How to Generate QR Codes in ASP.NET MVC

Install Iron Barcode

To begin, open the Package Manager Console in Visual Studio and run the following command:

Install-Package IronBarCode

This command will install the Iron Barcode library and add the necessary references to your project.

Now, let's write some code to create QR codes.

Create QRCodeModel

Create a Model Class inside the Models folder and write the following code:

using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;

public class QRCodeModel
{
    [Display(Name = "Enter QR Code Text")]
    public string QRCodeText { get; set; }
}

using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;

public class QRCodeModel
{
    [Display(Name = "Enter QR Code Text")]
    public string QRCodeText { get; set; }
}

Imports System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations

Public Class QRCodeModel
	<Display(Name := "Enter QR Code Text")>
	Public Property QRCodeText() As String
End Class

Create QR Code Controller

In your ASP.NET MVC project, create a new controller named QrCodeController. To do this, right-click on the Controllers folder in your project's structure, select "Add," and then choose "Controller." From the available options, select "MVC Controller - Empty".

Write the following code in QrCodeController:

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using IronBarCode;
using System.IO;

public class QrCodeController : Controller
{
    private readonly IWebHostEnvironment _environment;

    public QrCodeController(IWebHostEnvironment environment)
    {
        _environment = environment;
    }

    public IActionResult CreateQRCode()
    {
        return View();
    }

    [HttpPost]
    public IActionResult CreateQRCode(QRCodeModel generateQRCode)
    {
        try
        {
            // Creating QR Code
            GeneratedBarcode barcode = QRCodeWriter.CreateQrCode(generateQRCode.QRCodeText);
            string path = Path.Combine(_environment.WebRootPath, "GeneratedQRCode");

            if (!Directory.Exists(path))
            {
                Directory.CreateDirectory(path);
            }

            string filePath = Path.Combine(path, "qrcode.png");
            barcode.SaveAsPng(filePath);

            string fileName = Path.GetFileName(filePath);
            string imageUrl = $"{this.Request.Scheme}://{this.Request.Host}{this.Request.PathBase}/GeneratedQRCode/{fileName}";

            ViewBag.QrCodeUri = imageUrl;
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            // Handle exceptions
            // Log the exception details here for troubleshooting and debugging.
            throw;
        }

        return View();
    }
}

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using IronBarCode;
using System.IO;

public class QrCodeController : Controller
{
    private readonly IWebHostEnvironment _environment;

    public QrCodeController(IWebHostEnvironment environment)
    {
        _environment = environment;
    }

    public IActionResult CreateQRCode()
    {
        return View();
    }

    [HttpPost]
    public IActionResult CreateQRCode(QRCodeModel generateQRCode)
    {
        try
        {
            // Creating QR Code
            GeneratedBarcode barcode = QRCodeWriter.CreateQrCode(generateQRCode.QRCodeText);
            string path = Path.Combine(_environment.WebRootPath, "GeneratedQRCode");

            if (!Directory.Exists(path))
            {
                Directory.CreateDirectory(path);
            }

            string filePath = Path.Combine(path, "qrcode.png");
            barcode.SaveAsPng(filePath);

            string fileName = Path.GetFileName(filePath);
            string imageUrl = $"{this.Request.Scheme}://{this.Request.Host}{this.Request.PathBase}/GeneratedQRCode/{fileName}";

            ViewBag.QrCodeUri = imageUrl;
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            // Handle exceptions
            // Log the exception details here for troubleshooting and debugging.
            throw;
        }

        return View();
    }
}

Imports Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc
Imports IronBarCode
Imports System.IO

Public Class QrCodeController
	Inherits Controller

	Private ReadOnly _environment As IWebHostEnvironment

	Public Sub New(ByVal environment As IWebHostEnvironment)
		_environment = environment
	End Sub

	Public Function CreateQRCode() As IActionResult
		Return View()
	End Function

	<HttpPost>
	Public Function CreateQRCode(ByVal generateQRCode As QRCodeModel) As IActionResult
		Try
			' Creating QR Code
			Dim barcode As GeneratedBarcode = QRCodeWriter.CreateQrCode(generateQRCode.QRCodeText)
			Dim path As String = System.IO.Path.Combine(_environment.WebRootPath, "GeneratedQRCode")

			If Not Directory.Exists(path) Then
				Directory.CreateDirectory(path)
			End If

			Dim filePath As String = System.IO.Path.Combine(path, "qrcode.png")
			barcode.SaveAsPng(filePath)

			Dim fileName As String = System.IO.Path.GetFileName(filePath)
			Dim imageUrl As String = $"{Me.Request.Scheme}://{Me.Request.Host}{Me.Request.PathBase}/GeneratedQRCode/{fileName}"

			ViewBag.QrCodeUri = imageUrl
		Catch ex As Exception
			' Handle exceptions
			' Log the exception details here for troubleshooting and debugging.
			Throw
		End Try

		Return View()
	End Function
End Class

This code sets up a controller that can generate QR codes. When the CreateQRCode action is called, it takes the text for the QR code, generates the QR code image, saves it, and provides the URL for the image in the view for display. More detail is as follows:

• The controller has a constructor that takes an IWebHostEnvironment parameter to access the web hosting environment.
• The CreateQRCode action returns a view.
• The CreateQRCode action with the [HttpPost] attribute takes a QRCodeModel parameter, which contains the QR code text.
• Inside the action, a QR code is generated using the QRCodeWriter class from the Iron Barcode library.
• The generated QR code is saved as a PNG image file in a folder called GeneratedQRCode in the web root path.
• If the GeneratedQRCode folder doesn't exist, it is created.
• The file path and URL for the saved QR code image are generated.
• The URL of the QR code image is stored in the ViewBag.QrCodeUri property to be used in the view.
• Any exceptions that occur during the process are caught and logged.

Add CreateQRCode View

Now, to add a new view, right-click on the CreateQRCode action method in the QrCodeController class. Select "Add View," then select "Razor View," and click on the "Add" button.

A new window will appear as shown below.

Write the view name, select template "Create," and select our newly created model class QRCodeModel. Click on Add Button. The view will be created. Replace your view with the below code.

@model QRCodeModel

@{
    ViewData["Title"] = "CreateQRCode";
}

<h1>Create QRCode in ASP.NET MVC</h1>

<hr />
<div class="row">
    <div class="col-md-4">
        <form asp-action="CreateQRCode">
            <div asp-validation-summary="ModelOnly" class="text-danger"></div>
            <div class="form-group">
                <label asp-for="QRCodeText" class="control-label"></label>
                <input asp-for="QRCodeText" class="form-control" />
                <span asp-validation-for="QRCodeText" class="text-danger"></span>
            </div>
            <div class="form-group">
                <input type="submit" value="Create" class="btn btn-primary" />
            </div>
            <div class="form-group">
                @if (ViewBag.QrCodeUri != null)
                {
                    <img src="@ViewBag.QrCodeUri" class="img-thumbnail" alt="Generated QR Code" />
                }
            </div>
        </form>
    </div>
</div>

@section Scripts {
    @{ await Html.RenderPartialAsync("_ValidationScriptsPartial"); }
}

Now, let's move to the Program.cs class and change the default Controller Route.

app.MapControllerRoute(
    name: "default",
    pattern: "{controller=QrCode}/{action=CreateQRCode}/{id?}"
);

app.MapControllerRoute(
    name: "default",
    pattern: "{controller=QrCode}/{action=CreateQRCode}/{id?}"
);

app.MapControllerRoute(name:= "default", pattern:= "{controller=QrCode}/{action=CreateQRCode}/{id?}")

This will change the default route from HomeController to our QrCodeController.

Now, compile and run the project.

Output

Enter text in the text box and click on the create button. A QR code will be created and displayed on the screen as shown below.

Now, let's add visual styling to our barcode by adding annotation text, QR Code value, and changing the QR Code color.

Add Visual Styling in QR Code

Add the following line of code inside the CreateQRCode Action method.

barcode.AddAnnotationTextAboveBarcode("QR Code Generated by Iron PDF");
barcode.AddBarcodeValueTextBelowBarcode();
barcode.ChangeBackgroundColor(System.Drawing.Color.White);
barcode.ChangeBarCodeColor(System.Drawing.Color.MediumVioletRed);

barcode.AddAnnotationTextAboveBarcode("QR Code Generated by Iron PDF");
barcode.AddBarcodeValueTextBelowBarcode();
barcode.ChangeBackgroundColor(System.Drawing.Color.White);
barcode.ChangeBarCodeColor(System.Drawing.Color.MediumVioletRed);

barcode.AddAnnotationTextAboveBarcode("QR Code Generated by Iron PDF")
barcode.AddBarcodeValueTextBelowBarcode()
barcode.ChangeBackgroundColor(System.Drawing.Color.White)
barcode.ChangeBarCodeColor(System.Drawing.Color.MediumVioletRed)

Now, run the project and generate the QR Code.