title: How to create an empty dropdown list with default value?
body: <p>I want to create an empty dropdown list that has just default value.I use the following code:</p>
  
  <pre><code>@Html.DropDownList("parent","--Select Parent--")
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>But in running time I see this error:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>There is no ViewData item of type 'IEnumerable' that
    has the key 'parent'.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>How can I solve it?
  Thanks.</p>