Microsoft Templates (NuGet Packages)

• Nov 29, 2023
• 6 minutes to read

Important

Ensure your system meets these requirements.

This topic describes how to:

• Use Microsoft templates to create a Blazor Server or WebAssembly project
• Install the DevExpress.Blazor NuGet package that includes DevExpress components
• Add DevExpress components to a project

Note

These instructions are also available in the following videos:

• Get Started with Blazor Server
• Get Started with Blazor WebAssembly

1. Create a New Project

This section describes how to create a new Blazor project. If you want to add DevExpress Blazor components to an existing application, go to Step 2.

1. Click Create a new project on Visual Studio’s start page, select a Blazor template based on the framework version, and click Next.

2. Specify the project name and location, and click Next.

3. Specify additional options, and click Create.

2. Obtain Your NuGet Feed Credentials

You need to obtain your personal NuGet feed credentials to access the DevExpress.Blazor NuGet package from your project. You can use NuGet feed URL or feed authorization key to manage DevExpress packages.

1. Make sure your DevExpress.com account has access to Blazor UI Components. This product line is included in the Universal, DXperience, and ASP.NET subscriptions. Refer to the subscription comparison matrix for more information.

2. Use your DevExpress credentials to log into nuget.devexpress.com.

3. Obtain your NuGet feed credentials and copy them to the clipboard.

   

   You can find the same URL in the Download Manager.

3. Install the DevExpress Blazor NuGet Package

1. In Visual Studio, select Tools → NuGet Package Manager → Package Manager Settings.

   

2. Navigate to NuGet Package Manager → Package Sources. Click the plus sign at the top right corner to add a new NuGet package source. Use the following package settings:

   • Name: DevExpress

   • Source: DevExpress NuGet Gallery (https://nuget.devexpress.com/api/v3/index.json) if you use the feed key to authenticate. Otherwise, use the NuGet Feed URL (https://nuget.devexpress.com/{your-feed-authorization-key}/api/v3/index.json).

   Click OK.

   Make sure the nuget.org package source is also enabled.

   

3. Select Tools → NuGet Package Manager → Manage NuGet Packages for Solution.

   If you registered the DevExpress NuGet feed with an authorization key, the login form is displayed when you invoke the NuGet Package Manager window for the first time. Enter your credentials as follows:

   • User name: DevExpress

   • Password: your authorization key

     

   In the invoked dialog, open the Browse tab, and install the DevExpress.Blazor NuGet package.

   

4. Build the project.

Refer to the following topic for more information: Install NuGet Packages in Visual Studio, VS Code, and Rider.

4. Register DevExpress Resources

1. Register the DevExpress.Blazor namespace in the _Imports.razor file:

   _Imports.razor

   @using DevExpress.Blazor
   

2. Open the Program.cs file and add using DevExpress.Blazor. Then call the AddDevExpressBlazor method and specify the BootstrapVersion global option. The option’s default value is v4. If your application uses a theme based on Bootstrap 5, you should set the BootstrapVersion property to v5.

   Program.cs (Server or WebAssembly)

   using DevExpress.Blazor;
   
   /* ... */
   
   builder.Services.AddDevExpressBlazor(configure => configure.BootstrapVersion = BootstrapVersion.v5);
   

3. Apply a theme with one of the following approaches:

   Note

   Based on your project structure, apply a theme in the appropriate project file:

   • Pages/_Layout.cshtml for Blazor Server applications created with a Microsoft template in .NET 6
   • Pages/_Host.cshtml for Blazor Server applications created with a DevExpress Template in .NET 6 and .NET 7 or with a Microsoft template in .NET 7
   • wwwroot/index.html for Blazor WebAssembly or Hybrid applications in .NET 6 and .NET 7
   • Components/App.razor for Blazor Web applications in .NET 8

   • Apply a DevExpress theme. We use the DevExpress Blazing Berry theme in our documentation. To apply this theme, add a link to a theme’s stylesheet before the site.css and <ProjectName>.styles.css links.

     If you do not implement any solutions to refresh cached resources on user machines, add the asp-append-version attribute to the theme link. The attribute ensures that web browsers on user machines use the actual version of DevExpress CSS resources instead of a version cached before. Refer to HTTP caching for more information about the browser cache.

     Blazing Berry

     <head>
         @*...*@
         @* Bootstrap 5 *@
         <link href="_content/DevExpress.Blazor.Themes/blazing-berry.bs5.min.css" rel="stylesheet"
                 asp-append-version="true"/>
         @* Bootstrap 4 *@
         <link href="_content/DevExpress.Blazor.Themes/blazing-berry.bs4.min.css" rel="stylesheet"
                 asp-append-version="true"/>
         <link href="css/site.css" rel="stylesheet" />
         <link href="<ProjectName>.styles.css" rel="stylesheet" />
         @*...*@
     </head>
     

   • Apply a Bootstrap theme. The project may already contain a link to the standard or custom Bootstrap theme. In this case, add a link to the bootstrap-external stylesheet (v4 or v5) to apply CSS variables from Bootstrap CSS files to DevExpress Blazor components.

     <head>
         @*...*@
         @* Bootstrap theme *@
         <link rel="stylesheet" href="css/bootstrap/bootstrap.min.css" />
     
         @* bootstrap-external for Bootstrap 5 *@
         <link rel="stylesheet" href="_content/DevExpress.Blazor.Themes/bootstrap-external.bs5.min.css" /> 
         @* bootstrap-external for Bootstrap 4 *@
         <link rel="stylesheet" href="_content/DevExpress.Blazor.Themes/bootstrap-external.bs4.min.css" />
         @*...*@
     </head>
     

4. For .NET 8 only. Register scripts required by DevExpress components – open the App.razor file and call the DxResourceManager.RegisterScripts method.

   App.razor

   <head>
       @*...*@
       <link href="_content/DevExpress.Blazor.Themes/blazing-berry.bs5.css" rel="stylesheet" asp-append-version="true" />
       @DxResourceManager.RegisterScripts()
       @*...*@
   </head>
   

5. For Blazor Server only (.NET 6 and .NET 7). Call the UseStaticWebAssets method on the host builder in the Program.cs file to enable the application to load client-side resources. Refer to the following topic for details: Static files in non-Development environments for Blazor Server apps.

   Program.cs

   builder.WebHost.UseWebRoot("wwwroot");
   builder.WebHost.UseStaticWebAssets();
   

6. For Blazor WebAssembly only (.NET 6 and .NET 7). If you enabled the ASP.NET Core hosted option when you created the project, make sure that the server-side project is set as the solution’s startup project.

5. Add DevExpress Blazor Components

Add DevExpress Blazor components to any .razor file in the Pages folder. For .NET 8 projects, enable interactivity for DevExpress components:

• Make sure the required interactive services are registered in the Program.cs file.

• Add the corresponding render mode attribute to a component’s page.

The following code demonstrates how to add a DxCalendar component to Pages/Index.razor based on the framework version:

.NET 6.0 or .NET 7.0

@page "/"

<DxCalendar @bind-SelectedDate="@SelectedDate" />

@code{
    DateTime SelectedDate { get; set; } = DateTime.Now;
}

.NET 8.0

@page "/"
@rendermode InteractiveServer 

<DxCalendar @bind-SelectedDate="@SelectedDate" />

@code{
    DateTime SelectedDate { get; set; } = DateTime.Now;
}

For instructions on how to add an individual DevExpress Blazor component to your application, refer to the documents below:

Accordion Button Calendar Chart CheckBox ComboBox Context Menu Dashboard

DropDown Flyout Form Layout Date Edit Grid Grid Layout Layout Breakpoint List Box

Loading Panel Masked Input Memo Menu Pager Pie Chart Pivot Grid Popup

Radio RadioGroup Reports Rich Text Editor Scheduler Spin Edit Stack Layout Tabs

TagBox Text Box Time Edit Toolbar TreeView Upload Wait Indicator Window

6. Run the Application

The image below shows the resulting application.