BIND AND EXPORT GRIDVIEW DATA TO CSV FILE IN ASP.NET(C#, VB.NET)

 In this article I will explain how easily you can bind GridView with data from database and Export that Gridview data to CSV (Comma Separated Value) file using asp.net with C# and VB.Net. 

 

Click on image to enlarge

click on image to enlarge

• Create a Database e.g. "MyDataBase" and a table under that DataBase in Sql Server and name it "EMPLOYEE" as shown in figure:

Note: EMP_ID column is set to Primary key and Identity specification is set to yes with Identity increment and Identity seed equal to 1. Insert some data in this table that you  want to show in the Gridview.

• Now in web.config file add the connection string under <configuration> tag 

<connectionStrings>

    <add name="conStr" connectionString="Data Source=LocalServer;Initial Catalog=MyDataBase;Integrated Security=True"/>

  </connectionStrings> 

Note: Replace the Data Source and Initial Catalog as per your application.

Implementation: Let’s create an asp.net web application to understand the concept.

• In the design page (.aspx) drag and place a GridView control from visual studio toolbox to bind data and a Button control to Export the GridView data to CSV file.

Source Code:

<fieldset style="width:360px;">

            <legend>Bind and Export GridView data to CSV in asp.net</legend>

            <table>

                <tr>

                    <td>

                        <asp:GridView ID="grEmp" runat="server" AllowPaging="True" AutoGenerateColumns="False"

                   GridLines="None" Width="100%" CellPadding="4" ForeColor="#333333">

                   

                    <AlternatingRowStyle BackColor="White" ForeColor="#284775" />                   

                    <Columns>

                        <asp:BoundField DataField="EMP_NAME" HeaderText="Emp Name"  />

                        <asp:BoundField DataField="DEPT" HeaderText="Department"  />

                        <asp:BoundField DataField="SALARY" HeaderText="salary"  />

                        <asp:BoundField DataField="EMAIL_ID" HeaderText="Email Id" />

                    </Columns>                  

                    <EditRowStyle BackColor="#999999" />

                    <FooterStyle BackColor="#5D7B9D" Font-Bold="True" ForeColor="White" />

                    <HeaderStyle BackColor="#5D7B9D" Font-Bold="True" ForeColor="White" />

                    <PagerStyle BackColor="#284775" ForeColor="White" HorizontalAlign="Center" />

                    <RowStyle BackColor="#F7F6F3" ForeColor="#333333" />

                    <SelectedRowStyle BackColor="#E2DED6" Font-Bold="True" ForeColor="#333333" />

                    <SortedAscendingCellStyle BackColor="#E9E7E2" />

                    <SortedAscendingHeaderStyle BackColor="#506C8C" />

                    <SortedDescendingCellStyle BackColor="#FFFDF8" />

                    <SortedDescendingHeaderStyle BackColor="#6F8DAE" />

                </asp:GridView>

                    </td>               

                </tr>

                <tr>

                    <td>

<asp:Button ID="btnExportToCSV" runat="server" Text="Export To CSV File" OnClick="btnExportToCSV_Click" /> 

                    </td>

                </tr>

            </table>

        </fieldset>

C#.Net Code to Bind and Export GridView data to CSV file

First include the following namespaces

using System.Data;

using System.Data.SqlClient;

using System.Configuration;

using System.Net;

using System.Net.Mail;

using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls;

using System.IO;

using System.Text;

Then write the code as:

SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["conStr"].ConnectionString);

    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)

    {

        if (!Page.IsPostBack)

        {

            BindEmpGrid();

        }

    }

    public override void VerifyRenderingInServerForm(Control control)

    {

        //It solves the error "Control 'GridView1' of type 'GridView' must be placed inside a form tag with runat=server."

    }

    protected void BindEmpGrid()

    {

        SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("select * from EMPLOYEE", con);

        DataTable dt = new DataTable();

        SqlDataAdapter adp = new SqlDataAdapter(cmd);

        adp.Fill(dt);

        grEmp.DataSource = dt;

        grEmp.DataBind();

    }

protected void btnExportToCSV_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)

    {

        try

        {

            Response.ClearContent();

            Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment;filename=MyCsvFile.csv");

            Response.ContentType = "application/text";

            StringBuilder strBr = new StringBuilder();

            for (int i = 0; i < grEmp.Columns.Count; i++)

            {

                strBr.Append(grEmp.Columns[i].HeaderText + ',');

            }

            strBr.Append("\n");

            for (int j = 0; j < grEmp.Rows.Count; j++)

            {

                for (int k = 0; k < grEmp.Columns.Count; k++)

                {

                    strBr.Append(grEmp.Rows[j].Cells[k].Text + ',');

                }

                strBr.Append("\n");

            }

            Response.Write(strBr.ToString());

            Response.Flush();

            Response.End();

        }

        catch (Exception ex) { }

    }

VB.Net Code to Bind and Export GridView data to CSV file

First include the following namespaces

Imports System.Data

Imports System.Data.SqlClient

Imports System.Configuration

Imports System.Net

Imports System.Net.Mail

Imports System.Web.UI.HtmlControls

Imports System.IO

Imports System.Text

Then write the code as:

Dim con As New SqlConnection(ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("conStr").ConnectionString)

    Protected Sub Page_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load

        If Not Page.IsPostBack Then

            BindEmpGrid()

        End If

    End Sub

    Public Overrides Sub VerifyRenderingInServerForm(control As Control)

        'It solves the error "Control 'GridView1' of type 'GridView' must be placed inside a form tag with runat=server."

    End Sub

    Protected Sub BindEmpGrid()

        Dim cmd As New SqlCommand("select * from EMPLOYEE", con)

        Dim dt As New DataTable()

        Dim adp As New SqlDataAdapter(cmd)

        adp.Fill(dt)

        grEmp.DataSource = dt

        grEmp.DataBind()

    End Sub

Protected Sub btnExportToCSV_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)

        Try

            Response.ClearContent()

            Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment;filename=MyCsvFile.csv")

            Response.ContentType = "application/text"

            Dim strBr As New StringBuilder()

            For i As Integer = 0 To grEmp.Columns.Count - 1

                strBr.Append(grEmp.Columns(i).HeaderText + ","c)

            Next

            strBr.Append(vbLf)

            For j As Integer = 0 To grEmp.Rows.Count - 1

                For k As Integer = 0 To grEmp.Columns.Count - 1

                    strBr.Append(grEmp.Rows(j).Cells(k).Text + ","c)

                Next

                strBr.Append(vbLf)

            Next

            Response.Write(strBr.ToString())

            Response.Flush()

            Response.[End]()

        Catch ex As Exception

        End Try

    End Sub

• Notice that I have added an overriding function VerifyRenderingInServerForm in the code behind. This is to resolve the error “Control 'GridView1' of type 'GridView' must be placed inside a form tag with runat=server” that may occur on exporting GridView data to MS Excel file or MS Word or PDF(Portable Document Format) or CSV (Comma Separated Value) file.

Exported gridview data to CSV file will look like as shown in figure:

click on image to enlarge