In this tutorial you will learn how to export gridview to pdf in asp.net using c#. Sometimes you may get requirement to export your gridview data to pdf format, so it is better that you should have idea to do so. Let's have a look over .aspx page that contains a gridview control

Export gridview to pdf in asp.net using c#

<asp:GridView ID="GridView1" runat="server" EnableTheming="false" AutoGenerateColumns="false" GridLines="None" Width="100%">
<Columns>
<asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Sr#" HeaderStyle-Width="10%" HeaderStyle-HorizontalAlign="Center">
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:Label ID="lblSrNo" runat="server" EnableTheming="false" Text='<%# Bind("SrNo")%>'></asp:Label>
</ItemTemplate>

<ItemStyle HorizontalAlign="Center" />
</asp:TemplateField>
<asp:TemplateField HeaderText="First Name" HeaderStyle-Width="15%" HeaderStyle-HorizontalAlign="Left">
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:Label ID="lblFirstName" runat="server" EnableTheming="false" Text='<%# Bind("FirstName")%>'></asp:Label>
</ItemTemplate>
<ItemStyle HorizontalAlign="Left" />
</asp:TemplateField>
<asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Last Name" HeaderStyle-Width="15%" HeaderStyle-HorizontalAlign="Left">
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:Label ID="lblLastName" runat="server" EnableTheming="false" Text='<%# Bind("LastName")%>'></asp:Label>
</ItemTemplate>


<ItemStyle HorizontalAlign="Left" />
</asp:TemplateField>
<asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Result" HeaderStyle-Width="50%" HeaderStyle-HorizontalAlign="Left">
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:Label ID="lblStatus" runat="server" EnableTheming="false" Text='<%# Bind("Status")%>'></asp:Label>
</ItemTemplate>
<ItemStyle HorizontalAlign="Left" />
</asp:TemplateField>

</Columns>

</asp:GridView>

<asp:LinkButton ID="lnkExportPdf" runat="server"
Text="Export to PDF" onclick="lnkExportPdf_Click"></asp:LinkButton>

As you have seen that we just have GridView Control and Link Button in our .aspx page. Using Link Button onClick event we will export the gridview to pdf. Let's have a look over how to do so

protected void lnkExportPdf_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
//Total no of columns to be displayed
int columnCount = 4;

//Total no of records in gridview
int rowCount = GridView1.Rows.Count;

int tableRows = rowCount;

//Creating Dynamic Table using iTextSharp namespace

iTextSharp.text.Table grdTable = new iTextSharp.text.Table(columnCount, tableRows);

//Giving Bordor to the Table
grdTable.BorderWidth = 1;

//Creating First Row that will contain the Title

iTextSharp.text.Font fontIstRow = iTextSharp.text.FontFactory.GetFont(iTextSharp.text.FontFactory.HELVETICA, 8);
iTextSharp.text.Cell c1 = new iTextSharp.text.Cell("");
c1.Add(new iTextSharp.text.Chunk("Student Result Card", fontIstRow));
c1.SetHorizontalAlignment("center");
c1.Colspan = 4;
c1.Header = true;
grdTable.AddCell(c1);
c1.UseBorderPadding = false;
//grdTable.BorderColor = System.Drawing.Color();

//Creating Sec Row that will contain 4 cells containing columns name

iTextSharp.text.Font fontSecRow = iTextSharp.text.FontFactory.GetFont(iTextSharp.text.FontFactory.HELVETICA, 7);
iTextSharp.text.Cell c2 = new iTextSharp.text.Cell("");
c2.Add(new iTextSharp.text.Chunk("Sr No.", fontSecRow));
c2.SetHorizontalAlignment("center");
grdTable.AddCell(c2);

iTextSharp.text.Cell c3 = new iTextSharp.text.Cell("");
c3.Add(new iTextSharp.text.Chunk("First Name", fontSecRow));
c3.SetHorizontalAlignment("center");
grdTable.AddCell(c3);

iTextSharp.text.Cell c4 = new iTextSharp.text.Cell("");
c4.Add(new iTextSharp.text.Chunk("Last Name", fontSecRow));
c4.SetHorizontalAlignment("center");
grdTable.AddCell(c4);

iTextSharp.text.Cell c5 = new iTextSharp.text.Cell("");
c5.Add(new iTextSharp.text.Chunk("Result", fontSecRow));
c5.SetHorizontalAlignment("center");
grdTable.AddCell(c5);

//Now creating Dynmaic Rows that will contain the gridview data

iTextSharp.text.Font fontDynmaicRows = iTextSharp.text.FontFactory.GetFont(iTextSharp.text.FontFactory.HELVETICA, 6);

for (int rowCounter = 0; rowCounter < rowCount; rowCounter++)
{
for (int columnCounter = 0; columnCounter < columnCount; columnCounter++)
{
string strValue = "";
if (columnCounter == 0)
{
if (GridView1.Rows[rowCounter].Visible == true)
{

Label SerialNo = GridView1.Rows[rowCounter].Cells[0].FindControl("lblSrNo") as Label;
strValue = SerialNo.Text;
iTextSharp.text.Cell c6 = new iTextSharp.text.Cell("");
c6.Add(new iTextSharp.text.Chunk(strValue, fontDynmaicRows));
c6.SetHorizontalAlignment("center");
grdTable.AddCell(c6);
}
}
else if (columnCounter == 1)
{
if (GridView1.Rows[rowCounter].Visible == true)
{

Label FirstName = GridView1.Rows[rowCounter].Cells[1].FindControl("lblFirstName") as Label;
strValue = FirstName.Text;
iTextSharp.text.Cell c6 = new iTextSharp.text.Cell("");
c6.Add(new iTextSharp.text.Chunk(strValue, fontDynmaicRows));
grdTable.AddCell(c6);
}
}
else if (columnCounter == 2)
{
if (GridView1.Rows[rowCounter].Visible == true)
{

Label LastName = GridView1.Rows[rowCounter].Cells[2].FindControl("lblLastName") as Label;
strValue = LastName.Text;
iTextSharp.text.Cell c6 = new iTextSharp.text.Cell("");
c6.Add(new iTextSharp.text.Chunk(strValue, fontDynmaicRows));
grdTable.AddCell(c6);
}
}
else if (columnCounter == 3)
{
if (GridView1.Rows[rowCounter].Visible == true)
{
//strValue = GridView1.Rows[rowCounter].Cells[3].Text; //For Data Bound Field
Label Status = GridView1.Rows[rowCounter].Cells[3].FindControl("lblStatus") as Label;
strValue = Status.Text;
iTextSharp.text.Cell c6 = new iTextSharp.text.Cell("");
c6.Add(new iTextSharp.text.Chunk(strValue, fontDynmaicRows));
grdTable.AddCell(c6);
}
}
}
}
//Giving Cell Padding and Cell Spacing to the Dynamic Table
grdTable.Cellpadding = 1;
grdTable.Cellspacing = 1;

iTextSharp.text.Document Doc = new iTextSharp.text.Document();
iTextSharp.text.pdf.PdfWriter.GetInstance(Doc, Response.OutputStream);
Doc.Open();
Doc.Add(grdTable);
Doc.Close();
Response.ContentType = "application/pdf";
Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment; filename=ViewResult.pdf");
Response.End();
}

Important Note:-

You must have to download the itextsharp.dll from internet to export the gridview data to pdf else you will get this error

The type or namespace name 'iTextSharp' could not be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)
After downloading itextsharp.dll from internet you must place it to bin folder of your web project.


As you have seen the code is pretty simple, I just create a dynamic table that will contain all the gridview data and then that table will be exported to the pdf.

First of all I create the first row of the table and set its colspan property to 4 and set its heading as Student Result Card. After then I create second row that contains four cells, each cell contains column name. After creating second row I create dynamic rows by using nested for loops that will get data from gridview and append data to that dynamic rows.



And here's my output


Happy Coding!!!

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In this tutorial you will learn how to select the asp:DropDownList dynamically. It is quite simple. Let's have a look over how to do so.
.aspx page

<asp:dropdownlist style="font-family: verdana;" id="ddl_Status" runat="server"></asp:dropdownlist>

In our .aspx page we have a DropDownList, now I am going to populate this and select it's value dynamically according to my requirement.

How to select the asp:dropdown list dynamically in asp.net using c#

.aspx.cs

myBusinessLayer _objLayer = new myBusinessLayer();
_objLayer.GetStatus();
ddl_Status.DataSource = _objLayer.LayDS.Tables["SomeDataset_Table"];
ddl_Status.DataTextField = "description";
ddl_Status.DataValueField = "id";
ddl_Status.DataBind();
ddl_Status.SelectedIndex = ddl_Status.Items.IndexOf(ddl_Status.Items.FindByValue("1"));

I have written a function GetStatus() in Business Logic Layer, that is getting records from database. After that i give call to that function, give values returned by the function to the DataTextField and DataValueField of asp:DropDownList and then I write one line of code to select the asp:DropDownList.


In this example I am selecting the asp:DropDownList By Value using this FindByValue() built-in function but you can select the asp:DropDownList by Text as well using this FindByText() built-in function. In this example I am selecting the asp:dropdown list if the DataValueField contains the value 1.


So this is the way to select the asp:DropDownList dynamically in asp.net using C#.

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A project with an Output Type of class Library cannot be started directly. In order to debug this project, add an executable project to this solution

In this tutorial you will learn how to solve this error A project with an Output Type of class Library cannot be started directly. In order to debug this project, add an executable project to this solution which references the library project. Set the executable project as the startup project. Once I tried to debug my web based asp.net project then I got this error. I solved it. Let's have a look over its solution.
The solution is quite simple and consists of two steps given below.

1. Right Click on your project -> and click on Set as StartUp Project
2. Right click on your .aspx file from where you want to start your debugging, like login.aspx and click on Set As Start Page and that’s it.

So this is the way to get rid of this A project with an Output Type of class Library cannot be started directly. In order to debug this project, add an executable project to this solution which references the library project. Set the executable project as the startup project nasty error.

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