How to export GridView to txt file using C#

This tutorial will show you how to export GridView to txt using ASP.NET 2.0 and C#.

First, you need to import the namespace from System.Data.SqlClient.

using System.Data.SqlClient;

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The System.Data.SqlClient namespace contains The System.Data.SqlClient namespace is the .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server.The .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server describes a collection of classes used to access a SQL Server database in the managed space. In tutorial, we need "AddHeader" and "ContentType" to do the work.The AddHeader method adds a new HTML header and value to the response sent to the client. It does not replace an existing header of the same name. After a header has been added, it cannot be removed. The ContentType property specifies the HTTP content type for the response. If no ContentType is specified, the default is text/HTML.

We use the Button1_Click event to do the work. We then call "Response.AddHeader" to export a file which is named FileName.txt. We then use "Response.ContentType" to denotes the type of the file being exported.

protected void Button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) { SqlConnection cn = new SqlConnection(ConnectionString); cn.Open(); cn1 = new SqlConnection(ConnectionString); cn1.Open(); DataSet ds = new DataSet(); SqlDataAdapter ad = new SqlDataAdapter("select * from [authors]", cn); ad.Fill(ds); StringBuilder str = new StringBuilder(); for (int i = 0; i <= ds.Tables[0].Rows.Count - 1; i++) { for (int j = 0; j <= ds.Tables[0].Columns.Count - 1; j++) { str.Append(ds.Tables[0].Rows[i][j].ToString()); } str.Append("<BR>"); } Response.Clear(); Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment;filename=FileName.txt"); Response.Charset = ""; Response.Cache.SetCacheability(HttpCacheability.NoCache); Response.ContentType = "application/vnd.text"; System.IO.StringWriter stringWrite = new System.IO.StringWriter(); System.Web.UI.HtmlTextWriter htmlWrite = new HtmlTextWriter(stringWrite); Response.Write(str.ToString()); Response.End(); cn.Close(); cn1.Close(); cn.Dispose(); cn1.Dispose(); }

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The front end GridViewExportTxtCsharp.aspx page looks something like this:

<asp:Button ID="Button1" runat="server" OnClick="Button1_Click" Text="Export to Word" width="99px" /><br /> <asp:GridView ID="GridView1" runat="server"> </asp:GridView>

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The flow for the code behind page is as follows.

using System; using System.Data; using System.Configuration; using System.Web; using System.Web.Security; using System.Web.UI; using System.Web.UI.WebControls; using System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts; using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls; using System.Data.SqlClient; using System.Text; public partial class _Default : System.Web.UI.Page { string ConnectionString = "Data Source=(local);Initial Catalog=pubs;User Id=sa;Password=sa123"; SqlConnection cn1; protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) { if (!Page.IsPostBack) { SqlConnection cn = new SqlConnection(ConnectionString); cn.Open(); cn1 = new SqlConnection(ConnectionString); cn1.Open(); SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("select * from [authors]", cn); SqlDataReader dr = cmd.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior.CloseConnection); GridView1.DataSource = dr; GridView1.DataBind(); dr.Close(); } } protected void Button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) { SqlConnection cn = new SqlConnection(ConnectionString); cn.Open(); cn1 = new SqlConnection(ConnectionString); cn1.Open(); DataSet ds = new DataSet(); SqlDataAdapter ad = new SqlDataAdapter("select * from [authors]", cn); ad.Fill(ds); StringBuilder str = new StringBuilder(); for (int i = 0; i <= ds.Tables[0].Rows.Count - 1; i++) { for (int j = 0; j <= ds.Tables[0].Columns.Count - 1; j++) { str.Append(ds.Tables[0].Rows[i][j].ToString()); } str.Append("<BR>"); } Response.Clear(); Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment;filename=FileName.txt"); Response.Charset = ""; Response.Cache.SetCacheability(HttpCacheability.NoCache); Response.ContentType = "application/vnd.text"; System.IO.StringWriter stringWrite = new System.IO.StringWriter(); System.Web.UI.HtmlTextWriter htmlWrite = new HtmlTextWriter(stringWrite); Response.Write(str.ToString()); Response.End(); cn.Close(); cn1.Close(); cn.Dispose(); cn1.Dispose(); } public override void VerifyRenderingInServerForm(Control control) { } }

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