ASP.NET Core Blazor attribute splatting and arbitrary parameters

Components can capture and render additional attributes in addition to the component's declared parameters. Additional attributes can be captured in a dictionary and then splatted onto an element when the component is rendered using the @attributes Razor directive attribute. This scenario is useful for defining a component that produces a markup element that supports a variety of customizations. For example, it can be tedious to define attributes separately for an <input> that supports many parameters.

Attribute splatting

In the following Splat component:

• The first <input> element (id="useIndividualParams") uses individual component parameters.
• The second <input> element (id="useAttributesDict") uses attribute splatting.

Splat.razor:

@page "/splat"

<PageTitle>SPLAT!</PageTitle>

<h1>Splat Parameters Example</h1>

<input id="useIndividualParams"
       maxlength="@maxlength"
       placeholder="@placeholder"
       required="@required"
       size="@size" />

<input id="useAttributesDict"
       @attributes="InputAttributes" />

@code {
    private string maxlength = "10";
    private string placeholder = "Input placeholder text";
    private string required = "required";
    private string size = "50";

    private Dictionary<string, object> InputAttributes { get; set; } =
        new()
        {
            { "maxlength", "10" },
            { "placeholder", "Input placeholder text" },
            { "required", "required" },
            { "size", "50" }
        };
}

The rendered <input> elements in the webpage are identical:

<input id="useIndividualParams"
       maxlength="10"
       placeholder="Input placeholder text"
       required="required"
       size="50">

<input id="useAttributesDict"
       maxlength="10"
       placeholder="Input placeholder text"
       required="required"
       size="50">

Arbitrary attributes

To accept arbitrary attributes, define a component parameter with the CaptureUnmatchedValues property set to true:

@code {
    [Parameter(CaptureUnmatchedValues = true)]
    public Dictionary<string, object>? InputAttributes { get; set; }
}

The CaptureUnmatchedValues property on [Parameter] allows the parameter to match all attributes that don't match any other parameter. A component can only define a single parameter with CaptureUnmatchedValues. The property type used with CaptureUnmatchedValues must be assignable from Dictionary<string, object> with string keys. Use of IEnumerable<KeyValuePair<string, object>> or IReadOnlyDictionary<string, object> are also options in this scenario.

The position of @attributes relative to the position of element attributes is important. When @attributes are splatted on the element, the attributes are processed from right to left (last to first). Consider the following example of a parent component that consumes a child component:

AttributeOrderChild1.razor:

<div @attributes="AdditionalAttributes" extra="5" />

@code {
    [Parameter(CaptureUnmatchedValues = true)]
    public IDictionary<string, object>? AdditionalAttributes { get; set; }
}

AttributeOrder1.razor:

@page "/attribute-order-1"

<PageTitle>Attribute Order 1</PageTitle>

<h1>Attribute Order Example 1</h1>

<AttributeOrderChild1 extra="10" />

<p>
    View the HTML markup in your browser to inspect the attributes on
    the AttributeOrderChild1 component.
</p>

The AttributeOrderChild1 component's extra attribute is set to the right of @attributes. The AttributeOrderParent1 component's rendered <div> contains extra="5" when passed through the additional attribute because the attributes are processed right to left (last to first):

<div extra="5" />

In the following example, the order of extra and @attributes is reversed in the child component's <div>:

AttributeOrderChild2.razor:

<div extra="5" @attributes="AdditionalAttributes" />

@code {
    [Parameter(CaptureUnmatchedValues = true)]
    public IDictionary<string, object>? AdditionalAttributes { get; set; }
}

AttributeOrder2.razor:

@page "/attribute-order-2"

<PageTitle>Attribute Order 2</PageTitle>

<h1>Attribute Order Example 2</h1>

<AttributeOrderChild2 extra="10" />

<p>
    View the HTML markup in your browser to inspect the attributes on
    the AttributeOrderChild2 component.
</p>

The <div> in the parent component's rendered webpage contains extra="10" when passed through the additional attribute:

<div extra="10" />