Using a PagedList with a ViewModel ASP.Net MVC

Question

I'm trying to using a PagedList in my ASP.Net application and I found this example on the Microsoft website http://www.asp.net/mvc/tutorials/getting-started-with-ef-using-mvc/sorting-filtering-and-paging-with-the-entity-framework-in-an-asp-net-mvc-application

How is it possible to use a PagedList in a complex situation that uses a ViewModel? I'm trying to add a PagedList without success to the Instructor example posted here: http://www.asp.net/mvc/tutorials/getting-started-with-ef-using-mvc/reading-related-data-with-the-entity-framework-in-an-asp-net-mvc-application

The problem is that the ViewModel is composed by classes and not simple fields, so I cannot convert the result with the ToPageList() method.

This is the ViewModel structure:

using System.Collections.Generic;
using ContosoUniversity.Models;

namespace ContosoUniversity.ViewModels
{
    public class InstructorIndexData
    {
        public IEnumerable<Instructor> Instructors { get; set; }
        public IEnumerable<Course> Courses { get; set; }
        public IEnumerable<Enrollment> Enrollments { get; set; }
    }
}

I need to join the three tables into the ViewModel and display the result in a View.

Answer 1

I modified the code as follow:

ViewModel

using System.Collections.Generic;
using ContosoUniversity.Models;

namespace ContosoUniversity.ViewModels
{
    public class InstructorIndexData
    {
     public PagedList.IPagedList<Instructor> Instructors { get; set; }
     public PagedList.IPagedList<Course> Courses { get; set; }
     public PagedList.IPagedList<Enrollment> Enrollments { get; set; }
    }
}

Controller

public ActionResult Index(int? id, int? courseID,int? InstructorPage,int? CoursePage,int? EnrollmentPage)
{
 int instructPageNumber = (InstructorPage?? 1);
 int CoursePageNumber = (CoursePage?? 1);
 int EnrollmentPageNumber = (EnrollmentPage?? 1);
 var viewModel = new InstructorIndexData();
 viewModel.Instructors = db.Instructors
    .Include(i => i.OfficeAssignment)
    .Include(i => i.Courses.Select(c => c.Department))
    .OrderBy(i => i.LastName).ToPagedList(instructPageNumber,5);

 if (id != null)
 {
    ViewBag.InstructorID = id.Value;
    viewModel.Courses = viewModel.Instructors.Where(
        i => i.ID == id.Value).Single().Courses.ToPagedList(CoursePageNumber,5);
 }

 if (courseID != null)
 {
    ViewBag.CourseID = courseID.Value;
    viewModel.Enrollments = viewModel.Courses.Where(
        x => x.CourseID == courseID).Single().Enrollments.ToPagedList(EnrollmentPageNumber,5);
 }

 return View(viewModel);
}

View

<div>
   Page @(Model.Instructors.PageCount < Model.Instructors.PageNumber ? 0 : Model.Instructors.PageNumber) of @Model.Instructors.PageCount

   @Html.PagedListPager(Model.Instructors, page => Url.Action("Index", new {InstructorPage=page}))

</div>

I hope this would help you!!