Articles → ASP .NET GRIDVIEW → Export Grid View Data To CSV In Asp.Net

Export Grid View Data To CSV In Asp.Net

In this article I will explain how to export grid view data to CSV in asp.net.

Software Requirement

Before you start reading this tutorial you should make sure that

Visual studio 2005(or above) is installed on your machine.
SQL Server 2005(or above) is installed on your machine

Prerequisite Knowledge

Before you go ahead, it is required that you should know

Basics about SQL objects like tables.
How to create tables in SQL server and how to insert data into the table?
How to create a project using visual studio?
Basic knowledge about basic controls like button textbox etc and their events
Basic knowledge about data controls like grid view.
How to bind data in grid view?

Steps Of Execution

In this tutorial I will execute certain steps for the demonstration of sending grid view data on email in asp.net. These steps are

Create a new table
Add data in the table
Create a new project
Add controls on the page
Add code to bind grid
Add code to export grid view data to CSV

Let us execute each step

Create A New Table

First of all create a new table. See the screen shot below for table schema

Picture showing the database table in the design mode

Click to Enlarge

Add Data In The Table

Add data in the table. See the screen shot below for data

Picture showing adding the data in the table

Click to Enlarge

Create A New Project

Create a new website (or web based application) using visual studio. See the screen shot below for project structure.

Picture showing the project explorer in the solution explorer of the visual studio

Click to Enlarge

Add Controls On The Page

Add 2 buttons and a grid view on the page. See the code section below

<asp:GridView ID="gvReport" runat="server"  AutoGenerateColumns="false">
	<HeaderStyle Font-Names="Verdana" Font-Size="Small" BackColor="#90546f" ForeColor="White" BorderStyle="Solid" BorderColor="Black" />
	<RowStyle Font-Names="Verdana" Font-Size="Small"/>
	<Columns>
		<asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Course Name">
			<ItemTemplate>
				<asp:Label ID="Label1" runat="server" Text='<%#Eval("course_name") %>'>
				</asp:Label>
			</ItemTemplate>
		</asp:TemplateField>
		<asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Course Code">
			<ItemTemplate>
				<asp:Label ID="Label2" runat="server" Text='<%#Eval("course_code") %>'>
				</asp:Label>
			</ItemTemplate>
		</asp:TemplateField>
		<asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Due Date">
			<ItemTemplate>
				<asp:Label ID="Label3" runat="server" Text='<%#Eval("due_date") %>'>
				</asp:Label>
			</ItemTemplate>
		</asp:TemplateField>
	</Columns>
</asp:GridView>
<asp:Button ID="btnGetData" runat="server" Text="Get Data" OnClick="btnGetData_Click" />
     
    
<asp:Button ID="btnExportGridToCSV" runat="server" Text="Export" OnClick="btnExportGridToCSV_Click" />

Gridview (gvReport) will display data fetch from database.
Button (btnGetData) – Get data from database and bind gridview(gvReport)
Button (btnExportGridToCSV) – export gridview to CSV.

Add Code To Bind Grid

Add the following code on click of btnGetData.

protected void btnGetData_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) {
	DataSet oDataSet = new DataSet();
	using(SqlConnection oConnection = new SqlConnection("connection_string")) {
		// Open a connection
		oConnection.Open();
		using(SqlDataAdapter adapter = new SqlDataAdapter("select * from Course", oConnection)) {

			adapter.Fill(oDataSet);
		}
	}

	gvReport.DataSource = oDataSet.Tables[0];
	gvReport.DataBind();
}

Here we are fetching data from the database and bind to the grid.

Add Code To Export Grid View Data To CSV

Add following code in code behind

protected void btnExportGridToCSV_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) {
	Response.Clear();
	Response.Buffer = true;
	Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment;filename=GridViewExport.csv");
	Response.Charset = "";
	Response.ContentType = ".csv";

	StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
	for (int k = 0; k < gvReport.Columns.Count; k++) {
		//add separator
		sb.Append(gvReport.Columns[k].HeaderText + ',');
	}
	//append new line
	sb.Append("\r\n");
	for (int i = 0; i < gvReport.Rows.Count; i++) {
		sb.Append(((Label) gvReport.Rows[i].FindControl("Label1")).Text + ',');
		sb.Append(((Label) gvReport.Rows[i].FindControl("Label2")).Text + ',');
		sb.Append(((Label) gvReport.Rows[i].FindControl("Label3")).Text);

		//append new line
		sb.Append("\r\n");
	}
	Response.Output.Write(sb.ToString());
	Response.Flush();
	Response.Close();
}

In the code above we are looping through grid view (first through the grid view header and then through the grid view data rows) and assign data in a string builder variable separated by comma (,). Finally writing the record in excel.

Output

On page load

Picture showing the page when loaded for the first time

Click to Enlarge

On click of ‘Get Data’ button

Picture showing the data bound to the gridview on click of the Get Data button

Click to Enlarge

After export

Picture showing the data exported to excel

Click to Enlarge

Posted By -	Karan Gupta

Posted On -	Tuesday, April 16, 2013

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