Solving the Blank Page Issue in Razor Pages Form Submission

Discover how to resolve the issue of blank pages on form submission in Razor Pages, including tips on using the anti-forgery token. --- This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/72412849/ asked by the user 'The Modulator' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/1073399/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/72428618/ provided by the user 'Yiyi You' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/13593736/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions. Visit these links for original content and any more details, such as alternate solutions, latest updates/developments on topic, comments, revision history etc. For example, the original title of the Question was: Posting from form on Razor Page returns blank page Also, Content (except music) licensed under CC BY-SA https://meta.stackexchange.com/help/licensing The original Question post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ) license, and the original Answer post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ) license. If anything seems off to you, please feel free to write me at vlogize [AT] gmail [DOT] com. --- Troubleshooting Blank Pages on Form Submission in Razor Pages When working with Razor Pages in ASP.NET Core, it is common to encounter various issues during form submissions. One specific problem that developers often face is the blank page that appears after posting a form. This guide aims to explore this issue in detail and provide you with a clear solution. Understanding the Problem You may have noticed a difference in behavior when submitting forms using the Razor Page Tag Helper versus using a traditional HTML form action. Let’s break this down: Using Razor Page Tag Helper: When you create a form using the Razor Page Tag Helper, such as

, the form successfully triggers the OnPost event as expected. Using Traditional Form Action: Conversely, when you define the form with a direct action attribute, like , the OnPost event fails to trigger, and instead, a blank page appears. This discrepancy can be quite frustrating, especially for those relying on traditional action attributes. But don't worry - there's a straightforward fix for this! The Solution: Adding an Anti-Forgery Token To solve the blank page issue, you must ensure that your form includes an anti-forgery token when using a traditional form action. The absence of this token in your requests can lead to issues with authentication and ultimately prevent the OnPost event from firing. Steps to Implement the Solution Here is how you can modify your traditional form to include the anti-forgery token: Add the Anti-Forgery Token: Include @ Html.AntiForgeryToken() within your form. This will generate a hidden field that sends the necessary anti-forgery token with the form submission. Here’s how to structure your form code: [[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]] Submit the Form: After making the change, submit the form again. This time, the hidden anti-forgery token will accompany your submission, and the server will be able to validate the request. You should see the OnPost event trigger correctly. Why is the Anti-Forgery Token Important? The anti-forgery token serves several crucial purposes in web applications: Prevention of CSRF Attacks: The token helps defend against Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) attacks, ensuring that requests to your application come from valid users. Validation of Requests: It enables the server to verify that the incoming request is indeed valid and not forged. Conclusion By incorporating the anti-forgery token into your traditional HTML forms, you can effectively resolve the issue of blank pages encountered during submission in Razor Pages. This small adjustment not only ensures your forms work as expected but also strengthens the security of your application. For any further questions or clarifications on Razor Pages and form submissions, feel free to leave a comment below!