Sending cshtml view mails with mailkit - asp.net-core

Question

I am using ASP.NET Core and Mailkit to send emails. Take the following (Basic) code:
var bodyBuilder = new BodyBuilder();
bodyBuilder.HtmlBody = GetBody();
var m = new MimeMessage();
m.To.Add(new MailboxAddress("gurdip.sira#gmail.com"));
m.From.Add(new MailboxAddress("Sender Name", "gurdip.sira#gmail.com"));
string s = GetBody();
// m.Body = bodyBuilder.ToMessageBody();
m.Body = new TextPart(MimeKit.Text.TextFormat.Html) {Text = s};
using (var smtp = new MailKit.Net.Smtp.SmtpClient())
{
smtp.Connect("smtp.gmail.com", 587);
smtp.AuthenticationMechanisms.Remove("XOAUTH2");
smtp.Authenticate("gurdip.sira#gmail.com", "December5!");
smtp.Send(m);
}
The GetBody() method just reads a html document (streamreader).
What I'd like to do is use razor views and cshtml as my emails may contain dynamic content (e.g. an unknown sized collection of certain items).
I can't seem to find definitive documentation on how to do this. The idea is to then just read the cshtml view as plain html but resolve the razor syntax and model variables.
Anyone done anything like this?

Answer 1

One solution is from your controller to pass the content.
public void TestAction(){
var content = PartialView("your_partial_view").ToString();
your_SendEmailFunction(content)
}
So basically you use the partial view as a string that you pass as a content to your method.

Answer 2

Here is a simple demo based on jmal73's comment in Paris Polyzos' blog like below:
1.custom interface:
public interface IViewRenderService
{
Task<string> RenderToStringAsync(string viewName, object model);
}
2.implement interface:
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Http;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Abstractions;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.ModelBinding;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Razor;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Rendering;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.ViewFeatures;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Routing;
public class ViewRenderService : IViewRenderService
{
private readonly IRazorViewEngine _razorViewEngine;
private readonly ITempDataProvider _tempDataProvider;
private readonly HttpContext _httpContext;
public ViewRenderService(IRazorViewEngine razorViewEngine,
ITempDataProvider tempDataProvider,
IHttpContextAccessor httpContextAccessor)
{
_razorViewEngine = razorViewEngine;
_tempDataProvider = tempDataProvider;
_httpContext = httpContextAccessor.HttpContext;
}
public async Task<string> RenderToStringAsync(string viewName, object model)
{
var actionContext = new ActionContext(_httpContext, new RouteData(), new ActionDescriptor());
var viewEngineResult = _razorViewEngine.FindView(actionContext, viewName, false);
if (viewEngineResult.View == null || (!viewEngineResult.Success))
{
throw new ArgumentNullException($"Unable to find view '{viewName}'");
}
var view = viewEngineResult.View;
using (var sw = new StringWriter())
{
var viewDictionary = new ViewDataDictionary(new EmptyModelMetadataProvider(), new ModelStateDictionary());
viewDictionary.Model = model;
var tempData = new TempDataDictionary(_httpContext, _tempDataProvider);
var viewContext = new ViewContext(actionContext, view, viewDictionary, tempData, sw, new HtmlHelperOptions());
viewContext.RouteData = _httpContext.GetRouteData(); //set route data here
await view.RenderAsync(viewContext);
return sw.ToString();
}
}
}
3.read .cshtml file and return string:
public class HomeController : Controller
{
private readonly IViewRenderService _viewRenderService;
public HomeController(IViewRenderService viewRenderService)
{
_viewRenderService = viewRenderService;
}
public IActionResult Index()
{
var data = new Users()
{
UserId = 1
};
return View(data);
}
public async Task<IActionResult> Privacy()
{
var data = new Users()
{
UserId = 1
};
var result = await _viewRenderService.RenderToStringAsync("Home/Index", data);
return Content(result);
}
4.Index.cshtml:
#model Users
<form>
<label asp-for="UserId"></label>
<br />
<input asp-for="UserId" class="form-control" maxlength="4" />
<span asp-validation-for="UserId" class="text-danger"></span>
<input type="submit" value="create" />
</form>
5.Register service:
services.AddSingleton<IHttpContextAccessor, HttpContextAccessor>();
services.AddScoped<IViewRenderService, ViewRenderService>();