How to Create Asp.Net MVC 3 Report ?

What is iTextSharp ?

• iTextSharp is a free C# PDF library that is ported from the Java-PDF library iText
• iText was launched in 2000 and is a popular Open Source Java library
• iTextSharp has been under development since 2008

What does iTextSharp do ?

• Generate documents and Reports based on data from an XML file or a database
• Create maps and books, exploiting numerous interactive features available in PDF
• Add bookmarks, page numbers, watermarks, and other features to existing PDF documents
• Split or concatenate pages from existing PDF files
• Fill out interactive forms
• Serve dynamically generated or manipulated PDF documents to a web browser

How to Create a Report ?

Step 1 : Open Visual Studio 2010

Step 2 : File ==> New Project as MvcPDFReport

Step 3 : Select "Internet Application" Project Template

After above Steps :

Step 4 : After that File ==> Add ==> New Project

Step 5 : Visual C# ==> Class Library as iTextSharpReportGenerator

After All above Steps :

How to Create  iTextSharp Report API ?

Step 1 : Download iTextSharp DLL

Step 2 : Extract above Zip File is as below

Below Steps for "iTextSharpReportGenerator" Class Library Project

Step 1 : Add References for the itextsharp.dll , System.Web and System.Web.Mvc

             

Step 2 : Add ==> New Class as PdfViewController

PdfViewController.cs 

using System.Web.Mvc;

namespace iTextSharpReportGenerator

{

 /// <summary>

 /// Extends the controller with functionality for rendering PDF views

 /// </summary>

 public class PdfViewController : Controller

 {

   private readonly HtmlViewRenderer _htmlViewRenderer;

   private readonly StandardPdfRenderer _standardPdfRenderer;

   public PdfViewController()

   {

      this._htmlViewRenderer = new HtmlViewRenderer();

      this._standardPdfRenderer = new StandardPdfRenderer();

   }

  protected ActionResult ViewPdf(string pageTitle,string viewName,object model)

  {

   // Render the view html to a string

   var htmlText = this._htmlViewRenderer.RenderViewToString(this,viewName,model);

   // Let the html be rendered into a PDF document through iTextSharp

   byte[] buffer = _standardPdfRenderer.Render(htmlText, pageTitle);

   // Return the PDF as a binary stream to the client

   return new BinaryContentResult(buffer, "application/pdf");

  }

 }

}

Step 3 : Add ==> New Class as BinaryContentResult

BinaryContentResult.cs

using System.IO;

using System.Web;

using System.Web.Mvc;

namespace iTextSharpReportGenerator

{

    /// <summary>

    /// An ActionResult used to send binary data to the browser

    /// </summary>

    public class BinaryContentResult : ActionResult

    {

        private readonly string _contentType;

        private readonly byte[] _contentBytes;

        public BinaryContentResult(byte[] contentBytes, string contentType)

        {

            this._contentBytes = contentBytes;

            this._contentType = contentType;

        }

        public override void ExecuteResult(ControllerContext context)

        {

            var response = context.HttpContext.Response;

            response.Clear();

            response.Cache.SetCacheability(HttpCacheability.Public);

            response.ContentType = this._contentType;

            using (var stream = new MemoryStream(this._contentBytes))

            {

                stream.WriteTo(response.OutputStream);

                stream.Flush();

            }

        }

    }

}

Step 4 : Add ==> New Class as StandardPdfRenderer

StandardPdfRenderer.cs

using System.IO;

using iTextSharp.text;

using iTextSharp.text.html.simpleparser;

using iTextSharp.text.pdf;

namespace iTextSharpReportGenerator

{

  /// <summary>

  /// This class is responsible for rendering a html text string to a PDF 

  /// document using the html renderer of iTextSharp

  /// </summary>

 public class StandardPdfRenderer

 {

   private const int HorizontalMargin = 40;

   private const int VerticalMargin = 40;

   public byte[] Render(string htmlText, string pageTitle)

   {

     byte[] renderedBuffer;

     using (var outputMemoryStream = new MemoryStream())

      {

        using (var pdfDocument = new Document(PageSize.A4, HorizontalMargin, HorizontalMargin, VerticalMargin, VerticalMargin))

       {

        PdfWriter pdfWriter = PdfWriter.GetInstance(pdfDocument, outputMemoryStream);

        pdfWriter.CloseStream = false;

        pdfWriter.PageEvent = new PrintHeaderFooter { Title = pageTitle };

        pdfDocument.Open();

        using (var htmlViewReader = new StringReader(htmlText))

         {

           using (var htmlWorker = new HTMLWorker(pdfDocument))

            {

               htmlWorker.Parse(htmlViewReader);

            }

         }

       }

        renderedBuffer = new byte[outputMemoryStream.Position];

        outputMemoryStream.Position = 0;

        outputMemoryStream.Read(renderedBuffer, 0, renderedBuffer.Length);

     }

     return renderedBuffer;

   }

  }

  }

Step 5 : Add ==> New Class as FakeView

FakeView.cs

using System;

using System.IO;

using System.Web.Mvc;

namespace iTextSharpReportGenerator

{

    /// <summary>

    /// Defines the FakeView type

    /// </summary>

    public class FakeView : IView

    {

        public void Render(ViewContext viewContext, TextWriter writer)

        {

            throw new NotImplementedException();

        }

    }

}

Step 6 : Add ==> New Class as PrintHeaderFooter

PrintHeaderFooter.cs

using System;

using System.Globalization;

using iTextSharp.text;

using iTextSharp.text.pdf;

namespace iTextSharpReportGenerator

{

    /// <summary>

    /// This class represents the standard header and footer for a PDF print

    /// application by Extending the PdfPageEventHelper (iTextSharp Class)

    /// </summary>

    public class PrintHeaderFooter : PdfPageEventHelper

    {

      private PdfContentByte _pdfContent;

      private PdfTemplate _pageNumberTemplate;

      private BaseFont _baseFont;

      private DateTime _printTime;

      public string Title { get; set; }

      public override void OnOpenDocument(PdfWriter writer, Document document)

      {

        _printTime = DateTime.Now;

        _baseFont = BaseFont.CreateFont(BaseFont.HELVETICA, BaseFont.CP1252, BaseFont.NOT_EMBEDDED);

        _pdfContent = writer.DirectContent;

        _pageNumberTemplate = _pdfContent.CreateTemplate(50, 50);

      }

      public override void OnStartPage(PdfWriter writer, Document document)

       {

         base.OnStartPage(writer, document);

         Rectangle pageSize = document.PageSize;

         if (Title != string.Empty)

          {

            _pdfContent.BeginText();

            _pdfContent.SetFontAndSize(_baseFont, 11);

            _pdfContent.SetRGBColorFill(0, 0, 0);

            _pdfContent.SetTextMatrix(pageSize.GetLeft(40), pageSize.GetTop(40));

            _pdfContent.ShowText(Title);

            _pdfContent.EndText();

          }

        }

      public override void OnEndPage(PdfWriter writer, Document document)

      {

         base.OnEndPage(writer, document);

         int pageN = writer.PageNumber;

         string text = pageN + " - ";

         float len = _baseFont.GetWidthPoint(text, 8);

         Rectangle pageSize = document.PageSize;

         _pdfContent = writer.DirectContent;

         _pdfContent.SetRGBColorFill(100, 100, 100);

         _pdfContent.BeginText();

         _pdfContent.SetFontAndSize(_baseFont, 8);

         _pdfContent.SetTextMatrix(pageSize.Width / 2, pageSize.GetBottom(30));

         _pdfContent.ShowText(text);

         _pdfContent.EndText();

         _pdfContent.AddTemplate(_pageNumberTemplate, (pageSize.Width / 2) + len, pageSize.GetBottom(30));

          _pdfContent.BeginText();

          _pdfContent.SetFontAndSize(_baseFont, 8);

          _pdfContent.ShowTextAligned(PdfContentByte.ALIGN_RIGHT, _printTime.ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture), pageSize.GetRight(40), pageSize.GetBottom(30), 0);

          _pdfContent.EndText();

       }

       public override void OnCloseDocument(PdfWriter writer, Document document)

       {

          base.OnCloseDocument(writer, document);

          _pageNumberTemplate.BeginText();

          _pageNumberTemplate.SetFontAndSize(_baseFont, 8);

          _pageNumberTemplate.SetTextMatrix(0, 0);

          _pageNumberTemplate.ShowText(string.Empty + (writer.PageNumber - 1));

          _pageNumberTemplate.EndText();

       }

    }

}

Step 7 : Add ==> New Class as HtmlViewRenderer 

HtmlViewRenderer.cs

using System.IO;

using System.Text;

using System.Web;

using System.Web.Mvc;

using System.Web.Mvc.Html;

namespace iTextSharpReportGenerator

{

    /// <summary>

    /// This class is responsible for rendering a HTML view into a string

    /// </summary>

    public class HtmlViewRenderer

    {

      public string RenderViewToString(Controller controller, string viewName, object viewData)

       {

          var renderedView = new StringBuilder();

          using (var responseWriter = new StringWriter(renderedView))

          {

            var fakeResponse = new HttpResponse(responseWriter);

            var fakeContext = new HttpContext(HttpContext.Current.Request, fakeResponse);

            var fakeControllerContext = new ControllerContext(new HttpContextWrapper(fakeContext), controller.ControllerContext.RouteData, controller.ControllerContext.Controller);

             var oldContext = HttpContext.Current;

             HttpContext.Current = fakeContext;

             using (var viewPage = new ViewPage())

              {

               var html = new HtmlHelper(CreateViewContext(responseWriter, fakeControllerContext), viewPage);

               html.RenderPartial(viewName, viewData);

               HttpContext.Current = oldContext;

              }

          }

        return renderedView.ToString();

      }

      private static ViewContext CreateViewContext(TextWriter responseWriter, ControllerContext fakeControllerContext)

       {

         return new ViewContext(fakeControllerContext, new FakeView(), new ViewDataDictionary(), new TempDataDictionary(), responseWriter);

       }

   }

}

After above Steps Class Library Project is as below

Class Diagram for above Report API

How to use Above Report API in MVC 3 Project (i.e. MvcPDFReport)?

Step 1 : Add ==> New Class as Provider inside the Model Folder

Provider.cs

namespace MvcPDFReport.Models

{

    /// <summary>

    /// Provider model

    /// </summary>

    public class Provider

    {

        public int Id { get; set; }

        public string Name { get; set; }

        public string Address { get; set; }

        public string Place { get; set; }

    }

}

  

Step 2 : Add ==> New Class as ProviderList inside the Model Folder

ProviderList.cs

using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace MvcPDFReport.Models

{

    /// <summary>

    /// ProviderList model which extends Provider collection

    /// </summary>

    public class ProviderList : List<Provider>

    {

        public string ImageUrl { get; set; }

    }

}

Step 3 : Extends the PdfViewController functionality on HomeController

HomeController.cs

using System.Web.Mvc;

using MvcPDFReport.Models;

using iTextSharpReportGenerator;

namespace MvcPDFReport.Controllers

{

 /// <summary>

 /// Extends the PdfViewController with functionality for rendering PDF views

 /// </summary>

 public class HomeController : PdfViewController

  {

   public ActionResult PrintProviders()

   {

     var providerList = CreateCustomerList();

     FillImageUrl(providerList, "iTextSharp.png");

     return this.ViewPdf("Software Providers Report", "PdfReport", providerList);

   }

   #region Private Methods

   private void FillImageUrl(ProviderList providerList, string imageName)

   {

     if (Request.Url == null) return;

     var url = string.Format("{0}://{1}{2}", Request.Url.Scheme, Request.Url.Authority, Url.Content("~"));

     providerList.ImageUrl = url + "Content/" + imageName;

   }

   private ProviderList CreateCustomerList()

   {

   return new ProviderList()

    {

    new Provider {Id=1,Name="Inexis Consulting",Address="Colombo 4",Place="Sri Lanka"},

    new Provider {Id=2,Name="Microsoft",Address ="Washington",Place="USA"},

    new Provider {Id=3,Name="IBM",Address="Armonk, New York",Place="USA" },

    new Provider {Id=4,Name="HP",Address="California",Place="USA"},

    new Provider {Id=5,Name="Novell",Address="Provo,Utah",Place="USA"},

    new Provider {Id=6,Name="Google",Address="California",Place="USA"},

    new Provider {Id=7,Name="Oracle",Address="Redwood City",Place="USA"},

    new Provider {Id=8,Name="Apple",Address="California",Place="USA"},

    new Provider {Id=9,Name="SAP",Address="Walldorf",Place="Germany"},

   };

  }

  #endregion

 }

}

Step 4 : Add ==> View as PdfReport inside the Home Folder  

PdfReport.cshtml

@using MvcPDFReport.Models

@model ProviderList

<br />

<img src="@Model.ImageUrl" width="64" height="64" />

<br />

<table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">

    <tr border="1" bgcolor="#777777" color="#ffffff">

        <td width="20%" align="center">

            Provider Name

        </td>

        <td width="50%" align="center">

            Provider Address

        </td>

        <td width="30%" align="center">

            Provider Place

        </td>

    </tr>

    @{

        var oddColor = "#FACC6D";

        var evenColor = "#99CC33";

        var odd = oddColor;

    }

    @foreach (var p in Model)

    {

        <tr border="1" bgcolor="@odd">

            <td>@p.Name

            </td>

            <td>@p.Address

            </td>

            <td>@p.Place

            </td>

        </tr>

       

        odd = odd == oddColor ? evenColor : oddColor;

    }

</table>

Step 5 : Add Hyper Link for the Index View

Index.cshtml

@{

    ViewBag.Title = "Home Page";

 }

<h2>Press the link to print a Software Provider List to PDF</h2>

@Html.ActionLink("Print Software Providers", "PrintProviders", null, new { target = "_blank" })

After above Steps MVC project is as below

What is the Final Look of the Report ? 

Screen 1 :

   

Screen 2 :

How to do Print,Zoom,Page Navigation,Save etc.. ?

On Chrome - When You Move the Mouse Right Bottom side of the Report

On Firefox - Top of the Report

On Internet Explorer - When You Move the Mouse Bottom of the Report

Do You Need to Know More about iTextSharp ?

• iTextSharp Home
• Stackoverflow
• SourceForge

Do You Need a Book ?

Do You Need to Download this Sample Project ?

Conclusion

• You can see that it's very easy to create MVC Reports by using iTextSharp
• It's having lot of inbuilt features to make your job very easy
• Such as iTextsharp supports colors out of the box as you can see on above report
• It is possible to add images to the report by using an <img src="" /> tag

I hope this helps to You.Comments and feedback greatly appreciated.

If you feel it was a good article,Give me a +1.Thank You.

Happy Coding.


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