This document demonstrates working with Forms and the HTML elements commonly used on a Form. The HTML `Form <https://www.w3.org/TR/html401/interact/forms.html>`__ element provides the primary mechanism web apps use to post back data to the server. Most of this document describes :doc:`Tag Helpers <tag-helpers/intro>` and how they can help you productively create robust HTML forms. We recommend you read :doc:`tag-helpers/intro` before you read this document.
In many cases, :doc:`HTML Helpers </mvc/views/html-helpers>` provide an alternative approach to a specific Tag Helper, but it's important to recognize that Tag Helpers do not replace HTML Helpers and there is not a Tag Helper for each HTML Helper. When an HTML Helper alternative exists, it is mentioned.
The `Form <https://www.w3.org/TR/html401/interact/forms.html>`__ Tag Helper:
- Generates the HTML `<FORM> <https://www.w3.org/TR/html401/interact/forms.html>`__``action`` attribute value for a MVC controller action or named route
- Generates a hidden `Request Verification Token <http://www.asp.net/mvc/overview/security/xsrfcsrf-prevention-in-aspnet-mvc-and-web-pages>`__ to prevent cross-site request forgery (when used with the ``[ValidateAntiForgeryToken]`` attribute in the HTTP Post action method)
- Provides the ``asp-route-<Parameter Name>`` attribute, where ``<Parameter Name>`` is added to the route values. The ``routeValues`` parameters to ``Html.BeginForm`` and ``Html.BeginRouteForm`` provide similar functionality.
- Has an HTML Helper alternative ``Html.BeginForm`` and ``Html.BeginRouteForm``
The Form Tag Helper above generates the following HTML:
..code-block:: HTML
<form method="post" action="/Demo/Register">
<!-- Input and Submit elements -->
<input name="__RequestVerificationToken" type="hidden" value="<removed for brevity>" />
</form>
The MVC runtime generates the ``action`` attribute value from the Form Tag Helper attributes ``asp-controller`` and ``asp-action``. The Form Tag Helper also generates a hidden `Request Verification Token <http://www.asp.net/mvc/overview/security/xsrfcsrf-prevention-in-aspnet-mvc-and-web-pages>`__ to prevent cross-site request forgery (when used with the ``[ValidateAntiForgeryToken]`` attribute in the HTTP Post action method). Protecting a pure HTML Form from cross-site request forgery is very difficult, the Form Tag Helper provides this service for you.
Using a named route
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The ``asp-route`` Tag Helper attribute can also generate markup for the HTML ``action`` attribute. An app with a :doc:`route </fundamentals/routing>` named ``register`` could use the following markup for the registration page:
Many of the views in the *Views/Account* folder (generated when you create a new web app with *Individual User Accounts*) contain the `asp-route-returnurl <http://docs.asp.net/en/latest/mvc/views/working-with-forms.html#the-form-tag-helper>`__ attribute:
:Note:With the built in templates, ``returnUrl`` is only populated automatically when you try to access an authorized resource but are not authenticated or authorized. When you attempt an unauthorized access, the security middleware redirects you to the login page with the ``returnUrl`` set.
The Input Tag Helper binds an HTML `<input> <https://www.w3.org/wiki/HTML/Elements/input>`__ element to a model expression in your razor view.
Syntax:
..code-block:: HTML
<input asp-for="<Expression Name>" />
The Input Tag Helper:
- Generates the ``id`` and ``name`` HTML attributes for the expression name specified in the ``asp-for`` attribute. ``asp-for="Property1.Property2"`` is equivalent to ``m => m.Property1.Property2``, that is the attribute value literally is part of an expression. The name of the expression is what's used for the ``asp-for`` attribute value.
- Sets the HTML ``type`` attribute value based on the model type and `data annotation <https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.componentmodel.dataannotations.aspx>`__ attributes applied to the model property
- Will not overwrite the HTML ``type`` attribute value when one is specified
- Generates `HTML5 <https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Guide/HTML/HTML5>`__ validation attributes from `data annotation <https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.componentmodel.dataannotations.aspx>`__ attributes applied to model properties
- Has an HTML Helper feature overlap with ``Html.TextBoxFor`` and ``Html.EditorFor``. See the **HTML Helper alternatives to Input Tag Helper** section for details.
- Provides strong typing. If the name of the property changes and you don't update the Tag Helper you'll get an error similar to the following:
..code-block:: HTML
An error occurred during the compilation of a resource required to process
this request. Please review the following specific error details and modify
your source code appropriately.
Type expected
'RegisterViewModel' does not contain a definition for 'Email' and no
extension method 'Email' accepting a first argument of type 'RegisterViewModel'
could be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)
The ``Input`` Tag Helper sets the HTML ``type`` attribute based on the .NET type. The following table lists some common .NET types and generated HTML type (not every .NET type is listed).
+---------------------+--------------------+
|.NET type | Input Type |
+=====================+====================+
|Bool | type="checkbox" |
+---------------------+--------------------+
|String | type="text" |
+---------------------+--------------------+
|DateTime | type="datetime" |
+---------------------+--------------------+
|Byte | type="number" |
+---------------------+--------------------+
|Int | type="number" |
+---------------------+--------------------+
|Single, Double | type="number" |
+---------------------+--------------------+
The following table shows some common `data annotations <https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.componentmodel.dataannotations.aspx>`__ attributes that the input tag helper will map to specific input types (not every validation attribute is listed):
data-val-email="The Email Address field is not a valid e-mail address."
data-val-required="The Email Address field is required."
id="Email" name="Email" value="" /> <br>
Password:
<input type="password" data-val="true"
data-val-required="The Password field is required."
id="Password" name="Password" /><br>
<button type="submit">Register</button>
<input name="__RequestVerificationToken" type="hidden" value="<removed for brevity>" />
</form>
The data annotations applied to the ``Email`` and ``Password`` properties generate metadata on the model. The Input Tag Helper consumes the model metadata and produces `HTML5 <https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Guide/HTML/HTML5>`__``data-val-*`` attributes (see :doc:`/mvc/models/validation`). These attributes describe the validators to attach to the input fields. This provides unobtrusive HTML5 and `jQuery <https://jquery.com/>`__ validation. The unobtrusive attributes have the format ``data-val-rule="Error Message"``, where rule is the name of the validation rule (such as ``data-val-required``, ``data-val-email``, ``data-val-maxlength``, etc.) If an error message is provided in the attribute, it is displayed as the value for the ``data-val-rule`` attribute. There are also attributes of the form ``data-val-ruleName-argumentName="argumentValue"`` that provide additional details about the rule, for example, ``data-val-maxlength-max="1024"`` .
HTML Helper alternatives to Input Tag Helper
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
``Html.TextBox``, ``Html.TextBoxFor``, ``Html.Editor`` and ``Html.EditorFor`` have overlapping features with the Input Tag Helper. The Input Tag Helper will automatically set the ``type`` attribute; ``Html.TextBox`` and ``Html.TextBoxFor`` will not. ``Html.Editor`` and ``Html.EditorFor`` handle collections, complex objects and templates; the Input Tag Helper does not. The Input Tag Helper, ``Html.EditorFor`` and ``Html.TextBoxFor`` are strongly typed (they use lambda expressions); ``Html.TextBox`` and ``Html.Editor`` are not (they use expression names).
The ``asp-for`` attribute value is a `ModelExpression <https://docs.asp.net/projects/api/en/latest/autoapi/Microsoft/AspNetCore/Mvc/Rendering/ModelExpression/index.html>`__ and the right hand side of a lambda expression. Therefore, ``asp-for="Property1"`` becomes ``m => m.Property1`` in the generated code which is why you don't need to prefix with ``Model``. You can use the "@" character to start an inline expression and move before the ``m.``:
You can also navigate to child properties using the property path of the view model. Consider a more complex model class that contains a child ``Address`` property.
:Note:Always use ``for`` (and *not* ``foreach``) to iterate over a list. Evaluating an indexer in a LINQ expression can be expensive and should be minimized.
:Note:The commented sample code above shows how you would replace the lambda expression with the ``@`` operator to access each ``ToDoItem`` in the list.
The `Textarea Tag Helper <https://docs.asp.net/projects/api/en/latest/autoapi/Microsoft/AspNetCore/Mvc/TagHelpers/TextAreaTagHelper/index.html>`__ tag helper is similar to the Input Tag Helper.
- Generates the ``id`` and ``name`` attributes, and the data validation attributes from the model for a `<textarea> <http://www.w3.org/wiki/HTML/Elements/textarea>`__ element.
The `Label Tag Helper <https://docs.asp.net/projects/api/en/latest/autoapi/Microsoft/AspNetCore/Mvc/TagHelpers/LabelTagHelper/index.html>`__ provides the following benefits over a pure HTML label element:
- You automatically get the descriptive label value from the ``Display`` attribute. The intended display name might change over time, and the combination of ``Display`` attribute and Label Tag Helper will apply the ``Display`` everywhere it's used.
The following HTML is generated for the ``<label>`` element:
..code-block:: HTML
<label for="Email">Email Address</label>
The Label Tag Helper generated the ``for`` attribute value of "Email", which is the ID associated with the ``<input>`` element. The Tag Helpers generate consistent ``id`` and ``for`` elements so they can be correctly associated. The caption in this sample comes from the ``Display`` attribute. If the model didn't contain a ``Display`` attribute, the caption would be the property name of the expression.
There are two Validation Tag Helpers. The `Validation Message Tag Helper <https://docs.asp.net/projects/api/en/latest/autoapi/Microsoft/AspNetCore/Mvc/TagHelpers/ValidationMessageTagHelper/index.html>`__ (which displays a validation message for a single property on your model), and the `Validation Summary Tag Helper <https://docs.asp.net/projects/api/en/latest/autoapi/Microsoft/AspNetCore/Mvc/TagHelpers/ValidationSummaryTagHelper/index.html>`__ (which displays a summary of validation errors). The `Input Tag Helper <https://docs.asp.net/projects/api/en/latest/autoapi/Microsoft/AspNetCore/Mvc/TagHelpers/InputTagHelper/index.html>`__ adds HTML5 client side validation attributes to input elements based on data annotation attributes on your model classes. Validation is also performed on the server. The Validation Tag Helper displays these error messages when a validation error occurs.
- Adds the `HTML5 <https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Guide/HTML/HTML5>`__``data-valmsg-for="property"`` attribute to the `span <https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/span>`__ element, which attaches the validation error messages on the input field of the specified model property. When a client side validation error occurs, `jQuery <https://jquery.com/>`__ displays the error message in the ``<span>`` element.
- Validation also takes place on the server. Clients may have JavaScript disabled and some validation can only be done on the server side.
- HTML Helper alternative: ``Html.ValidationMessageFor``
The `Validation Message Tag Helper <https://docs.asp.net/projects/api/en/latest/autoapi/Microsoft/AspNetCore/Mvc/TagHelpers/ValidationMessageTagHelper/index.html>`__ is used with the ``asp-validation-for`` attribute on a HTML `span <https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/span>`__ element.
You generally use the `Validation Message Tag Helper <https://docs.asp.net/projects/api/en/latest/autoapi/Microsoft/AspNetCore/Mvc/TagHelpers/ValidationMessageTagHelper/index.html>`__ after an ``Input`` Tag Helper for the same property. Doing so displays any validation error messages near the input that caused the error.
:Note:You must have a view with the correct JavaScript and `jQuery <https://jquery.com/>`__
script references in place for client side validation. See :doc:`/mvc/models/validation` for more information.
When a server side validation error occurs (for example when you have custom server side validation or client-side validation is disabled), MVC places that error message as the body of the ``<span>`` element.
The `Validation Summary Tag Helper <https://docs.asp.net/projects/api/en/latest/autoapi/Microsoft/AspNetCore/Mvc/TagHelpers/ValidationSummaryTagHelper/index.html>`__ is used to display a summary of validation messages. The ``asp-validation-summary`` attribute value can be any of the following:
In the following example, the data model is decorated with ``DataAnnotation`` attributes, which generates validation error messages on the ``<input>`` element. When a validation error occurs, the Validation Tag Helper displays the error message:
<input name="__RequestVerificationToken" type="hidden" value="<removed for brevity>" />
</form>
The Select Tag Helper
-------------------------
- Generates `select <https://www.w3.org/wiki/HTML/Elements/select>`__ and associated `option <https://www.w3.org/wiki/HTML/Elements/option>`__ elements for properties of your model.
- Has an HTML Helper alternative ``Html.DropDownListFor`` and ``Html.ListBoxFor``
The `Select Tag Helper <https://docs.asp.net/projects/api/en/latest/autoapi/Microsoft/AspNetCore/Mvc/TagHelpers/SelectTagHelper/index.html>`__``asp-for`` specifies the model property name for the `select <https://www.w3.org/wiki/HTML/Elements/select>`__ element and ``asp-items`` specifies the `option <https://www.w3.org/wiki/HTML/Elements/option>`__ elements. For example:
<input name="__RequestVerificationToken" type="hidden" value="<removed for brevity>" />
</form>
:Note:We do not recommend using ``ViewBag`` or ``ViewData`` with the Select Tag Helper. A view model is more robust at providing MVC metadata and generally less problematic.
The ``asp-for`` attribute value is a special case and doesn't require a ``Model`` prefix, the other Tag Helper attributes do (such as ``asp-items``)
It's often convenient to use ``<select>`` with an ``enum`` property and generate the `SelectListItem <https://docs.asp.net/projects/api/en/latest/autoapi/Microsoft/AspNetCore/Mvc/Rendering/SelectListItem/index.html?highlight=selectlistitem>`__ elements from the ``enum`` values.
The `GetEnumSelectList <https://docs.asp.net/projects/api/en/latest/autoapi/Microsoft/AspNetCore/Mvc/Rendering/IHtmlHelper/index.html>`__ method generates a `SelectList <https://docs.asp.net/projects/api/en/latest/autoapi/Microsoft/AspNetCore/Mvc/Rendering/SelectList/index.html>`__ object for an enum.
The HTML `<optgroup> <https://www.w3.org/wiki/HTML/Elements/optgroup>`__ element is generated when the view model contains one or more `SelectListGroup <https://docs.asp.net/projects/api/en/latest/autoapi/Microsoft/AspNetCore/Mvc/Rendering/SelectListGroup/index.html>`__ objects.
<input name="__RequestVerificationToken" type="hidden" value="<removed for brevity>" />
</form>
Multiple select
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The Select Tag Helper will automatically generate the `multiple = "multiple" <https://www.w3.org/TR/html-markup/select.html#select.attrs.multiple>`__ attribute if the property specified in the ``asp-for`` attribute is an ``IEnumerable``. For example, given the following model:
<input name="__RequestVerificationToken" type="hidden" value="<removed for brevity>" />
</form>
No selection
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
To allow for no selection, add a "not specified" option to the select list. If the property is a `value type <https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/s1ax56ch.aspx>`__, you'll have to make it `nullable <https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/2cf62fcy.aspx>`__.
Adding HTML `<option> <https://www.w3.org/wiki/HTML/Elements/option>`__ elements is not limited to the *No selection* case. For example, the following view and action method will generate HTML similar to the code above:
