Getting Started with ASP.NET MVC Block Editor control

18 Nov 20183 minutes to read

This section briefly explains about how to include ASP.NET MVC BlockEditor control in your ASP.NET MVC application using Visual Studio.

Prerequisites

System requirements for ASP.NET MVC controls

Create an ASP.NET MVC Application

You can create an ASP.NET MVC web application using either of the following two methods. Follow the steps in one of these methods to create an ASP.NET MVC project:

WARNING

Important: Syncfusion® ASP.NET MVC controls require System.Web.Mvc version 5.3.0. Using earlier versions may result in runtime or build errors. For more information, refer to the release notes.

Install Syncfusion ASP.NET MVC package in the application

You can add the Syncfusion Block Editor to your ASP.NET MVC application by installing the Syncfusion ASP.NET MVC package. This can be done in two ways, as mentioned below:

1. Using NuGet Package Manager

Open Visual Studio and navigate to Tools → NuGet Package Manager → Manage NuGet Packages for Solution. Search for Syncfusion.EJ2.MVC5 and install it directly.

2. Using Package Manager Console

Run the following command in the Package Manager Console:

Install-Package Syncfusion.EJ2.MVC5 -Version 34.1.29

IMPORTANT

Ensure you’re running the command inside Visual Studio’s Package Manager Console (Tools → NuGet Package Manager → Package Manager Console), not in a terminal like CMD or PowerShell.

NOTE

Syncfusion® ASP.NET MVC controls are available in nuget.org. Refer to NuGet packages topic to learn more about installing NuGet packages in various OS environments. The Syncfusion.EJ2.MVC5 NuGet package has dependencies, Newtonsoft.Json for JSON serialization and Syncfusion.Licensing for validating Syncfusion® license key.

Add namespace

Add the Syncfusion.EJ2 namespace reference to the Web.config file under the Views folder.

<namespaces>
    <add namespace="Syncfusion.EJ2"/>
</namespaces>

Add stylesheet and script resources

Here, the theme and script resources are referenced through a CDN inside the <head> of ~/Pages/Shared/_Layout.cshtml file as follows,

<head>
    ...
    <!-- Syncfusion ASP.NET MVC controls styles -->
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/34.1.29/fluent2.css" />
    <!-- Syncfusion ASP.NET MVC controls scripts -->
    <script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/34.1.29/dist/ej2.min.js"></script>
</head>

NOTE

Check out the Themes topic to learn different ways (CDN, NPM package, and CRG) to refer styles in ASP.NET MVC application, and to have the expected appearance for Syncfusion® ASP.NET MVC controls. Checkout the Adding Script Reference topic to learn different approaches for adding script references in your ASP.NET MVC application.

Register Syncfusion® Script Manager

Also, register the Script Manager EJS().ScriptManager() at the end of <body> in the ~/Pages/Shared/_Layout.cshtml file as follows.

<body>
...
    <!-- Syncfusion ASP.NET MVC Script Manager -->
    @Html.EJS().ScriptManager()
</body>

Add ASP.NET MVC Block Editor control

Now, add the Syncfusion® ASP.NET MVC Block Editor control to the ~/Views/Home/Index.cshtml page.

@using Syncfusion.EJ2.BlockEditor

<div id='blockeditor-container'>
    @Html.EJS().BlockEditor("block-editor").Render()
</div>

<style>
    #blockeditor-container {
       margin: 20px auto;
    }
</style>
public ActionResult Index()
{
    return View();
}

IMPORTANT

Replace the existing content in the Index.cshtml file by pasting the above code snippet. Note that the id attribute must be present when the Block Editor control is rendered — if not provided, the control will fail to render.

Run the application

Press Ctrl+F5 (Windows) or ⌘+F5 (macOS) to run the app. Then, the Syncfusion® ASP.NET MVC Block Editor control will be rendered in the default web browser.

ASP.NET MVC Block Editor Control