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How do I enable validation without using the DataAnnotationValidator?

Platform: Blazor| Category : Forms and validation, General

Instead of using the DataAnnotationValidator in Blazor, you can use FluentValidation to implement form validation. FluentValidation is a common validation library for.NET Core that offers a few advantages over the built-in DataAnnotations validation library, such as a larger set of rules, simpler setup, and extensibility.

To use fluent validation in a Blazor application:

  1. Create a Blazor application using the link.

  2. Install the “FluentValidation” package using the NuGet package manager.

  3. Create a new folder named FluentValidation in the main application and add the following *.cs files – Employee, EmployeeValidator, FluentValidationValidator to it as shown below.
    Fluent Validation

  4. Add a model Employee class name in the Employee.cs file.

      namespace {AppName}.FluentValidation
    {
        public class Employee
        {
            public string Name { get; set; }
            public string Organization { get; set; }
        }
    }


  5. To write a model validator, you must create a EmployeeValidator class that is inherited from the AbstractValidator<Employee> and then add all the validation rules for the respective model to the constructor.

  6.    using FluentValidation;
     
    namespace {AppName}.FluentValidation
    {
        public class EmployeeValidator : AbstractValidator<Employee>
        {
            public EmployeeValidator()
            {
                RuleFor(p => p.Name).NotEmpty().WithMessage("You must enter a valid name.");
                RuleFor(p => p.Name).MaximumLength(20).WithMessage("The name cannot be more than 20 characters long.");
                RuleFor(p => p.Organization).NotEmpty().WithMessage("You must enter a valid organization name.");
            }
        }
    }

     

  7. In FluentValidationValidator.cs, create a new validator component named FluentValidationValidator to replace DataAnnonationsValidator, and add the code below to it.
     
    The FluentValidationValidator receives an EditContext as a cascading parameter and hooks into the EditContext’s OnFieldChanged and OnValidationRequested events to know when something is happening in the UI. It can add or remove validation messages from a ValidationMessageStore at any time.

    using System;
    using FluentValidation;
    using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components;
    using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components.Forms;
     
    namespace {AppName}.FluentValidation
    {
        public class FluentValidationValidator<TValidator> : ComponentBase where TValidator : IValidator, new()
        {
            private readonly static char[] separators = new[] { '.', '[' };
            private TValidator validator;
     
            [CascadingParameter]
            private EditContext EditContext { get; set; }
     
            protected override void OnInitialized()
            {
                validator = new TValidator();
                var messages = new ValidationMessageStore(EditContext);
     
                /* Re-validate when any field changes or when the entire form requests validation.*/
                EditContext.OnFieldChanged += (sender, eventArgs)
                    => ValidateModel((EditContext)sender, messages);
     
                EditContext.OnValidationRequested += (sender, eventArgs)
                    => ValidateModel((EditContext)sender, messages);
            }
     
            private void ValidateModel(EditContext editContext, ValidationMessageStore messages)
            {
                var context = new ValidationContext<object>(editContext.Model);
                var validationResult = validator.Validate(context);
                messages.Clear();
                foreach (var error in validationResult.Errors)
                {
                    var fieldIdentifier = ToFieldIdentifier(editContext, error.PropertyName);
                    messages.Add(fieldIdentifier, error.ErrorMessage);
                }
                editContext.NotifyValidationStateChanged();
            }
     
            private static FieldIdentifier ToFieldIdentifier(EditContext editContext, string propertyPath)
            {
                var obj = editContext.Model;
     
                while (true)
                {
                    var nextTokenEnd = propertyPath.IndexOfAny(separators);
                    if (nextTokenEnd < 0)
                    {
                        return new FieldIdentifier(obj, propertyPath);
                    }
     
                    var nextToken = propertyPath.Substring(0, nextTokenEnd);
                    propertyPath = propertyPath.Substring(nextTokenEnd + 1);
     
                    object newObj;
                    if (nextToken.EndsWith("]"))
                    {
                        nextToken = nextToken.Substring(0, nextToken.Length - 1);
                        var prop = obj.GetType().GetProperty("Item");
                        var indexerType = prop.GetIndexParameters()[0].ParameterType;
                        var indexerValue = Convert.ChangeType(nextToken, indexerType);
                        newObj = prop.GetValue(obj, new object[] { indexerValue });
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        var prop = obj.GetType().GetProperty(nextToken);
                        if (prop == null)
                        {
                            throw new InvalidOperationException($"Could not find property named {nextToken} in object of type {obj.GetType().FullName}.");
                        }
                        newObj = prop.GetValue(obj);
                    }
     
                    if (newObj == null)
                    {
                        return new FieldIdentifier(obj, nextToken);
                    }
     
                    obj = newObj;
                }
            }
        }
    }

  8. Add the following code to the Index.razor page to perform fluent validation using the FluentValidationValidator component and its model validator (EmployeeValidator) in the EditForm component.

      @page "/"
     
    @using {AppName}.FluentValidation;
     
    <EditForm Model="employee" OnValidSubmit="SubmitForm">
        <FluentValidationValidator TValidator="EmployeeValidator" />
        <ValidationSummary />
     
        <div class="form-group">
            <label for="name">Name:</label>
            <InputText @bind-Value="employee.Name" class="form-control" id="name" />
        </div>
     
        <div class="form-group">
            <label for="age">Organization:</label>
            <InputText @bind-Value="employee.Organization" class="form-control" />
        </div>
     
        <button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary">Submit</button>
     
    </EditForm>
     
    @code {
        Employee employee { get; set; } = new Employee();
     
        public void SubmitForm()
        {
     
        }
    }

    Fluent Validator Output


    View Sample in GitHub

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