In this article I’ll explain how to allow the users to print the contents of the ASP.Net GridView control. So let’s start.
I’ll explain two options, first printing the current page of the ASP.Net GridView control and second printing all the pages.
I have already populated a GridView control using the Microsoft Northwind database.
Print Current Page of ASP.Net GridView control
Below is the Button Event handler that is called when the Print Button is clicked
C#
protected void PrintCurrentPage(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
GridView1.PagerSettings.Visible = false;
GridView1.DataBind();
StringWriter sw = new StringWriter();
HtmlTextWriter hw = new HtmlTextWriter(sw);
GridView1.RenderControl(hw);
string gridHTML = sw.ToString().Replace("\"", "'")
.Replace(System.Environment.NewLine, "");
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
sb.Append("<script type = 'text/javascript'>");
sb.Append("window.onload = new function(){");
sb.Append("var printWin = window.open('', '', 'left=0");
sb.Append(",top=0,width=1000,height=600,status=0');");
sb.Append("printWin.document.write(\"");
sb.Append(gridHTML);
sb.Append("\");");
sb.Append("printWin.document.close();");
sb.Append("printWin.focus();");
sb.Append("printWin.print();");
sb.Append("printWin.close();};");
sb.Append("</script>");
ClientScript.RegisterStartupScript(this.GetType(), "GridPrint", sb.ToString());
GridView1.PagerSettings.Visible = true;
GridView1.DataBind();
}
VB.Net
Protected Sub PrintCurrentPage(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
GridView1.PagerSettings.Visible = False
GridView1.DataBind()
Dim sw As New StringWriter()
Dim hw As New HtmlTextWriter(sw)
GridView1.RenderControl(hw)
Dim gridHTML As String = sw.ToString().Replace("""", "'") _
.Replace(System.Environment.NewLine, "")
Dim sb As New StringBuilder()
sb.Append("<script type = 'text/javascript'>")
sb.Append("window.onload = new function(){")
sb.Append("var printWin = window.open('', '', 'left=0")
sb.Append(",top=0,width=1000,height=600,status=0');")
sb.Append("printWin.document.write(""")
sb.Append(gridHTML)
sb.Append(""");")
sb.Append("printWin.document.close();")
sb.Append("printWin.focus();")
sb.Append("printWin.print();")
sb.Append("printWin.close();};")
sb.Append("</script>")
ClientScript.RegisterStartupScript(Me.GetType(), "GridPrint", sb.ToString())
GridView1.PagerSettings.Visible = True
GridView1.DataBind()
End Sub
As you’ll notice I have created a JavaScript method to print the GridView content which is called when the page is loaded. The screenshot below displays the preview of the ASP.Net GridView that will be printed
Print All Pages of ASP.Net GridView control
Below is the Button Event handler that is called when the Print All Button is clicked
C#
protected void PrintAllPages(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
GridView1.AllowPaging = false;
GridView1.DataBind();
StringWriter sw = new StringWriter();
HtmlTextWriter hw = new HtmlTextWriter(sw);
GridView1.RenderControl(hw);
string gridHTML = sw.ToString().Replace("\"", "'")
.Replace(System.Environment.NewLine, "");
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
sb.Append("<script type = 'text/javascript'>");
sb.Append("window.onload = new function(){");
sb.Append("var printWin = window.open('', '', 'left=0");
sb.Append(",top=0,width=1000,height=600,status=0');");
sb.Append("printWin.document.write(\"");
sb.Append(gridHTML);
sb.Append("\");");
sb.Append("printWin.document.close();");
sb.Append("printWin.focus();");
sb.Append("printWin.print();");
sb.Append("printWin.close();};");
sb.Append("</script>");
ClientScript.RegisterStartupScript(this.GetType(), "GridPrint", sb.ToString());
GridView1.AllowPaging = true;
GridView1.DataBind();
}
VB.Net
Protected Sub PrintAllPages(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
GridView1.AllowPaging = False
GridView1.DataBind()
Dim sw As New StringWriter()
Dim hw As New HtmlTextWriter(sw)
GridView1.RenderControl(hw)
Dim gridHTML As String = sw.ToString().Replace("""", "'") _
.Replace(System.Environment.NewLine, "")
Dim sb As New StringBuilder()
sb.Append("<script type = 'text/javascript'>")
sb.Append("window.onload = new function(){")
sb.Append("var printWin = window.open('', '', 'left=0")
sb.Append(",top=0,width=1000,height=1000,status=0');")
sb.Append("printWin.document.write(""")
sb.Append(gridHTML)
sb.Append(""");")
sb.Append("printWin.document.close();")
sb.Append("printWin.focus();")
sb.Append("printWin.print();")
sb.Append("printWin.close();};")
sb.Append("</script>")
ClientScript.RegisterStartupScript(Me.[GetType](), "GridPrint", sb.ToString())
GridView1.AllowPaging = True
GridView1.DataBind()
End Sub
The only difference in the above function is that I am disabling the paging so that all pages are printed. The screenshot below displays the preview of the ASP.Net GridView that will be printed.
To view the live demo, click here.
With this the article comes to an end. Hope you liked it. Download the sample code in VB.Net and C# using the link below
GridViewPrint.zip (4.74 kb)