Create Excel File From DataBase Using ASP.Net C#

Vithal Wadje
Dec 13, 2014
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Background

There is often a need in a project's reporting module to create an Excel file from a database, so by considering that requirement I decided to write this article especially focusing on beginners and those who want to learn how to create an Excel file from a database using ASP.NET C#.

Now before creating the application, let us create a table named employee in a database from where we show the records in a Grid View, the table has the following fields (shown in the following image):

I hope you have created the same type of table.

Now create the project as:

"Start" - "All Programs" - "Microsoft Visual Studio 2010".
"File" - "New Project" - "C#" - "Empty Project" (to avoid adding a master page).
Provide the Project name such as CreateExcelFile or another as you wish and specify the location.
Then right-click on Solution Explorer and select "Add New Item" then select Default.aspx page.
One Button and a grid view.

Now the Default.aspx source code will be as follows:

<%@ Page Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="Default.aspx.cs" Inherits="_Default" %>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head runat="server">
<title></title>
</head>
<body bgcolor="Silver">
<form id="form1" runat="server">
<br />
<h2 style="color: #808000; font-size: x-large; font-weight: bolder;">
Article by Vithal Wadje</h2>
<br />
<div>
<asp:GridView ID="GridView1" AutoGenerateColumns="false" runat="server" CellPadding="6"
ForeColor="#333333" GridLines="None">
<AlternatingRowStyle BackColor="White" />
<EditRowStyle BackColor="#7C6F57" />
<FooterStyle BackColor="#1C5E55" Font-Bold="True" ForeColor="White" />
<HeaderStyle BackColor="#1C5E55" Font-Bold="True" ForeColor="White" />
<PagerStyle BackColor="#666666" ForeColor="White" HorizontalAlign="Center" />
<RowStyle BackColor="#E3EAEB" />
<SelectedRowStyle BackColor="#C5BBAF" Font-Bold="True" ForeColor="#333333" />
<SortedAscendingCellStyle BackColor="#F8FAFA" />
<SortedAscendingHeaderStyle BackColor="#246B61" />
<SortedDescendingCellStyle BackColor="#D4DFE1" />
<SortedDescendingHeaderStyle BackColor="#15524A" />
<Columns>
<asp:BoundField DataField="id" HeaderText="id" />
<asp:BoundField DataField="Name" HeaderText="Name" />
<asp:BoundField DataField="City" HeaderText="City" />
<asp:BoundField DataField="Address" HeaderText="Address" />
<asp:BoundField DataField="Designation" HeaderText="Designation" />
</Columns>
</asp:GridView>
<br />
<asp:Button ID="Button1" runat="server"
Text="Create Excel File" onclick="Button1_Click"/>
</div>
</form>
</body>
</html>

If you are a beginner and don't understand in detail how to bind a Grid View from a database then refer to the following article of mine.

Inserting Form Data Into DataBase and Display In ASP.Net GridView

Now, for this article create the following function in the default.aspx.cs page to bind the Grid View:

private void Bindgrid()
{
connection();
query = "select *from Employee";//not recommended this i have written just for example,write stored procedure for security
com = new SqlCommand(query, con);
SqlDataAdapter da = new SqlDataAdapter(query, con);
DataSet ds = new DataSet();
da.Fill(ds);
GridView1.DataSource = ds;
GridView1.DataBind();
con.Close();
ViewState["DataTable"] = ds.Tables[0];
}

Now, call the preceding function on page load as in the following:

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (!IsPostBack)
{
Bindgrid();
}
}

Now create the following function to create an Excel File from the database as in the following:

public void CreateExcelFile(DataTable Excel)
{
//Clears all content output from the buffer stream.
Response.ClearContent();
//Adds HTTP header to the output stream
Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", string.Format("attachment; filename=C#cornerVithalWadje.xls"));
// Gets or sets the HTTP MIME type of the output stream
Response.ContentType = "application/vnd.ms-excel";
string space = "";
foreach (DataColumn dcolumn in Excel.Columns)
{
Response.Write(space + dcolumn.ColumnName);
space = "\t";
}
Response.Write("\n");
int countcolumn;
foreach (DataRow dr in Excel.Rows)
{
space = "";
for (countcolumn = 0; countcolumn < Excel.Columns.Count; countcolumn++)
{
Response.Write(space+dr[countcolumn].ToString());
space="\t";
}
Response.Write("\n");
}
Response.End();
}

We have created the preceding function to create an Excel File from the database. Now call the preceding function on the Create Excel File button click as in the following:

protected void Button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
//getting datatable from viewstate
DataTable dt =(DataTable)ViewState["DataTable"];
//calling create Excel File Method and ing dataTable
CreateExcelFile(dt);
}

The entire code of the default.aspx page will look as follows.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
using System.Data;
using System.IO;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
public partial class _Default : System.Web.UI.Page
{
private SqlConnection con;
private SqlCommand com;
private string constr, query;
private void connection()
{
constr = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["getconn"].ToString();
con = new SqlConnection(constr);
con.Open();
}
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (!IsPostBack)
{
Bindgrid();
}
}
private void Bindgrid()
{
connection();
query = "select *from Employee";//not recommended this i have written just for example,write stored procedure for security
com = new SqlCommand(query, con);
SqlDataAdapter da = new SqlDataAdapter(query, con);
DataSet ds = new DataSet();
da.Fill(ds);
GridView1.DataSource = ds;
GridView1.DataBind();
con.Close();
ViewState["DataTable"] = ds.Tables[0];
}
public void CreateExcelFile(DataTable Excel)
{
//Clears all content output from the buffer stream.
Response.ClearContent();
//Adds HTTP header to the output stream
Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", string.Format("attachment; filename=C#cornerVithalWadje.xls"));
// Gets or sets the HTTP MIME type of the output stream
Response.ContentType = "application/vnd.ms-excel";
string space = "";
foreach (DataColumn dcolumn in Excel.Columns)
{
Response.Write(space + dcolumn.ColumnName);
space = "\t";
}
Response.Write("\n");
int countcolumn;
foreach (DataRow dr in Excel.Rows)
{
space = "";
for (countcolumn = 0; countcolumn < Excel.Columns.Count; countcolumn++)
{
Response.Write(space+dr[countcolumn].ToString());
space="\t";
}
Response.Write("\n");
}
Response.End();
}
protected void Button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
//getting datatable from viewstate
DataTable dt =(DataTable)ViewState["DataTable"];
//calling create Excel File Method and ing dataTable
CreateExcelFile(dt);
}
}

Now run the application and then we can see the following records in the Grid view:

Now click on the Create Excel File button, the following dialog will appear:

Now select the option to open or save and click on the OK button, then the Created Excel file records will look such as follows:

Now you can see that the Excel file is created from the database and the records will look as above.

Notes

Download the Zip file from the attachment for the full source code of the application.
Change the connection string in the web.config file to specify your server location.

Summary

I hope this article is useful for all readers. If you have any suggestion then please contact me including beginners also.