In this article I will explain how to export TemplateField columns of the ASP.Net GridView control to Excel file in ASP.Net.
GridView with BoundField or TemplateField with Label can be exported easily and also displays properly. Problem occurs when the GridView with TemplateField Column contains controls like HyperLink, TextBox, Button, LinkButton, RadioButton or CheckBox controls. When such case occurs we need to convert remove these controls and replace them with Label or Literal controls.
Database
For this article I am making use of the Microsoft’s Northwind Database. Download and install instructions are provided in the link below
HTML Markup
The HTML Markup consists of an ASP.Net GridView and a Button. For the GridView I have enabled paging using the AllowPaging property and I have also specified on the OnPageIndexChanging event. In the GridView I have made use of TemplateField Columns with different controls like HyperLink, TextBox, Button, LinkButton, RadioButton and CheckBox for illustration purposes.
<asp:GridView ID="GridView1" HeaderStyle-BackColor="#3AC0F2" HeaderStyle-ForeColor="White"
RowStyle-BackColor="#A1DCF2" AlternatingRowStyle-BackColor="White" AlternatingRowStyle-ForeColor="#000"
runat="server" AutoGenerateColumns="false" AllowPaging="true" OnPageIndexChanging="OnPageIndexChanging">
<Columns>
<asp:BoundField DataField="ContactName" HeaderText="Contact Name" ItemStyle-Width="150px" />
<asp:TemplateField HeaderText="City">
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:HyperLink ID="lnkCity" runat="server" NavigateUrl="#" Text='<%# Eval("City") %>'></asp:HyperLink>
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateField>
<asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Country">
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:TextBox ID="txtCountry" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("Country") %>'></asp:TextBox>
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateField>
<asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Country">
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:CheckBox ID="CheckBox1" runat="server" Text = "CheckBox Control" />
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateField>
<asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Country">
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:RadioButton ID="RadioButton1" runat="server" Text = "RadioButton Control" />
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateField>
</Columns>
</asp:GridView>
<br />
<asp:Button ID="btnExport" runat="server" Text="Export To Excel" OnClick="ExportToExcel" />
Namespaces
You will need to import the following namespaces
C#
using System.IO;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Collections.Generic;
VB.Net
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Drawing
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
Imports System.Configuration
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Binding the GridView
Below is the code to bind the GridView with records from the Customers table of the Northwind database
C#
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (!IsPostBack)
{
this.BindGrid();
}
}
private void BindGrid()
{
string strConnString = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["constr"].ConnectionString;
using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(strConnString))
{
using (SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("SELECT * FROM Customers"))
{
using (SqlDataAdapter sda = new SqlDataAdapter())
{
cmd.Connection = con;
sda.SelectCommand = cmd;
using (DataTable dt = new DataTable())
{
sda.Fill(dt);
GridView1.DataSource = dt;
GridView1.DataBind();
}
}
}
}
}
VB.Net
Protected Sub Page_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
If Not IsPostBack Then
Me.BindGrid()
End If
End Sub
Private Sub BindGrid()
Dim strConnString As String = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("constr").ConnectionString
Using con As New SqlConnection(strConnString)
Using cmd As New SqlCommand("SELECT * FROM Customers")
Using sda As New SqlDataAdapter()
cmd.Connection = con
sda.SelectCommand = cmd
Using dt As New DataTable()
sda.Fill(dt)
GridView1.DataSource = dt
GridView1.DataBind()
End Using
End Using
End Using
End Using
End Sub
Implement Paging in GridView
The OnPageIndexChanging event handles the Pagination in the GridView
C#
protected void OnPageIndexChanging(object sender, GridViewPageEventArgs e)
{
GridView1.PageIndex = e.NewPageIndex;
this.BindGrid();
}
VB.Net
Protected Sub OnPageIndexChanging(sender As Object, e As GridViewPageEventArgs)
GridView1.PageIndex = e.NewPageIndex
Me.BindGrid()
End Sub
![Export ASP.Net GridView with TemplateField Column to Excel after removing controls like HyperLink, TextBox and Button]()
Export GridView with Paging Enabled to Excel
Below is the code to Export GridView to Excel file with Paging enabled. Firstly the GridView is again populated with data from database after setting AllowPaging to false.
Then a loop is executed on all rows of the GridView and the colors of the Row and the Alternating Row are applied to their individual cells. If this is not done then the color will spread on all cells of the Excel sheet for each row
Within the Loop for the GridView Rows, an internal loop is executed on all cells of the GridView Row. For each cell of the GridView the controls present inside it are determined and are added to a Generic List of type Control.
After that the controls present within the Generic List are Type Casted to their original Type i.e. HyperLink, TextBox, Button, LinkButton, RadioButton or CheckBox control and the Text part is extracted and the control is removed.
The extracted Text Part is embedded in the GridView Cell using the Literal control.
Class textmode is applied to all cells so that they are rendered as text as per mso number format, doing this prevents large numbers from getting converted to exponential values.
C#
protected void ExportToExcel(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Response.Clear();
Response.Buffer = true;
Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment;filename=GridViewExport.xls");
Response.Charset = "";
Response.ContentType = "application/vnd.ms-excel";
using (StringWriter sw = new StringWriter())
{
HtmlTextWriter hw = new HtmlTextWriter(sw);
//To Export all pages
GridView1.AllowPaging = false;
this.BindGrid();
GridView1.HeaderRow.BackColor = Color.White;
foreach (TableCell cell in GridView1.HeaderRow.Cells)
{
cell.BackColor = GridView1.HeaderStyle.BackColor;
}
foreach (GridViewRow row in GridView1.Rows)
{
row.BackColor = Color.White;
foreach (TableCell cell in row.Cells)
{
if (row.RowIndex % 2 == 0)
{
cell.BackColor = GridView1.AlternatingRowStyle.BackColor;
}
else
{
cell.BackColor = GridView1.RowStyle.BackColor;
}
cell.CssClass = "textmode";
List<Control> controls = new List<Control>();
//Add controls to be removed to Generic List
foreach (Control control in cell.Controls)
{
controls.Add(control);
}
//Loop through the controls to be removed and replace then with Literal
foreach (Control control in controls)
{
switch (control.GetType().Name)
{
case "HyperLink":
cell.Controls.Add(new Literal { Text = (control as HyperLink).Text });
break;
case "TextBox":
cell.Controls.Add(new Literal { Text = (control as TextBox).Text });
break;
case "LinkButton":
cell.Controls.Add(new Literal { Text = (control as LinkButton).Text });
break;
case "CheckBox":
cell.Controls.Add(new Literal { Text = (control as CheckBox).Text });
break;
case "RadioButton":
cell.Controls.Add(new Literal { Text = (control as RadioButton).Text });
break;
}
cell.Controls.Remove(control);
}
}
}
GridView1.RenderControl(hw);
//style to format numbers to string
string style = @"<style> .textmode { } </style>";
Response.Write(style);
Response.Output.Write(sw.ToString());
Response.Flush();
Response.End();
}
}
public override void VerifyRenderingInServerForm(Control control)
{
/* Verifies that the control is rendered */
}
VB.Net
Protected Sub ExportToExcel(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
Response.Clear()
Response.Buffer = True
Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment;filename=GridViewExport.xls")
Response.Charset = ""
Response.ContentType = "application/vnd.ms-excel"
Using sw As New StringWriter()
Dim hw As New HtmlTextWriter(sw)
'To Export all pages
GridView1.AllowPaging = False
Me.BindGrid()
GridView1.HeaderRow.BackColor = Color.White
For Each cell As TableCell In GridView1.HeaderRow.Cells
cell.BackColor = GridView1.HeaderStyle.BackColor
Next
For Each row As GridViewRow In GridView1.Rows
row.BackColor = Color.White
For Each cell As TableCell In row.Cells
If row.RowIndex Mod 2 = 0 Then
cell.BackColor = GridView1.AlternatingRowStyle.BackColor
Else
cell.BackColor = GridView1.RowStyle.BackColor
End If
cell.CssClass = "textmode"
Dim controls As New List(Of Control)()
'Add controls to be removed to Generic List
For Each control As Control In cell.Controls
controls.Add(control)
Next
'Loop through the controls to be removed and replace then with Literal
For Each control As Control In controls
Select Case control.GetType().Name
Case "HyperLink"
cell.Controls.Add(New Literal() With { _
.Text = TryCast(control, HyperLink).Text _
})
Exit Select
Case "TextBox"
cell.Controls.Add(New Literal() With { _
.Text = TryCast(control, TextBox).Text _
})
Exit Select
Case "LinkButton"
cell.Controls.Add(New Literal() With { _
.Text = TryCast(control, LinkButton).Text _
})
Exit Select
Case "CheckBox"
cell.Controls.Add(New Literal() With { _
.Text = TryCast(control, CheckBox).Text _
})
Exit Select
Case "RadioButton"
cell.Controls.Add(New Literal() With { _
.Text = TryCast(control, RadioButton).Text _
})
Exit Select
End Select
cell.Controls.Remove(control)
Next
Next
Next
GridView1.RenderControl(hw)
'style to format numbers to string
Dim style As String = "<style> .textmode { } </style>"
Response.Write(style)
Response.Output.Write(sw.ToString())
Response.Flush()
Response.End()
End Using
End Sub
Public Overrides Sub VerifyRenderingInServerForm(control As Control)
' Verifies that the control is rendered
End Sub
![Export ASP.Net GridView with TemplateField Column to Excel after removing controls like HyperLink, TextBox and Button]()
Demo
Downloads
