retrieving form data by email using asp.net core razor

Question

retrieving form data by email using asp.net core razor

Nigel 291

I have a form in my asp.net core Razor web app. I want the contents of the form to be sent back to me via email. Code I have so far is on the razor page:

<div class="col-4">

<form method="post">

<div class="mb-3">

<label for="name">Name: </label>

<input class="form-control" type="text" name="Name" />

<label for="email">e-mail: </label>

<input class="form-control" type="email" name="Email" />

<label for="query">Your Query</label>

<input class="form-control" type="text-area" name="Query" />

</div>

<button class="btn btn-primary">Submit</button>

</form>

<p>@Model.message</p>

</div>

and in the code behind (cshtml.cs) model page:

public string message { get; set; }

public void OnPost()

{

if (!StringValues.IsNullOrEmpty(Request.Form["Name"]))

{

message = $"Thank you {Request.Form["Name"]}, we will be in touch by either phone or e-mail.";

}

I need to take the input values and convert them to an email (or html) to send to my email through an smtp server.

Any help would be appreciated.

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Your answer

Answer 1

I assume you already have the data retrieved from the client in your razor page. So you just need to send an email. That is done using [SmtpClient](https://learn.microsoft.com/en- us/dotnet/api/system.net.mail.smtpclient?view=net-7.0).

var client = new SmtpClient();
var from = new MailAddress("******@somewhere.com");
var to = new MailAddress("******@somewhere.com");
var msg = new MailMessage(from, to);
msg.Subject = "Sending an email";
msg.Body = "Body of message";
client.Send(msg);

As for building the message you can use any approach you want depending on what you are trying to do. For a simple message just use a string. If you need to build a formatted message with some simple values then use string interpolation. If you need to format more complex messages then use StringBuilder.

msg.Body = "Hello";

//More elaborate
var name = "Bob";
msg.Body = $"Hello {name}";

//Most complex
var builder = new StringBuilder();
builder.Append("Hello ");
if (isFemale)
   builder.Append("Mrs ");
else
   builder.Append("Mr ");
builder.Append(name);
builder.Append($"You owe us {amount:c}. Please remit");

msg.Body = builder.ToString();

Nigel 291 Reputation points

2023-03-16T11:24:58.32+00:00

Hi Michael, I took a look at smtpClient() and the corresponding MS.Learn page that you suggested where I found this:

"We don't recommend that you use the SmtpClient class for new development because SmtpClient doesn't support many modern protocols. Use MailKit or other libraries instead. For more information, see SmtpClient shouldn't be used on GitHub."

Also it is not recommended for use in dotnet core.

Therefore, I went and investigated MailKit and now have it working through that.

Answer 2

Hi @Nigel

After generating the mail message, you can try to use the following code to send mail using SMTP server:

//reference:
using System.Net;    
using System.Net.Mail; 
using System.Text;

//code in the post method
        string sender = "******@hotmail.com"; //sender address    
        string receiver= "******@hotmail.com"; //receiver address    
        MailMessage message = new MailMessage(sender, receiver);

        //build the mail body and add the hyperlink
        string mailbody = "<h1>Hi <a href= '" + _config.GetSection("contacturl").Value + "' > Contact Us </a> Thank you.</h1>";
        message.Subject = "Contact Us";

        //set the mail body format
        message.Body = mailbody;
        message.BodyEncoding = Encoding.UTF8;
        message.IsBodyHtml = true; //

        SmtpClient client = new SmtpClient("smtp.live.com", 587); //outlook smtp    
        System.Net.NetworkCredential basicCredential1 = new
        System.Net.NetworkCredential("sender email", "password");
        client.EnableSsl = true;
        client.UseDefaultCredentials = false;
        client.Credentials = basicCredential1;
        try
        {
            client.Send(message);
        }

        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            throw ex;
        }
        client.Dispose();

The received email is this:

User's image

[Note] In the above sample, I'm sending the email via the outlook email, so when create the SmtpClient instance, I use the outlook smtp and set the port to 587, if you want to send an email using another SMTP Server, you can refer the following table:

User's image

Besides, to send email, you can also try to use MailKit, SendGrid or other libraries. Refer to my reply in this thread:

How to create a "contact us" page

If the answer is the right solution, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

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Best regards,

Dillion

Nigel 291 Reputation points

2023-03-16T11:27:22.64+00:00

Hi Dillion, thank you, I managed to do what I needed by using MailKit but found that through a previous answer. thank you for your time in helping though.

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retrieving form data by email using asp.net core razor

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