In this article I will explain with an example, how to create (add) HyperLink Column to WebGrid in ASP.Net MVC Razor.
The HyperLink Column in WebGrid when clicked, will send the details of the WebGrid row to another View.
 
 

Database

Here I am making use of Microsoft’s Northwind Database. You can download it from here.
 
 

Entity Framework Model

Once the Entity Framework is configured and connected to the database table, the Model will look as shown below.
Note: For beginners in ASP.Net MVC and Entity Framework, please refer my article ASP.Net MVC: Simple Entity Framework Tutorial with example. It covers all the information needed for connecting and configuring Entity Framework.
 
Create (Add) HyperLink Column to WebGrid in ASP.Net MVC
 
 

Controller

The Controller consists of following Action methods.

Action method for handling GET operation of Index View

The Entity Framework is now configured and hence now we can create a Controller and write code to fetch the records from the Customers Table of the Northwind Database.
Inside the Index Action method, the Customer records are fetched using Entity Framework and returned to the View.
 

Action method for handling GET operation of Details View

Inside this Action method, the value of the CustomerId is fetched from the RouteData collection and is used to fetch the Customer’s record using Entity Framework.
Finally, the Customer’s record is returned to the View.
public class HomeController : Controller
{
    // GET: Home
    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        NorthwindEntities entities = new NorthwindEntities();
        return View(entities.Customers.ToList());
    }
 
    public ActionResult Details()
    {
        string customerId = RouteData.Values["id"].ToString();
        NorthwindEntities entities = new NorthwindEntities();
        return View(entities.Customers.Find(customerId));
    }
}
 
 

Index View

Inside the Index View, in the very first line the Customer Entity is declared as IEnumerable which specifies that the Model will be available as a Collection.
The WebGrid is initialized with the Model i.e. IEnumerable collection of Customer Entity class objects as source.
The WebGrid is created using the GetHtml method with the following parameters.
HtmlAttributes – It is used to set the HTML attributes to the HTML Table generated by WebGrid such as ID, Name, Class, etc.
Columns – It is used to specify the columns to be displayed in WebGrid and also allows to set specific Header Text for the columns.
The first column of the WebGrid consists of an HTML Anchor Link which when clicked redirects to the Details View.
Note: For more information on usage of WebGrid, please refer ASP.Net MVC: WebGrid Step By Step Tutorial with example.
 
@model IEnumerable<WebGrid_HyperLink_MVC.Customer>
 
@{
    Layout = null;
    WebGrid webGrid = new WebGrid(source: Model, canSort: false);
}
 
<!DOCTYPE html>
 
<html>
<head>
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width" />
    <title>Index</title>
    <style type="text/css">
        body { font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; }
 
        .Grid { border: 1px solid #ccc; border-collapse: collapse; }
 
        .Grid th { background-color: #F7F7F7; font-weight: bold; }
 
        .Grid th, .Grid td { padding: 5px; border: 1px solid #ccc; }
 
        .Grid, .Grid table td { border: 0px solid #ccc; }
 
        .Grid th a, .Grid th a:visited { color: #333; }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
    @webGrid.GetHtml(
        htmlAttributes: new { @id = "WebGrid", @class = "Grid" },
        columns: webGrid.Columns(
                 webGrid.Column("CustomerID", "Customer Id", format: @<text><a href="/Home/Details/@item.CustomerId">@item.CustomerId</a></text>),
                 webGrid.Column("ContactName", "Customer Name"),
                 webGrid.Column("City", "City"),
                 webGrid.Column("Country", "Country")
    ))
</body>
</html>
 
 

Details View

Inside the Details View, in the very first line the Customer Entity is declared as Model for the View. The details of the Customer are displayed using the Html.DisplayFor helper method.
@model WebGrid_HyperLink_MVC.Customer
 
@{
     Layout = null;
}
 
<!DOCTYPE html>
 
<html>
<head>
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width" />
    <title>Details</title>
</head>
<body>
    <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0">
        <tr>
            <td valign="top" style="width: 65px"><b>@Html.DisplayNameFor(model => model.Address):</b></td>
            <td>
                @Html.DisplayFor(model => model.Address)
                <br />
                @Html.DisplayFor(model => model.City),
                @Html.DisplayFor(model => model.PostalCode)
                <br />
                @Html.DisplayFor(model => model.Country)
            </td>
        </tr>
    </table>
</body>
</html>
 
 

Mapping Routes for the Details View

You will need to map a route for the Details View by making use of the MapRoute function as shown below.
This is necessary as otherwise the Routing won’t work for the Details View when the HyperLink in WebGrid is clicked.
public class RouteConfig
{
    public static void RegisterRoutes(RouteCollection routes)
    {
        routes.IgnoreRoute("{resource}.axd/{*pathInfo}");
 
        routes.MapRoute(
            name: "Default",
            url: "{controller}/{action}/{id}",
            defaults: new { controller = "Home", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional }
        );
 
        routes.MapRoute(
             name: "Details",
             url: "{controller}/{action}/{id}",
             defaults: new { controller = "Home", action = "Details", id = UrlParameter.Optional }
        );
    }
}
 
 

Screenshot

Create (Add) HyperLink Column to WebGrid in ASP.Net MVC
 
 

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