DotNetTemplates-GCDS

A quick install template solution to develop and deploy .NET application using GC Design System (GCDS). Currently designed for MVC & Razor projects.

Open to adapting to Blazor, see Issue: Include other .NET project types to the templates #2 for more details.

Using / Implementing / Installing

1. Download the GCDS.NetTemplate from Nuget.org into an .NET 8 or later MVC project

2. Add the required services to your application in your Program.cs enabling the dependancy injection of the template to work

   builder.Services.AddMvcTemplateServices(); // for MVC projects
   builder.Services.AddRazorTemplateServices(); // for Razor projects

3. Ensure your view points one of the templates provided Layouts (matching the tageted tempalte, ex. GCDS.NetTemplate/_Layout.{XXX}, see bellow for changing the template) Povided Layouts/Templates:

   • Basic template will resemble the Basic template from GCDS
   • InternalApp is a custom template to build an internal application see bellow for template requirements
   • Splash is a custom template to build an generic splash page see bellow for template requirements

Additional Features

Translation

Use the built-in Translation by adding additionall configurations to your Program.cs

builder.Services.ConfigureTemplateCulture();
app.UseRequestLocalization(); // part of .NET

Picking your template

By default, the Basic template will be loaded, and it will resemble the Basic template from GCDS.

Note: Even if a template is loaded, you don't have to use it. It only gets used if your GCDS.NetTemplate/_Layout.{XXX} matches.

Change the default template

Note: Be sure to use the corrisponding GCDS.NetTemplate/_Layout.{XXX} for the chosen template.

Option 1. Set a default template type globally in the Program.cs.

builder.Services.AddMvcTemplateServices(typeof(InternalApp)) // for MVC projects
builder.Services.AddRazorTemplateServices(typeof(InternalApp)) // for Razor projects

Option 2. Use a different template for a contoller, page or action by applying a TemplateType attribute. This Will take precidence over other defaults.

[TemplateType(typeof(InternalApp))]
public IActionResult Index() // public class IndexModel : PageModel

Option 3. (MVC only) Use the template on only some contollers by not registering the service globally in the Program.cs and adding a ServiceFilter to the controler that should use it.

// Program.cs
builder.Services.AddMvcTemplateServices(global: false)

// Controller
[ServiceFilter(typeof(TemplateActionFilter))] 
public class HomeController : Controller

Leveraging the templates

In your page or controller, access the template to manipulate it to your needs. This is how you can edit the breadcrumbs, menu, footer links, or override features like the language toggle. The Inizialize function will prompt you to add required feilds.

var template = ViewData.GetTemplate<InternalApp>();
template.Inizialize(...)

Since most sties work better with meta data, be sure to add some through the HeadElements. You can also add links to scripts and style pages, or any kind of head element you wish.

template.HeadElements.AddMeta("description", "This is a custom splash page for testing purposes.");
template.HeadElements.AddStyle("p { font-size: 20px; }");
template.HeadElements.AddLink("https://www.google.ca/css/style.css");
template.HeadElements.AddScript("www.google.ca");
template.HeadElements.AddCustom("tag", new Dictionary<string, string> { { "tagAttribute", "value" } }, "innerHtml");

Note: Head and Script sections are also avaliable on all templates.

Using InternalApp Template

It's recommended to use the Inizialize function on this template to set the required properties. This function is chainable to access other properties.

template.Inizialize("My Application Title");
// OR
template.Inizialize(new ExtSiteTitle { Text = "Home", Href = "#" })
    .HeadElements.AddMeta("name", "content");

You can still self initialize the required props. When doing so you can access the LangToggleHref built by the template instaed of creating that yourself.

template.Header = new ExtAppHeader
{
    AppHeaderTop = new ExtAppHeaderTop
    {
        LanguageToggle = new GcdsLangToggle { Href = template.LangToggleHref },
        SiteTitle = new ExtSiteTitle
        {
            Text = "My Application",
            Href = Url.Action("Index")
        },
    }
}

Reminder: Be sure to use the GCDS.NetTemplate/_Layout.InternalApp when using this template.

Using Splash Template

Remeber to Initialize the template!

template.Initialize("Page Name", new ExtLanguageSelector("Custom Splash Title", "Titre d'éclaboussure personnalisé", Url.Action("Home")));

By default, the splash page will load in either, english or french first depending on the current culture. This could be nice if you want it to respond to the last language that was used for the site. However if you need it to stick to one language, ensure to force the culture when loading the page.

HttpContext.SetTemplateCulture(CommonConstants.ENGLISH_CULTURE);

Override Settings

Add configuration values to your appsettings.json to override from the defaults (shown in comments)

"TemplateSettings": {
    "GCDSRootPath": "https://cdn.design-system.alpha.canada.ca/@cdssnc",
    "GCDSComponentsVersion": "latest",
    "GCDSCssDirectory": "/gcds-components@{0}/dist/gcds/gcds.css", //will have the `GCDSComponentsVersion` injected, alternatively a version can be provided directly in place of `{0}`
    "GCDSJsDirectory": "/gcds-components@{0}/dist/gcds/gcds.js", //will have the `GCDSComponentsVersion` injected, alternatively a version can be provided directly in place of `{0}`
    "GCDSModuleDirectory": "/gcds-components@{0}/dist/gcds/gcds.esm.js", //will have the `GCDSComponentsVersion` injected, alternatively a version can be provided directly in place of `{0}`
    "FontAwesomePath": "https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/font-awesome/6.4.2/css/all.min.css",
    "GCDSUtilityDirectory": "/gcds-utility@1.8.0/dist/gcds-utility.min.css",
    "LoadBootstrapCdn": false // loads Bootstarp v5.3.6 from their CDN
}

Leverage the components

Leverage the component partials to build your own templates and features within your page. Provided partials & matching component classes: (linked to GCDS matching component if avaliable)

Note: Most GCDS compontes can be used natively within the view so are not buit as a partial

• GCDS components
  • GcdsBreadcrumbs
  • GcdsDateModified
  • GcdsFooter
  • GcdsHeader
  • GcdsLangToggle (Language Toogle)
  • GcdsLink
  • GcdsNavGroup: A sub-component used in the GcdsTopNav
  • GcdsNavLink: A sub-component used in GcdsTopNav and GcdsNavGroup
  • GcdsSearch
  • GcdsSignature
  • GcdsTopicMenu (Theme and topic menu)
  • GcdsTopNav (Top navigation)
• Custom components
  • ExtAppHeader: Header for the InternalApp template
  • ExtAppHeaderTop: A top section for the ExtAppHeader
  • ExtHeadSettings: Implements TemplateSettings for a <head> section
  • ExtHtmlElement: Enables the rendering of a fully customized html element, used for HeadElements (meta tags)
  • ExtLanguageSelector: A grid that has english and french links with titles for both, used in the Splash template
  • ExtRandomBackground: Will randomize a full screen background image base on a set of image paths, used in the Splash template
  • ExtSiteTitle: Title (link) for the ExtAppHeaderTop
  • ExtSkipTo: Custom hidden link to skip to a section, used in the InternalApp template
• Other Partials
  • SlotHeaderMenu: Helper to swap the TopicMenu or the TopNav for the Header

Developing / Contributing

Anyone can create Issues (Bugs, Feature Requests, Suggestions)

You must be GC employee to contribute. Fork and make a pull request with signed commits.

It's using .NET 8, Visaul Studio or VSCode should work.

Use the Sanity project to run and validate changes locally, as these a files that should not be released in the package.