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Example T569785
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Reporting for ASP.NET MVC - How to print or export a report without showing a preview

This example demonstrates how to print or export a report in an ASP.NET MVC application without displaying this report's preview.

Report Print Dialog

Follow the steps below to print or export a report:

  • Call one of the report's ExportTo…  methods to obtain an exported document.
  • Call the Controller.File method to convert the exported document into a FileContentResult object.

Follow the steps below to print a report:

  • Export the report to PDF.
  • Return the exported PDF file as an action result with the Content-Disposition header set to inline.
  • The returned PDF is opened by the browser's built-in PDF viewer. To avoid this, export the PDF to a separate iframe - only the print dialog is displayed.

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Example Code

T569785/App_Start/FilterConfig.cs(vb) 
C#
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Mvc;

namespace T569785 {
    public class FilterConfig {
        public static void RegisterGlobalFilters(GlobalFilterCollection filters) {
            filters.Add(new HandleErrorAttribute());
        }
    }
}
T569785/App_Start/RouteConfig.cs(vb) 
C#
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Mvc;
using System.Web.Routing;

namespace T569785 {
    public class RouteConfig {
        public static void RegisterRoutes(RouteCollection routes) {
            routes.IgnoreRoute("{resource}.axd/{*pathInfo}");

            routes.MapRoute(
                name: "Default",
                url: "{controller}/{action}/{id}",
                defaults: new { controller = "Home", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional }
            );
        }
    }
}
T569785/App_Start/WebApiConfig.cs(vb) 
C#
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web.Http;

namespace T569785 {
    public static class WebApiConfig {
        public static void Register(HttpConfiguration config) {
            config.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
                name: "DefaultApi",
                routeTemplate: "api/{controller}/{id}",
                defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional }
            );
        }
    }
}
T569785/Controllers/HomeController.cs(vb) 
C#
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Mvc;
using T569785.Models;
using DevExpress.XtraReports.UI;
using T569785.Reports;
using System.IO;
using DevExpress.XtraPrinting;

namespace T569785.Controllers {
    public class HomeController : Controller {
        //
        // GET: /Home/

        private FileResult ExportDocument(byte[] document, string format, string fileName, bool isInline) {
            string contentType;
            string disposition = (isInline) ? "inline" : "attachment";

            switch (format.ToLower()) {
                case "docx":
                    contentType = "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document";
                    break;
                case "xls":
                    contentType = "application/vnd.ms-excel";
                    break;
                case "xlsx":
                    contentType = "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet";
                    break;
                case "mht":
                    contentType = "message/rfc822";
                    break;
                case "html":
                    contentType = "text/html";
                    break;
                case "txt":
                case "csv":
                    contentType = "text/plain";
                    break;
                case "png":
                    contentType = "image/png";
                    break;
                default:
                    contentType = String.Format("application/{0}", format);
                    break;
            }

            Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", String.Format("{0}; filename={1}", disposition, fileName));
            return File(document, contentType);
        }

        public ActionResult Index() {
            return View(new ExportModel() { Format = "pdf" });
        }

        [HttpGet]
        public ActionResult Print() {
            XtraReport report = new ProductsReport();
            using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream()) {
                report.ExportToPdf(ms, new PdfExportOptions() { ShowPrintDialogOnOpen = true });
                return ExportDocument(ms.ToArray(), "pdf", "Report.pdf", true);
            }
        }


        [HttpPost]
        public ActionResult Export(ExportModel model) {
            XtraReport report = new ProductsReport();
            string fileName = String.Format("Report.{0}", model.Format);

            using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream()) {
                switch (model.Format) {
                    case "pdf":
                        report.ExportToPdf(ms);
                        break;
                    case "docx":
                        report.ExportToDocx(ms);
                        break;
                    case "xls":
                        report.ExportToXls(ms);
                        break;
                    case "xlsx":
                        report.ExportToXlsx(ms);
                        break;
                    case "rtf":
                        report.ExportToRtf(ms);
                        break;
                    case "mht":
                        report.ExportToMht(ms);
                        break;
                    case "html":
                        report.ExportToHtml(ms);
                        break;
                    case "txt":
                        report.ExportToText(ms);
                        break;
                    case "csv":
                        report.ExportToCsv(ms);
                        break;
                    case "png":
                        report.ExportToImage(ms, new ImageExportOptions() { Format = System.Drawing.Imaging.ImageFormat.Png });
                        break;                      
                }
                
                return ExportDocument(ms.ToArray(), model.Format, fileName, false);
            }
        }
       
    }
}
T569785/Models/ExportModel.cs(vb) 
C#
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;

namespace T569785.Models {
    public class ExportModel {
        public string Format { get; set; }
    }
}
T569785/Views/Home/Index.cshtml 
Razor
@{
    Layout = null;
}
@model T569785.Models.ExportModel
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width" />
    <title>Index</title>
    <script type="text/javascript">
        function PrintWithiFrame() {
            window.open('@Url.Action("Print", "Home")', "PrintingFrame");
            var frameElement = document.getElementById("FrameToPrint");
            frameElement.addEventListener("load", function (e) {
                if (frameElement.contentDocument.contentType !== "text/html")
                    frameElement.contentWindow.print();
            });
        }
            function PrintInNewWindow() {
            var frameElement = window.open('@Url.Action("Print", "Home")', "_blank");

            frameElement.addEventListener("load", function (e) {
                if (frameElement.document.contentType !== "text/html")
                    frameElement.print();
            });
        }
    </script>
</head>
<body>
    <div>
        @using (Html.BeginForm("Export", "Home"))
        {
        <table style="text-align: center; border-collapse: collapse">
            <tr style="border-bottom: 1pt solid black">
                <td style="width: 150px">
                    PDF-based Printing
                </td>
                <td style="width: 150px" colspan="2">
                    Exporting
                </td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td width="500px">
                    <input type="button" value="Print With iFrame" onclick="PrintWithiFrame(); return false;" /> <br />
                    <b>Note:</b> Printing with an invisible iFrame element is not recommended. Although this solution provides more desktop-like experience, it's not guaranteed to work reliably across all browsers. For example, it won't work in the Edge or Safari browser. <br />
                    <br />
                    <input type="button" value="Print New Window" onclick="PrintInNewWindow(); return false;" /> <br />
                    <b>Note:</b> clicking this button will open a separate tab in the browser. This is the recommented approach.
                    <iframe id="FrameToPrint" name="PrintingFrame" style="position:absolute; left: -10000px; top: -10000px;"></iframe>
                </td>
                <td style="vertical-align: top">
                    @Html.DropDownListFor(m => m.Format, new SelectListItem[] {
                        new SelectListItem() { Value = "pdf", Text= "Pdf" },
                        new SelectListItem() { Value = "docx", Text= "Docx" },
                        new SelectListItem() { Value = "xls", Text= "Xls" },
                        new SelectListItem() { Value = "xlsx", Text= "Xlsx" },
                        new SelectListItem() { Value = "rtf", Text= "Rtf" },
                        new SelectListItem() { Value = "mht", Text= "Mht" },
                        new SelectListItem() { Value = "html", Text= "Html" },
                        new SelectListItem() { Value = "txt", Text= "Text" },
                        new SelectListItem() { Value = "csv", Text= "Csv" },
                        new SelectListItem() { Value = "png", Text= "Image" }
                    })
                </td>
                <td style="vertical-align: top">
                    <input type="submit" value="Export" />
                </td>
            </tr>
        </table>
        }
    </div>
</body>
</html>

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