Blazilla 2.0.0

Blazilla

A library for using FluentValidation with Blazor

Overview

Blazilla provides seamless integration between FluentValidation and Blazor's EditForm component. This library enables you to use FluentValidation's powerful and flexible validation rules with Blazor forms, supporting both Blazor Server and Blazor WebAssembly applications.

Features

• Real-time validation - Validate fields as users type or change values
• Form-level validation - Full model validation on form submission
• Nested object validation - Support for complex object hierarchies
• Asynchronous validation - Built-in support for async validation rules
• Rule sets - Execute specific groups of validation rules
• Custom validator selectors - Fine-grained control over which rules to execute
• Dependency injection integration - Automatic validator resolution from DI container
• Performance optimized - Compiled expression trees for fast validation context creation

Installation

Install the package via NuGet:

dotnet add package Blazilla

Or via Package Manager Console:

Install-Package Blazilla

Quick Start

1. Create a Model

public class Person
{
    public string? FirstName { get; set; }
    public string? LastName { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }
    public string? EmailAddress { get; set; }
}

2. Create a FluentValidation Validator

using FluentValidation;

public class PersonValidator : AbstractValidator<Person>
{
    public PersonValidator()
    {
        RuleFor(p => p.FirstName)
            .NotEmpty().WithMessage("First name is required")
            .MaximumLength(50).WithMessage("First name cannot exceed 50 characters");

        RuleFor(p => p.LastName)
            .NotEmpty().WithMessage("Last name is required")
            .MaximumLength(50).WithMessage("Last name cannot exceed 50 characters");

        RuleFor(p => p.Age)
            .GreaterThanOrEqualTo(0).WithMessage("Age must be greater than or equal to 0")
            .LessThan(150).WithMessage("Age must be less than 150");

        RuleFor(p => p.EmailAddress)
            .NotEmpty().WithMessage("Email address is required")
            .EmailAddress().WithMessage("Please provide a valid email address");
    }
}

3. Register the Validator

Blazor Server (Program.cs)

using FluentValidation;

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

// Add services
builder.Services.AddRazorPages();
builder.Services.AddServerSideBlazor();

// Register FluentValidation validators as singletons for better performance
builder.Services.AddSingleton<IValidator<Person>, PersonValidator>();

var app = builder.Build();
// ... rest of configuration

Blazor WebAssembly (Program.cs)

using FluentValidation;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components.Web;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components.WebAssembly.Hosting;

var builder = WebAssemblyHostBuilder.CreateDefault(args);
builder.RootComponents.Add<App>("#app");
builder.RootComponents.Add<HeadOutlet>("head::after");

// Register FluentValidation validators as singletons for better performance
builder.Services.AddSingleton<IValidator<Person>, PersonValidator>();

await builder.Build().RunAsync();

4. Use in Blazor Component

@page "/person-form"

<h3>Person Form</h3>

<EditForm Model="@person" OnValidSubmit="@HandleValidSubmit">
    <FluentValidator />
    <ValidationSummary />

    <div class="mb-3">
        <label for="firstName" class="form-label">First Name</label>
        <InputText id="firstName" class="form-control" @bind-Value="person.FirstName" />
        <ValidationMessage For="@(() => person.FirstName)" />
    </div>

    <div class="mb-3">
        <label for="lastName" class="form-label">Last Name</label>
        <InputText id="lastName" class="form-control" @bind-Value="person.LastName" />
        <ValidationMessage For="@(() => person.LastName)" />
    </div>

    <div class="mb-3">
        <label for="age" class="form-label">Age</label>
        <InputNumber id="age" class="form-control" @bind-Value="person.Age" />
        <ValidationMessage For="@(() => person.Age)" />
    </div>

    <div class="mb-3">
        <label for="email" class="form-label">Email</label>
        <InputText id="email" class="form-control" @bind-Value="person.EmailAddress" />
        <ValidationMessage For="@(() => person.EmailAddress)" />
    </div>

    <button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary">Submit</button>
</EditForm>

@code {
    private Person person = new();

    private async Task HandleValidSubmit()
    {
        // Handle successful form submission
        Console.WriteLine("Form submitted successfully!");
    }
}

Advanced Usage

Asynchronous Validation

Blazor's built-in validation system doesn't natively support asynchronous validation. When using async validation rules with FluentValidation, you need to handle form submission manually to ensure async validation completes before the form is submitted.

Enable asynchronous validation mode and use OnSubmit instead of OnValidSubmit to properly handle async validation:

<EditForm Model="@person" OnSubmit="@HandleSubmit">
    <FluentValidator AsyncMode="true" />
    <ValidationSummary />
    
    <div class="mb-3">
        <label for="email" class="form-label">Email</label>
        <InputText id="email" class="form-control" @bind-Value="person.EmailAddress" />
        <ValidationMessage For="@(() => person.EmailAddress)" />
    </div>
    
    <button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary" disabled="@isSubmitting">
        @(isSubmitting ? "Validating..." : "Submit")
    </button>
</EditForm>

@code {
    private Person person = new();
    private bool isSubmitting = false;

    private async Task HandleSubmit(EditContext editContext)
    {
        isSubmitting = true;
        StateHasChanged();
        
        try
        {
            // Use ValidateAsync to ensure all async validation completes
            var isValid = await editContext.ValidateAsync();
            
            if (isValid)
            {
                // Form is valid, proceed with submission
                await ProcessValidForm();
            }
            // If invalid, validation messages will be displayed automatically
        }
        finally
        {
            isSubmitting = false;
            StateHasChanged();
        }
    }
    
    private async Task ProcessValidForm()
    {
        // Handle successful form submission
        Console.WriteLine("Form submitted successfully!");
        await Task.Delay(1000); // Simulate form processing
    }
}

Create a validator with async rules:

public class PersonValidator : AbstractValidator<Person>
{
    public PersonValidator()
    {
        RuleFor(p => p.EmailAddress)
            .NotEmpty().WithMessage("Email is required")
            .EmailAddress().WithMessage("Please provide a valid email address")
            .MustAsync(async (email, cancellation) => 
            {
                // Simulate async validation (e.g., database check)
                await Task.Delay(500, cancellation);
                return !email?.Equals("admin@example.com", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) ?? true;
            }).WithMessage("This email address is not available");
    }
}

Why This Approach is Necessary

Blazor's OnValidSubmit event fires immediately after synchronous validation passes, without waiting for async validation to complete. This can result in forms being submitted with incomplete validation results.

The EditContextExtensions.ValidateAsync() method:

1. Triggers synchronous validation first (which may initiate async validation tasks)
2. Waits for any pending async validation tasks to complete
3. Returns true only when all validation (sync and async) has passed

This ensures that form submission is properly prevented when async validation rules fail.

Important: Always use OnSubmit instead of OnValidSubmit when working with async validation rules. The OnValidSubmit event doesn't wait for async validation to complete.

Rule Sets

Use rule sets to execute specific groups of validation rules:

public class PersonValidator : AbstractValidator<Person>
{
    public PersonValidator()
    {
        // Default rules (always executed)
        RuleFor(p => p.FirstName).NotEmpty();

        // Rules in specific rule sets
        RuleSet("Create", () =>
        {
            RuleFor(p => p.EmailAddress)
                .NotEmpty()
                .EmailAddress();
        });

        RuleSet("Update", () =>
        {
            RuleFor(p => p.LastName).NotEmpty();
        });
    }
}

<FluentValidator RuleSets="@(new[] { "Create" })" />


<FluentValidator AllRules="true" />

Nested Object Validation

Validate complex objects with nested properties:

public class Person
{
    public string? FirstName { get; set; }
    public string? LastName { get; set; }
    public Address? Address { get; set; }
}

public class Address
{
    public string? Street { get; set; }
    public string? City { get; set; }
    public string? PostalCode { get; set; }
}

public class AddressValidator : AbstractValidator<Address>
{
    public AddressValidator()
    {
        RuleFor(a => a.Street).NotEmpty().WithMessage("Street is required");
        RuleFor(a => a.City).NotEmpty().WithMessage("City is required");
        RuleFor(a => a.PostalCode).NotEmpty().WithMessage("Postal code is required");
    }
}

public class PersonValidator : AbstractValidator<Person>
{
    public PersonValidator()
    {
        RuleFor(p => p.FirstName).NotEmpty();
        RuleFor(p => p.LastName).NotEmpty();
        
        // Validate nested Address object
        RuleFor(p => p.Address!)
            .SetValidator(new AddressValidator())
            .When(p => p.Address is not null);
    }
}

<EditForm Model="@person" OnValidSubmit="@HandleValidSubmit">
    <FluentValidator />
    
    
    <InputText @bind-Value="person.FirstName" />
    <ValidationMessage For="@(() => person.FirstName)" />
    
    
    <InputText @bind-Value="person.Address!.Street" />
    <ValidationMessage For="@(() => person.Address!.Street)" />
    
    <InputText @bind-Value="person.Address!.City" />
    <ValidationMessage For="@(() => person.Address!.City)" />
</EditForm>

Custom Validator Instance

Pass a validator instance directly instead of using dependency injection:

@code {
    private PersonValidator validator = new();
}

<EditForm Model="@person" OnValidSubmit="@HandleValidSubmit">
    <FluentValidator Validator="@validator" />
    
</EditForm>

Custom Validator Selector

Implement fine-grained control over which validation rules to execute:

<EditForm Model="@person" OnValidSubmit="@HandleValidSubmit">
    <FluentValidator Selector="@customSelector" />
    
</EditForm>

@code {
    private IValidatorSelector customSelector = new CustomValidatorSelector();
    
    public class CustomValidatorSelector : IValidatorSelector
    {
        public bool CanExecute(IValidationRule rule, string propertyPath, IValidationContext context)
        {
            // Custom logic to determine if a rule should execute
            return true;
        }
    }
}

Component Parameters

The FluentValidator component supports the following parameters:

Validation Behavior

• Field-level validation: Triggered when individual form fields change
• Form-level validation: Triggered when the form is submitted via OnValidSubmit
• Real-time feedback: Validation messages appear immediately as users interact with the form
• Integration with EditContext: Works seamlessly with Blazor's built-in validation system

Performance Considerations

• Validators should be registered as singletons in the DI container since they are stateless and can be safely shared across requests/components
• Validators are cached and reused when resolved from dependency injection
• Validation contexts are created using compiled expression trees for optimal performance
• Asynchronous validation executes async validators directly, ensuring responsive UI performance

AsyncMode: Only enable AsyncMode="true" when your validators contain actual async rules (like MustAsync). Using async mode with purely synchronous validators introduces unnecessary overhead from async state machine generation and task scheduling, even though the validation logic itself is synchronous

Integration Details

Blazor FieldIdentifier to FluentValidation Path Conversion

The library automatically converts Blazor's FieldIdentifier objects to FluentValidation property paths to ensure validation messages appear in the correct location. This conversion handles:

Simple Properties

// Blazor FieldIdentifier: { Model = person, FieldName = "FirstName" }
// FluentValidation path: "FirstName"

Nested Properties

// Blazor FieldIdentifier: { Model = address, FieldName = "Street" }
// FluentValidation path: "Address.Street" (when address is a property of person)

Collection Items

// Blazor FieldIdentifier: { Model = phoneNumber, FieldName = "Number" }
// FluentValidation path: "PhoneNumbers[0].Number" (when phoneNumber is item 0 in a collection)

The path conversion is performed internally using object tree analysis to match Blazor's field identification system with FluentValidation's property path conventions. This ensures that validation messages from FluentValidation rules are correctly associated with the corresponding Blazor input components.

Blazor Forms and Async Validation Limitations

Important: Blazor's built-in form validation system has inherent limitations with asynchronous validation:

1. OnValidSubmit Event Timing: The OnValidSubmit event fires immediately after synchronous validation passes, without waiting for any asynchronous validation operations to complete.

2. EditContext.Validate() Behavior: The standard EditContext.Validate() method only performs synchronous validation and doesn't trigger or wait for async validation rules.

Workaround for Async Validation:

When using validators with async rules (MustAsync, custom async validators), you must:

• Enable AsyncMode="true" on the FluentValidator component
• Use OnSubmit instead of OnValidSubmit
• Call EditContextExtensions.ValidateAsync() to ensure async validation completes

This limitation is a fundamental aspect of Blazor's validation architecture and affects all validation libraries, not just FluentValidation integrations.

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

No validator found error

No validator found for model type MyModel. To use FluentValidator, register a validator for this model type or pass one directly to the Validator parameter.

Solution: Ensure your validator is registered in the DI container:

builder.Services.AddSingleton<IValidator<MyModel>, MyModelValidator>();

EditContext parameter missing

FluentValidator requires a cascading parameter of type EditContext.

Solution: Ensure the component is placed inside an EditForm:

<EditForm Model="@model">
    <FluentValidator />
    
</EditForm>

Invalid form submits when using AsyncMode

When using AsyncMode="true", forms may submit even when async validation fails if you're using OnValidSubmit instead of OnSubmit.

Problem: OnValidSubmit fires immediately after synchronous validation passes, without waiting for async validation to complete.

Solution: Use OnSubmit with EditContextExtensions.ValidateAsync():

<EditForm Model="@model" OnValidSubmit="@HandleValidSubmit">
    <FluentValidator AsyncMode="true" />
    
</EditForm>


<EditForm Model="@model" OnSubmit="@HandleSubmit">
    <FluentValidator AsyncMode="true" />
    
</EditForm>

@code {
    private async Task HandleSubmit(EditContext editContext)
    {
        // Wait for all async validation to complete
        var isValid = await editContext.ValidateAsync();
        
        if (isValid)
        {
            // Only proceed if validation passed
            await ProcessForm();
        }
    }
}

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.