In this article I will explain with an example, how to export GridView to PDF and send PDF file as email attachment in ASP.Net using C# and VB.Net.
 

Download iTextSharp and XmlWorkerHelper Libraries

In order to install iTextSharp and XmlWorkerHelper library from Nuget, please refer the following articles.
iTextSharp – Install iTextSharp library using Nuget
XmlWorkerHelper - Install iTextSharp.XmlWorker library using Nuget
 
 

HTML Markup

The following HTML Markup consists of:
GridView – For displaying data.

Columns

The GridView consists of three BoundField columns.
Button – For sending exported GridView in email attachment.
The Button has been assigned with a OnClick event handler.
<asp:GridView ID="gvCustomers" HeaderStyle-BackColor="#3AC0F2"
    RowStyle-BackColor="#A1DCF2" AlternatingRowStyle-BackColor="White" AlternatingRowStyle-ForeColor="#000"
    runat="server" AutoGenerateColumns="false">
    <Columns>
        <asp:BoundField DataField="Id" HeaderText="Id" ItemStyle-Width="80" />
        <asp:BoundField DataField="Name" HeaderText="Name" ItemStyle-Width="150" />
        <asp:BoundField DataField="Country" HeaderText="Country" ItemStyle-Width="150" />
    </Columns>
</asp:GridView>
<br />
<asp:Button ID="btnExport" runat="server" Text="Export To PDF and Send email" OnClick="ExportToPDF" />
 
 

Mail Server Settings in Web.Config file

The following Mail Server settings need to be saved in the Web.Config file.
Note: It is necessary to use the sender’s email address credentials while defining the Gmail SMTP Server Credentials as Gmail the sender’s email address must be same as the Gmail Username specified in credentials.
 
<system.net>
    <mailSettings>
        <smtp deliveryMethod="Network" from="sender@gmail.com">
            <network
                host="smtp.gmail.com"
                port="587"
                enableSsl="true"
                userName="sender@gmail.com"
                password="GMAILor2STEP-PASSWORD"
                defaultCredentials="true"/>
        </smtp>
    </mailSettings>
</system.net>
 
 

MailMessage class properties

Following are the required properties of the MailMessage class.
From – Sender’s email address.
To – Recipient(s) Email Address.
CC – Carbon Copies. (If any)
BCC – Blind Carbon Copies. (If any)
Subject – Subject of the Email.
Body – Body of the Email.
IsBodyHtml – Specify whether body contains text or HTML mark up.
Attachments – Attachments. (If any)
ReplyTo – ReplyTo Email address.
 
 

SmtpClient class methods

Following are the methods of the SMTP class.
Host – SMTP Server URL (Gmail: smtp.gmail.com)
Port – Port Number of the SMTP sever (Gmail: 587)
EnableSsl – Specify whether your host accepts SSL Connections (Gmail: True)
UseDefaultCredentials – Set to True in order to allow authentication based on the Credentials of the Account used to send emails
Credentials – Valid login credentials for the SMTP server (Gmail: email address and password)
 
 

Namespaces

You will need to import the following namespaces.
C#
using System.IO; 
using System.Data;
using System.Net; 
using System.Net.Mail; 
using System.Net.Configuration; 
using System.Configuration;
using iTextSharp.text;
using iTextSharp.text.pdf;
using iTextSharp.tool.xml;
 
VB.Net
Imports System.IO 
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Net
Imports System.Net.Mail 
Imports System.Net.Configuration 
Imports System.Configuration
Imports iTextSharp.text
Imports iTextSharp.tool.xml
Imports iTextSharp.text.pdf
 
 

Binding the GridView

Inside the Page_Load event handler, the GridView is populated with the records from dynamic DataTable.
Note: For more details on how to create DataTable dynamically and bind to GridView, please refer my article Dynamically create DataTable and bind to GridView in ASP.Net.
 
C#
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if (!this.IsPostBack)
    {
        DataTable dt = new DataTable();
        dt.Columns.AddRange(new DataColumn[3] {
            new DataColumn("Id"),
            new DataColumn("Name"),
            new DataColumn("Country")
        });
        dt.Rows.Add(1, "John Hammond", "United States");
        dt.Rows.Add(2, "Mudassar Khan", "India");
        dt.Rows.Add(3, "Suzanne Mathews", "France");
        dt.Rows.Add(4, "Robert Schidner", "Russia");
        gvCustomers.DataSource = dt;
        gvCustomers.DataBind();
    }
}
 
VB.Net
Protected Sub Page_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
    If Not Me.IsPostBack Then
        Dim dt As New DataTable()
        dt.Columns.AddRange(New DataColumn(2) {
                            New DataColumn("Id"),
                            New DataColumn("Name"),
                            New DataColumn("Country")
        })
        dt.Rows.Add(1, "John Hammond", "United States")
        dt.Rows.Add(2, "Mudassar Khan", "India")
        dt.Rows.Add(3, "Suzanne Mathews", "France")
        dt.Rows.Add(4, "Robert Schidner", "Russia")
        gvCustomers.DataSource = dt
        gvCustomers.DataBind()
    End If
End Sub
 
 

Exporting GridView to PDF document and sending as File Attachment in Email

When Export button is clicked, the email setting is read from SmtpSection section of Web.Config file.
The StringWriter and HtmlTextWriter class objects are created and the GridView is exported to an HTML string using StringReader class.
Then, the GridView is rendered into an HTML string using RenderControl which accepts HtmlTextWriter class object as parameter.
After that, the generated HTML is added to the iTextSharp PDF document using Document class.
The PDF document is opened and the GridView data is written using ParseXHtml method of XmlWorkerHelper class which converts it to PDF document and saves it to the MemoryStream class object.
Finally, email is being sent via GMAIL account along with the exported GridView PDF document.
C#
protected void ExportToPDF(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    using (StringWriter sw = new StringWriter())
    {
        using (HtmlTextWriter hw = new HtmlTextWriter(sw))
        {
            gvCustomers.RenderControl(hw);
 
            StringReader sr = new StringReader(sw.ToString());
            Document pdfDoc = new Document(PageSize.A4, 10f, 10f, 10f, 0f);
            using (MemoryStream memoryStream = new MemoryStream())
            {
                PdfWriter writer = PdfWriter.GetInstance(pdfDoc, memoryStream);
                pdfDoc.Open();
                XMLWorkerHelper.GetInstance().ParseXHtml(writer, pdfDoc, sr);
                pdfDoc.Close();
                byte[] bytes = memoryStream.ToArray();
                memoryStream.Close();
 
                // Reading SmtpSection from web.Config file.
                SmtpSection smtpSection = (SmtpSection)ConfigurationManager.GetSection("system.net/mailSettings/smtp");
                using (MailMessage mm = new MailMessage(smtpSection.From, "receiver@gmail.com"))
                {
                    mm.Subject = "GridView Exported PDF";
                    mm.Body = "GridView Exported PDF Attachment";
                    mm.Attachments.Add(new Attachment(new MemoryStream(bytes), "GridViewPDF.pdf"));
                    mm.IsBodyHtml = true;
 
                    // Sending Email.
                    using (SmtpClient smtp = new SmtpClient())
                    {
                        smtp.Host = smtpSection.Network.Host;
                        smtp.Port = smtpSection.Network.Port;
                        smtp.EnableSsl = smtpSection.Network.EnableSsl;
                        smtp.UseDefaultCredentials = smtpSection.Network.DefaultCredentials;
                        smtp.Credentials = new NetworkCredential(smtpSection.Network.UserName, smtpSection.Network.Password);
                        smtp.Send(mm);
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
 
public override void VerifyRenderingInServerForm(Control control)
{
    /* Verifies that the control is rendered. */
}
 
VB.Net
Protected Sub ExportToPDF(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
    Using sw As New StringWriter()
        Using hw As New HtmlTextWriter(sw)
            gvCustomers.RenderControl(hw)
 
            Using sr As New StringReader(sw.ToString())
                Dim pdfDoc As New Document(PageSize.A4, 10.0F, 10.0F, 10.0F, 0F)
                Using memoryStream As New MemoryStream()
                    Dim writer As PdfWriter = PdfWriter.GetInstance(pdfDoc, memoryStream)
                    pdfDoc.Open()
                    XMLWorkerHelper.GetInstance().ParseXHtml(writer, pdfDoc, sr)
                    pdfDoc.Close()
                    Dim bytes As Byte() = memoryStream.ToArray()
 
                    ' Reading SmtpSection from web.Config file.
                    Dim smtpSection As SmtpSection = CType(ConfigurationManager.GetSection("system.net/mailSettings/smtp"), SmtpSection)
                    Using mm As New MailMessage(smtpSection.From, "receiver@gmail.com")
                        mm.Subject = "GridView Exported PDF"
                        mm.Body = "GridView Exported PDF Attachment"
                        mm.Attachments.Add(New Attachment(New MemoryStream(bytes), "GridViewPDF.pdf"))
                        mm.IsBodyHtml =  True
 
                        ' Sending Email.
                        Using smtp As New SmtpClient()
                            smtp.Host = smtpSection.Network.Host
                            smtp.Port = smtpSection.Network.Port
                            smtp.EnableSsl = smtpSection.Network.EnableSsl
                            smtp.UseDefaultCredentials = smtpSection.Network.DefaultCredentials
                            smtp.Credentials = New NetworkCredential(smtpSection.Network.UserName, smtpSection.Network.Password)
                            smtp.Send(mm)
                        End Using
                    End Using
                End Using
            End Using
        End Using
    End Using
End Sub
 
Public Overrides Sub VerifyRenderingInServerForm(control As Control)
    ' Verifies that the control is rendered.
End Sub
 
 

Screenshots

The Form

Export GridView to PDF and send PDF File as email attachment in ASP.Net
 

Received Email

Export GridView to PDF and send PDF File as email attachment in ASP.Net
 
 

Downloads

Download Code