export a gridview to a pdf or to excel file

Question

in aspx page and i am using vb.net

how can i export a gridview to a PDF or to Excel file

thamks in advence

Answer 1

Hi @Simon,

how can i export a gridview to a PDF or to Excel file

If you want to export GridView to PDF, you need use the tool iTextSharp (Install-Package iTextSharp).

Set different response types according to the different types of files that need to be exported.

Here is a simple demo:

aspx

<form id="form1" runat="server">
    <div>
        <asp:GridView runat="server" ID="GV1" AutoGenerateColumns="false">
            <Columns>
                <asp:BoundField DataField="ID" HeaderText="ID" />
                <asp:BoundField DataField="Name" HeaderText="Name" />
                <asp:BoundField DataField="Description" HeaderText="Description" />
            </Columns>
        </asp:GridView>
        <br />
        <asp:Button Text="Export to Excel" ID="Export2Excel" runat="server" OnClick="Export2Excel_Click"/>
        <asp:Button Text="Export to PDF" ID="Export2PDF" runat="server" OnClick="Export2PDF_Click" />
    </div>
</form>

Rewrite the VerifyRenderingInServerForm method to prevent GridView from throw exception.

aspx.vb

Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
    If Not IsPostBack Then
        BindGrid()
    End If
End Sub

Private Sub BindGrid()
    Dim dataList As List(Of DateData) = New List(Of DateData) From {
        New DateData With {
            .ID = 1,
            .Name = "Name1",
            .Description = "Description content 1"
        },
        New DateData With {
            .ID = 2,
            .Name = "Name2",
            .Description = "Description content 2"
        },
        New DateData With {
            .ID = 3,
            .Name = "Name3",
            .Description = "Description content 3"
        }
    }
    GV1.DataSource = dataList
    GV1.DataBind()
End Sub

Public Class DateData
    Public Property ID As Integer
    Public Property Name As String
    Public Property Description As String
End Class

Protected Sub Export2Excel_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
    Response.Clear()
    Response.Buffer = True
    Response.Charset = "UTF-8"
    Response.ContentEncoding = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8
    Response.ContentType = "application/ms-excel"
    Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment;filename=GridViewExport.xls")
    Using sw As StringWriter = New StringWriter()
        Using hw As HtmlTextWriter = New HtmlTextWriter(sw)
            'Disable paging To ensure all data Is exported
            GV1.AllowPaging = False
            BindGrid()
            GV1.RenderControl(hw)
            Response.Output.Write(sw.ToString())
            Response.Flush()
            Response.[End]()
        End Using
    End Using
End Sub

Protected Sub Export2PDF_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
    Response.ContentType = "application/pdf"
    Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment;filename=GridViewExport.pdf")
    Response.Cache.SetCacheability(HttpCacheability.NoCache)
    ' Create PDF document
    Dim pdfDoc As New Document(PageSize.A4, 10.0F, 10.0F, 10.0F, 0F)
    Dim writer As PdfWriter = PdfWriter.GetInstance(pdfDoc, Response.OutputStream)
    pdfDoc.Open()
    ' Create a PDF table with the same number of columns as the GridView
    Dim pdfTable As New PdfPTable(GV1.Columns.Count)
    pdfTable.WidthPercentage = 100
    ' Add table header
    For Each headerCell As TableCell In GV1.HeaderRow.Cells
        Dim pdfCell As New PdfPCell(New Phrase(headerCell.Text))
        pdfTable.AddCell(pdfCell)
    Next
    ' Add data row
    For Each row As GridViewRow In GV1.Rows
        For Each cell As TableCell In row.Cells
            Dim pdfCell As New PdfPCell(New Phrase(cell.Text))
            pdfTable.AddCell(pdfCell)
        Next
    Next
    pdfDoc.Add(pdfTable)
    pdfDoc.Close()
    Response.Write(pdfDoc)
    Response.End()
End Sub

Public Overrides Sub VerifyRenderingInServerForm(ByVal control As Control)

End Sub

Best regards,

Xudong Peng

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