What is the @Html.DisplayFor syntax for?

Question

I understand that in Razor, @Html does a bunch of neat things, like generate HTML for links, inputs, etc.

But I don't get the DisplayFor function...

Why would I write:

@Html.DisplayFor(model => model.Title)

when I could just write:

@Model.Title

Answer 1

Html.DisplayFor() will render the DisplayTemplate that matches the property's type.

If it can't find any, I suppose it invokes .ToString().

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If you don't know about display templates, they're partial views that can be put in a DisplayTemplates folder inside the view folder associated to a controller.

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Example:

If you create a view named String.cshtml inside the DisplayTemplates folder of your views folder (e.g Home, or Shared) with the following code:

@model string

@if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(Model)) {
   <strong>Null string</strong>
}
else {
   @Model
}

Then @Html.DisplayFor(model => model.Title) (assuming that Title is a string) will use the template and display <strong>Null string</strong> if the string is null, or empty.