Question

export to excel "Non visible" gridview columns, VB basic in ASP.NET

Asked by: LoanLiu

Is it possible to export to an excel spreadsheet more than what's being displayed on a gridview?  I modify the gridview.Columns(i) to visible=false so that the grid does not display too much details, then when I export to Excel, I change visible to true.  However, all data in the columns (that were affected by the visible attribute) are now blank.

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Asked On
2009-11-04 at 15:00:09ID24872889
Tags

excel export

,

gridview

,

non visible column

,

Visual Basic

,

ASP.NET

Topic

Programming for ASP.NET

Participating Experts
2
Points
125
Comments
8

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Answers

 

by: dusionPosted on 2009-11-04 at 20:40:11ID: 25746818

Are you rebinding the gridview after you set the columns to visible? Also try rebinding the datasource before rebinding the gridview.

Hope this helps,
Dustin

 

by: abhinayp86Posted on 2009-11-04 at 21:36:30ID: 25747014

yes u can

just call the class file

GridViewExport.Export(filename, gridview1)

Imports System
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Configuration
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Web
Imports System.Web.Security
Imports System.Web.UI
Imports System.Web.UI.WebControls
Imports System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts
Imports System.Web.UI.HtmlControls 
Public Class GridViewExport
    Public Shared Sub Export(ByVal fileName As String, ByVal gv As GridView)
        HttpContext.Current.Response.Clear()
        HttpContext.Current.Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", String.Format("attachment; filename={0}", fileName))
        HttpContext.Current.Response.ContentType = "application/ms-excel"
        Dim sw As StringWriter = New StringWriter
        Dim htw As HtmlTextWriter = New HtmlTextWriter(sw)
        '  Create a form to contain the grid
        Dim table As Table = New Table
        table.GridLines = gv.GridLines
        '  add the header row to the table
        If (Not (gv.HeaderRow) Is Nothing) Then
            GridViewExportUtil.PrepareControlForExport(gv.HeaderRow)
            table.Rows.Add(gv.HeaderRow)
        End If
        '  add each of the data rows to the table
        For Each row As GridViewRow In gv.Rows
            GridViewExportUtil.PrepareControlForExport(row)
            table.Rows.Add(row)
        Next
        '  add the footer row to the table
        If (Not (gv.FooterRow) Is Nothing) Then
            GridViewExportUtil.PrepareControlForExport(gv.FooterRow)
            table.Rows.Add(gv.FooterRow)
        End If
        '  render the table into the htmlwriter
        table.RenderControl(htw)
        '  render the htmlwriter into the response
        HttpContext.Current.Response.Write(sw.ToString)
        HttpContext.Current.Response.End()
    End Sub 
    ' Replace any of the contained controls with literals
    Private Shared Sub PrepareControlForExport(ByVal control As Control)
        Dim i As Integer = 0
        Do While (i < control.Controls.Count)
            Dim current As Control = control.Controls(i)
            If (TypeOf current Is LinkButton) Then
                control.Controls.Remove(current)
                control.Controls.AddAt(i, New LiteralControl(CType(current, LinkButton).Text))
            ElseIf (TypeOf current Is ImageButton) Then
                control.Controls.Remove(current)
                control.Controls.AddAt(i, New LiteralControl(CType(current, ImageButton).AlternateText))
            ElseIf (TypeOf current Is HyperLink) Then
                control.Controls.Remove(current)
                control.Controls.AddAt(i, New LiteralControl(CType(current, HyperLink).Text))
            ElseIf (TypeOf current Is DropDownList) Then
                control.Controls.Remove(current)
                control.Controls.AddAt(i, New LiteralControl(CType(current, DropDownList).SelectedItem.Text))
            ElseIf (TypeOf current Is CheckBox) Then
                control.Controls.Remove(current)
                control.Controls.AddAt(i, New LiteralControl(CType(current, CheckBox).Checked))
               
            End If
            If current.HasControls Then
                GridViewExportUtil.PrepareControlForExport(current)
            End If
            i = (i + 1)
        Loop
    End Sub
End Class
                                              
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by: LoanLiuPosted on 2009-11-05 at 03:23:29ID: 25748374

abhinayp86: - where is GridViewExportUtil defined? Do you have the code for this also? I would like to implement your class to see if that works.

 

by: abhinayp86Posted on 2009-11-05 at 05:56:44ID: 25749440

Oops... its the same class. My mistake.

Rename
Public Class GridViewExport
to
Public Class GridViewExportUtil
---------

call GridViewExportUtil.Export(filename, gridview1)

Imports System
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Configuration
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Web
Imports System.Web.Security
Imports System.Web.UI
Imports System.Web.UI.WebControls
Imports System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts
Imports System.Web.UI.HtmlControls 
Public Class GridViewExportUtil
    Public Shared Sub Export(ByVal fileName As String, ByVal gv As GridView)
        HttpContext.Current.Response.Clear()
        HttpContext.Current.Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", String.Format("attachment; filename={0}", fileName))
        HttpContext.Current.Response.ContentType = "application/ms-excel"
        Dim sw As StringWriter = New StringWriter
        Dim htw As HtmlTextWriter = New HtmlTextWriter(sw)
        'Create a form to contain the grid'
        Dim table As Table = New Table
        table.GridLines = gv.GridLines
        '  add the header row to the table'
        If (Not (gv.HeaderRow) Is Nothing) Then
            GridViewExportUtil.PrepareControlForExport(gv.HeaderRow)
            table.Rows.Add(gv.HeaderRow)
        End If
        '  add each of the data rows to the table
        For Each row As GridViewRow In gv.Rows
            GridViewExportUtil.PrepareControlForExport(row)
            table.Rows.Add(row)
        Next
        '  add the footer row to the table'
        If (Not (gv.FooterRow) Is Nothing) Then
            GridViewExportUtil.PrepareControlForExport(gv.FooterRow)
            table.Rows.Add(gv.FooterRow)
        End If
        '  render the table into the htmlwriter'
        table.RenderControl(htw)
        '  render the htmlwriter into the response'
        HttpContext.Current.Response.Write(sw.ToString)
        HttpContext.Current.Response.End()
    End Sub 
    ' Replace any of the contained controls with literals'
    Private Shared Sub PrepareControlForExport(ByVal control As Control)
        Dim i As Integer = 0
        Do While (i < control.Controls.Count)
            Dim current As Control = control.Controls(i)
            If (TypeOf current Is LinkButton) Then
                control.Controls.Remove(current)
                control.Controls.AddAt(i, New LiteralControl(CType(current, LinkButton).Text))
            ElseIf (TypeOf current Is ImageButton) Then
                control.Controls.Remove(current)
                control.Controls.AddAt(i, New LiteralControl(CType(current, ImageButton).AlternateText))
            ElseIf (TypeOf current Is HyperLink) Then
                control.Controls.Remove(current)
                control.Controls.AddAt(i, New LiteralControl(CType(current, HyperLink).Text))
            ElseIf (TypeOf current Is DropDownList) Then
                control.Controls.Remove(current)
                control.Controls.AddAt(i, New LiteralControl(CType(current, DropDownList).SelectedItem.Text))
            ElseIf (TypeOf current Is CheckBox) Then
                control.Controls.Remove(current)
                control.Controls.AddAt(i, New LiteralControl(CType(current, CheckBox).Checked))
               
            End If
            If current.HasControls Then
                GridViewExportUtil.PrepareControlForExport(current)
            End If
            i = (i + 1)
        Loop
    End Sub
End Class

                                              
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by: LoanLiuPosted on 2009-11-05 at 07:02:15ID: 25750150

Thanks for the solutions, I tried, but the "non visible" columns are still empty.

 

by: abhinayp86Posted on 2009-11-05 at 08:37:07ID: 25751214

well try if this works.
Make the column visible, call this class, and make them nonvisible again
--------
gv.columns(1).visible=true
gv.databind
GridViewExportUtil.Export(filename, gridview1)
gv.columns(1).visible=false
gv.databind
-----
gv.columns(1).visible=true
GridViewExportUtil.Export(filename, gridview1)
gv.columns(1).visible=false
---------

c if any of these work

 

by: abhinayp86Posted on 2009-11-05 at 08:37:56ID: 25751225

/*--------- Corrections ---------------*/

well try if this works.
Make the column visible, call this class, and make them nonvisible again
--------
gv.columns(1).visible=true
gv.databind
GridViewExportUtil.Export(filename, gv)
gv.columns(1).visible=false
gv.databind
-----
gv.columns(1).visible=true
GridViewExportUtil.Export(filename, gv)
gv.columns(1).visible=false
---------

c if any of these work

 

by: LoanLiuPosted on 2009-11-05 at 11:34:43ID: 31650287

That did it, the databind is what's necessary after you modify the visible attribute.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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