Getting Started with ASP.NET Core Smart TextArea Control

23 Jul 20266 minutes to read

This section briefly explains how to include the ASP.NET Core Smart TextArea control in your ASP.NET Core application using Visual Studio.

Create an ASP.NET Core Web App with Razor Pages

Create an ASP.NET Core Web App using Visual Studio via Microsoft Templates or the Syncfusion® ASP.NET Core Extension. For detailed instructions, refer to the ASP.NET Core Web App Getting Started documentation.

Install the required ASP.NET Core packages

To add ASP.NET Core Smart TextArea control in the app, open the NuGet package manager in Visual Studio (Tools → NuGet Package Manager → Manage NuGet Packages for Solution), search for and install the Syncfusion.AspNetCore.SmartComponents and Syncfusion.AspNetCore.Themes packages. All Syncfusion ASP.NET Core packages are available in nuget.org. See the NuGet packages topic for details.

Alternatively, you can install the same package using the Package Manager Console with the following commands.

Install-Package Syncfusion.AspNetCore.SmartComponents -Version 34.1.29
Install-Package Syncfusion.AspNetCore.Themes -Version 34.1.29

Add ASP.NET Core Tag Helpers

After the packages are installed, open the ~/Pages/_ViewImports.cshtml file and import the Syncfusion.AspNetCore.Base and Syncfusion.AspNetCore.SmartComponents Tag Helpers.

@addTagHelper *, Syncfusion.AspNetCore.Base
@addTagHelper *, Syncfusion.AspNetCore.SmartComponents

Add stylesheet and script resources

The theme stylesheet and script can be referenced from the CDN. Include the stylesheet and script references inside the <head> of ~/Pages/Shared/_Layout.cshtml

<head>
    ...
    <!-- ASP.NET Core controls styles -->
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="_content/Syncfusion.AspNetCore.Themes/styles/fluent2.css" />
    <!-- ASP.NET Core controls scripts -->
    <script src="_content/Syncfusion.AspNetCore.Inputs/scripts/sf-textarea.min.js"></script>
</head>

Register the script manager

Open the ~/Pages/Shared/_Layout.cshtml file and register the script manager <ejs-scripts> at the end of the <body> element as follows.

<body>
    ...
    <!-- ASP.NET Core Script Manager -->
    <ejs-scripts></ejs-scripts>
</body>

Configure AI Service

To enable AI-powered autocompletion in the Smart TextArea, configure an AI model (OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, or Ollama) in your application. Install the required NuGet packages and update the ~/Program.cs file as described below.

Install AI Service NuGet Packages

Install the following NuGet packages based on your chosen AI provider:

Install-Package Microsoft.Extensions.AI
Install-Package Microsoft.Extensions.AI.OpenAI
@* For Azure OpenAI only *@
Install-Package Azure.AI.OpenAI
@* For Ollama only *@
Install-Package OllamaSharp

OpenAI Configuration

For OpenAI, obtain an API key from OpenAI and specify the desired model (e.g., gpt-3.5-turbo, gpt-4). Store the API key securely in a configuration file or environment variable.

Add the following to the Program.cs file:

using Microsoft.Extensions.AI;
using OpenAI;
using Syncfusion.EJ2;


builder.Services.AddRazorPages();

string openAIApiKey = "API-KEY";
string openAIModel = "OPENAI_MODEL";
OpenAIClient openAIClient = new OpenAIClient(openAIApiKey);
IChatClient openAIChatClient = openAIClient.GetChatClient(openAIModel).AsIChatClient();
builder.Services.AddChatClient(openAIChatClient);

builder.Services.AddSyncfusionSmartComponents()
    .InjectOpenAIInference();

var app = builder.Build();
....

Azure OpenAI Configuration

For Azure OpenAI, deploy a resource and model as described in Azure OpenAI documentation. Obtain the API key, endpoint, and model name from your Azure portal.

Add the following to the Program.cs file:

using Syncfusion.EJ2;
using Microsoft.Extensions.AI;
using Azure.AI.OpenAI;
using System.ClientModel;

builder.Services.AddRazorPages();

string azureOpenAIKey = "AZURE_OPENAI_KEY";
string azureOpenAIEndpoint = "AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT";
string azureOpenAIModel = "AZURE_OPENAI_MODEL";
AzureOpenAIClient azureOpenAIClient = new AzureOpenAIClient(
     new Uri(azureOpenAIEndpoint),
     new ApiKeyCredential(azureOpenAIKey)
);
IChatClient azureOpenAIChatClient = azureOpenAIClient.GetChatClient(azureOpenAIModel).AsIChatClient();
builder.Services.AddChatClient(azureOpenAIChatClient);

builder.Services.AddSyncfusionSmartComponents()
    .InjectOpenAIInference();

var app = builder.Build();
....

Ollama Configuration

To use Ollama for self-hosted models:

  1. Download and install Ollama from Ollama’s official website.
  2. Install a model from the Ollama Library (e.g., llama2:13b, mistral:7b).
  3. Configure the endpoint URL (e.g., http://localhost:11434) and model name.

Add the following to the Program.cs file:

using Syncfusion.EJ2;
using Microsoft.Extensions.AI;
using OllamaSharp;

builder.Services.AddRazorPages();

string ModelName = "MODEL_NAME";
IChatClient chatClient = new OllamaApiClient("http://localhost:11434", ModelName);
builder.Services.AddChatClient(chatClient);

builder.Services.AddSyncfusionSmartComponents()
    .InjectOpenAIInference();

var app = builder.Build();
....

Add ASP.NET Core Smart TextArea Control

The user-role attribute (required) defines the context for AI autocompletion based on the user’s role. The user-phrases attribute (optional) provides predefined expressions aligned with the application’s tone and common phrases.

Add the ASP.NET Core Smart TextArea control in the ~/Pages/Index.cshtml file.

@{
    var presets = new { 
        userRole = "Maintainer of an open-source project replying to GitHub issues",
        userPhrases = new[] { "Thank you for contacting us.", "To investigate, we'll need a repro as a public Git repo.", "Could you please post a screenshot of NEED_INFO?", "This sounds like a usage question. This issue tracker is intended for bugs and feature proposals. Unfortunately, we don't have the capacity to answer general usage questions and would recommend StackOverflow for a faster response.", "We don't accept ZIP files as repros." }, 
        placeHolder = "Write your response to the GitHub issue..." };
}

<ejs-smarttextarea id="smartTextarea" user-role="@presets.userRole" user-phrases="@presets.userPhrases" width="75%" placeholder="@presets.placeHolder" floatLabelType="Auto" rows="5"></ejs-smarttextarea>

Run the application

Press Ctrl+F5 (Windows) or ⌘+F5 (macOS) to launch the application. The ASP.NET Core Smart TextArea control will render in your default web browser.

ASP.NET Core Smart TextArea Control

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues, try the following:

  • NuGet Installation Errors: Ensure a stable internet connection and set the NuGet package source to https://www.nuget.org. Run dotnet restore again.
  • AI Service Configuration Errors: Verify the API key, endpoint, and model name in Program.cs. Check for typos or incorrect values.

See also

  1. Getting Started with ASP.NET Core using Razor Pages
  2. Getting Started with ASP.NET Core MVC using Tag Helper