In this article I will explain with an example, how to export selected (checked) GridView Rows to PDF in ASP.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
 
 

Database

This example uses Northwind database. You can download it using the link given below.
Install Microsoft Northwind and Pubs Sample databases in SQL Server Management Studio
 
 

HTML Markup

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

Columns

The GridView consists of three BoundField columns and one TemplateField columns.
TemplateField – The TemplateField consists of an ItemTemplate.
ItemTemplate – The ItemTemplate consists of a CheckBox.
Button – For exporting the GridView to PDF file.
The Button has been assigned with a OnClick event handler.
<asp:GridView ID="gvCustomers" HeaderStyle-BackColor="#3AC0F2"
    RowStyle-BackColor="#A1DCF2"
    runat="server" AutoGenerateColumns="false">
    <Columns>
        <asp:TemplateField>
            <ItemTemplate>
                <asp:CheckBox ID="chkSelect" runat="server" />
            </ItemTemplate>
        </asp:TemplateField>
        <asp:BoundField DataField="ContactName" HeaderText="Contact Name" ItemStyle-Width="150px" />
        <asp:BoundField DataField="City" HeaderText="City" ItemStyle-Width="100px" />
        <asp:BoundField DataField="Country" HeaderText="Country" ItemStyle-Width="100px" />
    </Columns>
</asp:GridView>
<br />
<asp:Button ID="btnExport" runat="server" Text="Export To PDF" OnClick="ExportToPDF" />
 
 

Namespaces

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

Binding the GridView

Inside the Page_Load event handler, the BindGrid method is called which populates the GridView with the records from Customers table of the Northwind database.
C#
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if (!this.IsPostBack)
    {
        this.BindGrid();
    }
}
 
private void BindGrid()
{
    string constr = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["constr"].ConnectionString;
    string sql = "SELECT TOP 10 * FROM Customers";
    using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(constr))
    {
        using (SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(sql))
        {
            using (SqlDataAdapter sda = new SqlDataAdapter())
            {
                cmd.Connection = con;
                sda.SelectCommand = cmd;
                using (DataTable dt = new DataTable())
                {
                    sda.Fill(dt);
                    gvCustomers.DataSource = dt;
                    gvCustomers.DataBind();
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
 
VB.Net
Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
    If Not Me.IsPostBack Then
        Me.BindGrid()
    End If
End Sub
 
Private Sub BindGrid()
    Dim constr As String = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("constr").ConnectionString
    Dim sql As String = "SELECT TOP 10 * FROM Customers"
    Using con As SqlConnection = New SqlConnection(constr)
        Using cmd As SqlCommand = New SqlCommand(sql)
            Using sda As SqlDataAdapter = New SqlDataAdapter()
                cmd.Connection = con
                sda.SelectCommand = cmd
 
                Using dt As DataTable = New DataTable()
                    sda.Fill(dt)
                    gvCustomers.DataSource = dt
                    gvCustomers.DataBind()
                End Using
            End Using
        End Using
    End Using
End Sub
 
 

Exporting selected (checked) GridView Rows to PDF in ASP.Net

When Export button is clicked, the PDF is Exported.
The StringWriter and HtmlTextWriter class objects are created and the GridView is exported to an HTML string using StringReader class.
Then, FOR Each loop is executed over the GridView Rows and all the rows for which the corresponding CheckBox is not checked are hidden by setting the Visible property to False.
Here, 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.
Finally, 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.
C#
protected void ExportToPDF(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    using (StringWriter sw = new StringWriter())
    {
        using (HtmlTextWriter hw = new HtmlTextWriter(sw))
        {
            //Hide the Column containing CheckBox
            gvCustomers.Columns[0].Visible = false;
            foreach (GridViewRow  row in gvCustomers.Rows)
            {
                if (row.RowType == DataControlRowType.DataRow)
                {
                    //Hide the Row if CheckBox is not checked
                    row.Visible = (row.FindControl("chkSelect")as CheckBox).Checked;
                }
            }
 
            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, Response.OutputStream);
                pdfDoc.Open();
                XMLWorkerHelper.GetInstance().ParseXHtml(writer, pdfDoc, sr);
                pdfDoc.Close();
 
                Response.ContentType = "application/pdf";
                Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment;filename=GridViewExport.pdf");
                Response.Cache.SetCacheability(HttpCacheability.NoCache);
                Response.Write(pdfDoc);
                Response.End();
            }
        }
    }
}
 
public override void VerifyRenderingInServerForm(Control control)
{
    /* Verifies that the control is rendered */
}
 
VB.Net
Protected Sub ExportToPDF(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
    Using sw As StringWriter = New StringWriter()
        Using hw As HtmlTextWriter = New HtmlTextWriter(sw)
            gvCustomers.Columns(0).Visible = False
            For Each row As GridViewRow In gvCustomers.Rows
                If row.RowType = DataControlRowType.DataRow Then
                    row.Visible = (TryCast(row.FindControl("chkSelect"), CheckBox)).Checked
                End If
            Next
 
            gvCustomers.RenderControl(hw)
            Dim sr As StringReader = New StringReader(sw.ToString())
            Dim pdfDoc As Document = New Document(PageSize.A4, 10.0F, 10.0F, 10.0F, 0F)
            Using memoryStream As MemoryStream = New MemoryStream()
                Dim writer As PdfWriter = PdfWriter.GetInstance(pdfDoc, Response.OutputStream)
                pdfDoc.Open()
                XMLWorkerHelper.GetInstance().ParseXHtml(writer, pdfDoc, sr)
                pdfDoc.Close()
                Response.ContentType = "application/pdf"
                Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment;filename=GridViewExport.pdf")
                Response.Cache.SetCacheability(HttpCacheability.NoCache)
                Response.Write(pdfDoc)
                Response.End()
            End Using
        End Using
    End Using
End Sub
 
Public Overrides Sub VerifyRenderingInServerForm(control As Control)
    ' Verifies that the control is rendered
End Sub
 
 

Possible Errors

The following error when you click on the Export Button.
RegisterForEventValidation can only be called during Render();
 

Solution

RegisterForEventValidation can only be called during Render()
 
 

Screenshots

The Form

Export selected (checked) GridView Rows to PDF in ASP.Net
 

Exported PDF

Export selected (checked) GridView Rows to PDF in ASP.Net
 
 

Demo

View Demo
 
 

Downloads

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