ASP.​NET Core in .NET 6 - Input ElementReference in Blazor

This is the fifth part of the ASP.NET Core on .NET 6 series. In this post, I want to have a look at the input ElementReference in Blazor that is exposed to relevant components.

Microsoft exposes the ElementReference of the Blazor input elements to the underlying input. This effects the following components: InputCheckbox, InputDate, InputFile, InputNumber, InputSelect, InputText, and InputTextArea.

Exploring the ElementReference

To test it, I created a Blazor Server project using the dotnet CLI:

dotnet new blazorserver -n ElementReferenceDemo -o ElementReferenceDemo

CD into the project and call dotnet watch

I will reuse the index.razor to try the form ElementReference:

@page "/"

<h1>Hello, world!</h1>

Welcome to your new app.

<SurveyPrompt Title="How is Blazor working for you?" />

At first, add the following code block at the end of the file:

    Person person = new Person{
      FirstName = "John",
      LastName = "Doe"

    InputText firstNameReference;
    InputText lastNameReference;

    public class Person
        public string FirstName { get; set; }

        public string LastName { get; set; }

This creates a Person type and initializes it. We will use it later as a model in the EditForm. There are also two variables added that will reference the actual InputText elements in the form. We will add some more code later on, but let's add the form first:

<EditForm Model=@person>
    <InputText @bind-Value="person.FirstName" @ref="firstNameReference" /><br>
    <InputText @bind-Value="person.LastName" @ref="lastNameReference" /><br>

    <input type="submit" value="Submit" class="btn btn-primary" /><br>
    <input type="button" value="Focus FirstName" class="btn btn-secondary" 
        @onclick="HandleFocusFirstName" />
    <input type="button" value="Focus LastName" class="btn btn-secondary" 
        @onclick="HandleFocusLastName" />

This form has the person object assigned as a model. It contains two InputText elements, the default input button as well as two input buttons that will be used to test the ElementReference.

The reference Variables are assigned to the @ref attribute of the InputText elements. We will use these variables later on.

The buttons have @onclick methods assigned that we need to add to the code section:

private async Task HandleFocusFirstName()

private async Task HandleFocusLastName()

As described by Microsoft the input elements now expose the ElementReference. This can be used to set the Focus of an element. Add the following lines to focus the InputText elements:

private async Task HandleFocusFirstName()
   await firstNameReference.Element.Value.FocusAsync();

private async Task HandleFocusLastName()
   await lastNameReference.Element.Value.FocusAsync();

This might be pretty useful. Instead of playing around with JavaScript Interop, you can use C# completely.

On the other hand, it would be great, if Microsoft exposes much more features via the ElementReference, instead of just focusing an element.

What's next?

In the next part In going to look into the support for Nullable Reference Type Annotations in ASP.NET Core.

If you found any error on this post, feel free to tell me: Add a comment below, file an issue on GitHub or edit this page on GitHub and send me an PullRequest.

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Jürgen Gutsch Jürgen Gutsch
.NET junkie, addicted to web and software development, clean coder, MVP for Developer Technologies