,

Matt.