Getting Started with ASP.NET MVC Breadcrumb Control

30 May 20225 minutes to read

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

Prerequisites

System requirements for ASP.NET MVC controls

Create ASP.NET MVC application with HTML helper

Install ASP.NET MVC package in the application

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. To add ASP.NET MVC controls in the application, open the NuGet package manager in Visual Studio (Tools → NuGet Package Manager → Manage NuGet Packages for Solution), search for Syncfusion.EJ2.MVC5 and then install it.

The Syncfusion.EJ2.MVC5 NuGet package has dependencies, Newtonsoft.Json for JSON serialization and Syncfusion.Licensing for validating Syncfusion license key.

If you create ASP.NET MVC application with MVC4 package, search for Syncfusion.EJ2.MVC4 and then install it.

Add namespace

Add Syncfusion.EJ2 namespace reference in Web.config under Views folder.

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

Add style sheet

Checkout 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. Here, the theme is referred using CDN inside the <head> of ~/Views/Shared/_Layout.cshtml file as follows,

<head>
    ...
    <!-- Syncfusion ASP.NET MVC controls styles -->
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/20.1.55/fluent.css" />
</head>

Add script reference

In this getting started walk-through, the required scripts are referred using CDN inside the <head> of ~/Views/Shared/_Layout.cshtml file as follows,

<head>
    ...
    <!-- Syncfusion ASP.NET MVC controls scripts -->
    <script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/20.1.55/dist/ej2.min.js"></script>
</head>

Register Syncfusion Script Manager

Open ~/Views/Shared/_Layout.cshtml page and register the script manager EJS().ScriptManager() at the end of <body> in the ASP.NET MVC application as follows.

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

Add ASP.NET MVC Breadcrumb control

Now, add the Syncfusion ASP.NET MVC Breadcrumb control in ~/Home/Index.cshtml page.

@Html.EJS().Breadcrumb("default").Render()

Add Items to the Breadcrumb Control

Use Items property to bind items for Breadcrumb control. The below example demonstrates the basic rendering of Breadcrumb with items support.

@Html.EJS().Breadcrumb("default").Items(item =>
{
    item.IconCss("e-icons e-home").Url("https://ej2.syncfusion.com/home/aspnetmvc.html").Add();
    item.Text("Components").Url("https://ej2.syncfusion.com/aspnetmvc/Grid/GridOverview").Add();
    item.Text("Navigations").Url("https://ej2.syncfusion.com/aspnetmvc/Menu/DefaultFunctionalities").Add();
    item.Text("Breadcrumb").Url("https://ej2.syncfusion.com/aspnetmvc/Breadcrumb/DefaultFunctionalities").Add();
}).Render()

<style>
    @@font-face {
        font-family: 'e-bicons';
        src: url(data:application/x-font-ttf;charset=utf-8;base64,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) format('truetype');
        font-weight: normal;
        font-style: normal;
    }

    .e-bicons {
        font-family: 'e-bicons' !important;
        font-size: 14px;
    }
</style>

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

ASP.NET MVC Breadcrumb Control

Enable or Disable Navigation

This feature enables or disables the item navigation. By default, the navigation will be enabled when setting Url property. To prevent breadcrumb item navigation, set EnableNavigation property as false in Breadcrumb. The below example shows enabling and disabling the navigation of Breadcrumb items.

The following example shows a Enable or disable navigation of Breadcrumb.

<div id="breadcrumb-control">      
    <div class='header'><b>EnableNavigation - false</b></div><br />
         @Html.EJS().Breadcrumb("disable").EnableNavigation(false).Items(item =>
         {
            item.IconCss("e-icons e-home").Url("https://ej2.syncfusion.com/home/aspnetmvc.html").Add();
			item.Text("Components").Url("https://ej2.syncfusion.com/aspnetmvc/Grid/GridOverview").Add();
			item.Text("Navigations").Url("https://ej2.syncfusion.com/aspnetmvc/Menu/DefaultFunctionalities").Add();
			item.Text("Breadcrumb").Url("https://ej2.syncfusion.com/aspnetmvc/Breadcrumb/DefaultFunctionalities").Add();
         }).Render()
    <br />
    <br/>
    <div class='header'><b>EnableNavigation - true</b></div><br />
        @Html.EJS().Breadcrumb("enable").EnableNavigation(true).Items(item =>
        {
            item.IconCss("e-icons e-home").Url("https://ej2.syncfusion.com/home/aspnetmvc.html").Add();
			item.Text("Components").Url("https://ej2.syncfusion.com/aspnetmvc/Grid/GridOverview").Add();
			item.Text("Navigations").Url("https://ej2.syncfusion.com/aspnetmvc/Menu/DefaultFunctionalities").Add();
			item.Text("Breadcrumb").Url("https://ej2.syncfusion.com/aspnetmvc/Breadcrumb/DefaultFunctionalities").Add();
        }).Render()       
</div> 

 <style>
    @@font-face {
        font-family: 'e-bicons';
        src: url(data:application/x-font-ttf;charset=utf-8;base64,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) format('truetype');
        font-weight: normal;
        font-style: normal;
    }

    .e-bicons {
        font-family: 'e-bicons' !important;
        font-size: 14px;
    }
    #breadcrumb-control {
        margin-left: auto;
        margin-right: auto;
        width: 60%;
    }
    
    #breadcrumb-control .header {
        text-align: left;
        padding-left: 10px;
    }
    
    #breadcrumb-control .e-control.e-breadcrumb {
        text-align: left;
    }

  </style>

Enable or Disable Navigation in ASP.NET MVC Breadcrumb

View Sample in GitHub.