ActiveReports provides custom components for several formats, including PDF, HTML, RTF, Excel, TIFF and plain text. Ultimate customizability is available by using any ASP.NET language.

This walkthrough illustrates how to create a simple Web application and set up custom exporting in HTML format.

This walkthrough is split up into the following activities:

• Adding an ActiveReport to an ASP.NET Web application
• Connecting the report to a data source
• Adding controls to the report to contain data
• Adding code to the Web Form to export to HTML
• Creating a public class for the HTML outputter
• Adding a folder to the project for report output

To complete the walkthrough, you must have access to the NorthWind database (NWind.mdb). You must also have access to Internet Information Services either from your computer or from the server. You must also run the "Configure Web Sample" option from the Data Dynamics ActiveReports for .NET 2.0 program menu from your Windows Start button.

When you have completed this walkthrough, you will have a report that looks similar to the following.

Adding an ActiveReport to an ASP.NET Web application

Important: If you are using Visual Studio.NET 2005, please see the Visual Studio.NET 2005 Web Changes topic.

To add an ActiveReport to your project

1. Open a new ASP.NET Web application in Visual Studio.
2. Click on Project > Add New Item.
3. Select ActiveReports file and rename the file rptCustExHTML.
4. Click Open.

Connecting the report to a data source

To connect the report to a data source

1. Click on the yellow report DataSource icon in the Detail section. This brings up the report DataSource dialog box.
2. Click on Build...
3. Select Microsoft Jet 4.0 OLE DB Provider and click Next >>
4. Click on the ellipsis to browse for the access path to NWind.mdb. Click Open once you have selected the appropriate access path.
5. Click OK to continue.
6. In the Query field, type "Select * from customers order by country".
7. Click OK to return to the report design surface.

Adding controls to the report to contain data

To add controls to the report

1. Add a GroupHeader/Footer section to rptCustExHTML.
2. Make the following changes to the group header:
   • Change the name to ghCountries
   • Change the DataField property to Country
3. Add the following controls to the GroupHeader section:

   Control	Name	Text/Caption	Location
   Label	lblCustomerID	Customer ID	0, 0
   Label	lblCompanyName	Company Name	1.0625, 0
   Label	lblContactName	Contact Name	2.125, 0
   Label	lblAddress	Address	3.125, 0
   Label	lblCity	City	4.25, 0
   Label	lblPhone	Phone	5.3125, 0

4. Add the following controls to the Detail section:

   Control	DataField	Name	Text/Caption	Location
   TextBox	CustomerID	txtCustomerID	Customer ID	0, 0
   TextBox	CompanyName	txtCompanyName	Company Name	1.0625, 0
   TextBox	ContactName	txtContactName	Contact Name	2.125, 0
   TextBox	Address	txtAddress	Address	3.125, 0
   TextBox	City	txtCity	City	4.25, 0
   TextBox	Phone	txtPhone	Phone	5.3125, 0

Adding code to the Web Form to export to HTML

To write the code in Visual Basic

• Double-click on WebForm1. This creates an event-handling method for WebForm1's Page_Load event. Add the following code to the Page_Load event.

To write the code in C#

• Double-click on WebForm1. This creates an event-handling method for WebForm1's Page_Load event. Add the following code to the Page_Load event.

The following example shows what the code for the method looks like.

' Visual Basic
 Private Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles  _
 	
        Dim rpt As New rptCustExHtml()
        Try
            rpt.Run(False)
        Catch eRunReport As Exception
            ' Failure running report, just report the error to the user:
            Response.Clear()
            Response.Write("<h1>Error running report:</h1>")
            Response.Write(eRunReport.ToString())
            Return
        End Try
        ' Buffer this page's output until the report output is ready.
        Response.Buffer = True
        ' Clear any part of this page that might have already been buffered for output.
        Response.ClearContent()
        ' Clear any headers that might have already been buffered (such as the content type 
        ' for an HTML page)
        Response.ClearHeaders()
        ' Tell the browser and the "network" that the resulting data of this page is not 
        ' cached since this could be a dynamic report that changes upon each request.
        Response.Cache.SetCacheability(HttpCacheability.NoCache)
        ' Tell the browser this is an Html document so it uses an appropriate viewer.
        Response.ContentType = "text/HTML"
        ' Create the Html export object
        Dim HtmlExport1 As New HtmlExport()
        Dim outputter As New MyCustomHtmlOutputter(Me.Context)
        Me.HtmlExport1.Export(rpt.Document, outputter, "")
        Response.Redirect("ReportOutput" + "/" + System.IO.Path.GetFileName _
        	(outputter.mainPage))
End Sub

//C#
private void Page_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
	rptCustExHTML rpt = new rptCustExHTML();
	try
	{
		rpt.Run(false);
	}
	catch (Exception eRunReport)
	{
		// Failure running report, just report the error to the user:
		Response.Clear();
		Response.Write("<h1>Error running report:</h1>");
		Response.Write(eRunReport.ToString());
		return;
	}
	// Buffer this page's output until the report output is ready.
	Response.Buffer = true;
	// Clear any part of this page that might have already been buffered for output.
	Response.ClearContent();
	// Clear any headers that might have already been buffered (such as the content 
        	// type for an HTML page)
	Response.ClearHeaders();
	// Tell the browser and the "network" that the resulting data of this page is not 
        	// cached since this could be a dynamic report that changes upon each request.
	Response.Cache.SetCacheability(HttpCacheability.NoCache);
	// Tell the browser this is an Html document so it uses an appropriate viewer.
	Response.ContentType = "text/html";
	// Create the HTML export object
	DataDynamics.ActiveReports.Export.Html.HtmlExport htmlExport1 = new DataDynamics
        		.ActiveReports.Export.Html.HtmlExport();
	// Export the report to HTML in this session's webcache:
	MyCustomHtmlOutputter outputter = new MyCustomHtmlOutputter(this.Context);
	this.htmlExport1.Export(rpt.Document, outputter, "");
	Response.Redirect("ReportOutput" + "/" + System.IO.Path.GetFileName
        		(outputter.mainPage));
}

Creating a public class for the HTML outputter

To create a public class

1. In the Solution Explorer window, right-click on your project name.
2. Click Add > Add New Item.
3. In the Templates window of the Add New Item dialog, click "Class".
4. Change the name of the file to "MyCustomHtmlOutputter" and click Open.
5. This will open the code view of the class file where you can add the code needed to create the public class.

To write the code in Visual Basic

• Add the following code between "Public Class MyCustomHtmlOutputter" and "End Class".

To write the code in C#

• Add the following code under "public class MyCustomHtmlOutputter".

The following example shows what the complete code for the method looks like.

' Visual Basic
 Imports System
 Imports System.IO
 Imports System.Web
 Imports System.Text
 Imports DataDynamics.ActiveReports
 Imports DataDynamics.ActiveReports.Export.Html
Public Class MyCustomHtmlOutputter
    Implements IOutputHtml
    ' The http context of the request.
    Private context As System.Web.HttpContext = Nothing
    ' The directory the filename will be saved in--this will be used to ensure the filename 
    ' is unique.
    Private dirToSave As System.IO.DirectoryInfo = Nothing
    Public mainPage As String = ""
    Public Sub New(ByVal context As System.Web.HttpContext)

        If context Is Nothing Then
            Throw New ArgumentNullException("context")
        End If
        Me.context = context
        Dim dirName As String = context.Server.MapPath("ReportOutput")
        Me.dirToSave = New DirectoryInfo(dirName)
End Sub
#Region "Implementation of IOutputHtml"
Public Function OutputHtmlData(ByVal info As DataDynamics.ActiveReports.Export.Html _
    .HtmlOutputInfoArgs) As  String Implements IOutputHtml.OutputHtmlData
        Dim temp As String = ""
        Select Case info.OutputKind
            Case HtmlOutputKind.BookmarksHtml
            Case HtmlOutputKind.FramesetHtml
                temp = Me.GenUniqueFileNameWithExtension(".html")
                Dim fs As New FileStream(temp, FileMode.CreateNew)
                Me.WriteStreamToStream(info.OutputStream, fs)
                fs.Close()
                Return temp
            Case HtmlOutputKind.HtmlPage
                ' We want to hold on to the name of the main page so we can redirect the 
    	       ' browser to it
                Me.mainPage = Me.GenUniqueFileNameWithExtension(".html")
                Dim fs As New FileStream(Me.mainPage, FileMode.CreateNew)
                Me.WriteStreamToStream(info.OutputStream, fs)
                fs.Close()
                Return Me.mainPage
            Case HtmlOutputKind.ImageJpg
                ' should be a file with a .jpg extension:
                temp = Me.GenUniqueFileNameWithExtension(".jpg")
                Dim fs As New FileStream(temp, FileMode.CreateNew)
                fs = File.Create(temp)
                Me.WriteStreamToStream(info.OutputStream, fs)
                fs.Close()
                Return temp
            Case HtmlOutputKind.ImagePng
                ' should be a file witha .png extension:
                temp = Me.GenUniqueFileNameWithExtension(".png")
                Dim fs As New FileStream(temp, FileMode.CreateNew)
                Me.WriteStreamToStream(info.OutputStream, fs)
                fs.Close()
                Return temp
            Case Else
                ' This case shouldn't really happen, but we'll default to html.
                temp = Me.GenUniqueFileNameWithExtension(".html")
                Dim fs As New FileStream(temp, FileMode.CreateNew)
                Me.WriteStreamToStream(info.OutputStream, fs)
                fs.Close()
                Return temp
        End Select
End Function
Public Sub Finish() Implements IOutputHtml.Finish
End Sub
#End Region
Private Sub WriteStreamToStream(ByVal sourceStream As Stream, ByVal targetStream As Stream)
        ' What's the size of the source stream:
        Dim size As Integer = CType(sourceStream.Length, Integer)
        ' Create a buffer that same size:
        Dim buffer(size) As Byte
        ' Move the source stream to the beginning:
        sourceStream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin)
        'copy the whole sourceStream into our buffer:
        sourceStream.Read(buffer, 0, size)
        'Write out buffer to the target stream:
        targetStream.Write(buffer, 0, size)
End Sub
Private Function GenUniqueFileNameWithExtension(ByVal extensionWithDot As String) As String
        Dim r As New System.Random()
        Dim unique As Boolean = False
        Dim filePath As String = ""
        Dim iRandom As Integer = 0
        ' Generate a random name until it's unique:
        While Not unique
            iRandom = r.Next()
            ' Buld the full filename
            Dim sb = New StringBuilder()
            sb.Append(Me.dirToSave.FullName)
            sb.Append(Path.DirectorySeparatorChar)
            sb.Append(iRandom.ToString())
            sb.Append(extensionWithDot)
            filePath = sb.ToString()
            If File.Exists(filePath) = False Then
                unique = True
            Else
                unique = False
            End If
        End While
        Return filePathEnd Function
End Class

//C#
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Web;
using System.Text;
using DataDynamics.ActiveReports;
using DataDynamics.ActiveReports.Export.Html;

public class MyCustomHtmlOutputter:DataDynamics.ActiveReports.Export.Html.IOutputHtml
{
	// The http context of the request.
	private System.Web.HttpContext context = null;
	// The directory the filename will be saved in--this will be used to ensure the 
    	// filename is unique.
	private System.IO.DirectoryInfo dirToSave = null;
	public string mainPage = "";
	public MyCustomHtmlOutputter(System.Web.HttpContext context)
{
		if (context == null)
			throw new ArgumentNullException("context");
		this.context = context;
		string dirName = context.Server.MapPath("ReportOutput");
		this.dirToSave = new DirectoryInfo(dirName);
}
#region Implementation of IOutputHtml
public string OutputHtmlData(DataDynamics.ActiveReports.Export.Html.HtmlOutputInfoArgs info)
{
	string temp = "";
	switch (info.OutputKind)
	{
		case HtmlOutputKind.BookmarksHtml:
		case HtmlOutputKind.FramesetHtml:
		{
			temp = this.GenUniqueFileNameWithExtension(".html");
			FileStream fs = File.Create(temp);
			this.WriteStreamToStream(info.OutputStream, fs);
			fs.Close();
			return temp;
		}
		case HtmlOutputKind.HtmlPage:
		{
			// We want to hold on to the name of the main page so we can
    			// redirect the browser to it:
			this.mainPage = this.GenUniqueFileNameWithExtension(".html");
			FileStream fs = File.Create(this.mainPage);
			this.WriteStreamToStream(info.OutputStream, fs);
			fs.Close();
			return this.mainPage;
		}
		case HtmlOutputKind.ImageJpg:
		{
			// should be a file with a .jpg extension:
			temp = this.GenUniqueFileNameWithExtension(".jpg");
			FileStream fs = File.Create(temp);
			this.WriteStreamToStream(info.OutputStream, fs);
			fs.Close();
			return temp;
		}
		case HtmlOutputKind.ImagePng:
		{
			// should be a file witha .png extension:
			temp = this.GenUniqueFileNameWithExtension(".png");
			FileStream fs = File.Create(temp);
			this.WriteStreamToStream(info.OutputStream, fs);
			fs.Close();
			return temp;
		}
		default:
 		{
			// This case shouldn't really happen, but we'll default to html.
			temp = this.GenUniqueFileNameWithExtension(".html");
			FileStream fs = File.Create(temp);
			this.WriteStreamToStream(info.OutputStream, fs);
			fs.Close();
			return temp;
		}
	}
}
public void Finish()
{
}
#endregion

 private void WriteStreamToStream(Stream sourceStream, Stream targetStream)
  {

   // Whats the size of the source stream:
   int size = (int)sourceStream.Length;
   
   // Create a buffer that same size:
   byte[] buffer = new byte[size];

   // Move the source stream to the begining:
   sourceStream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);

   // copy the whole sourceStream in to our buffer:
   sourceStream.Read(buffer, 0, size);

   // Write out buffer to the target stream:
   targetStream.Write(buffer, 0, size);
  }

  /// <summary>
  /// Generates a unqiue file name with the specified extension.
  /// </summary>
  /// <param name="extensionWithDot">
  /// The file extension begining with a dot such as ".jpg".
  /// </param>
  /// <returns></returns>
  private string GenUniqueFileNameWithExtension(string extensionWithDot)
  {
   System.Random r = new Random();

   bool unique = false;

   string filePath = "";
   int iRandom = 0;
   // Generate a random name until it's unique:
   while (!unique)
   {
    iRandom = r.Next();
    
    // Buld the full filename
    System.Text.StringBuilder sb = new System.Text.StringBuilder();
    sb.Append(this.dirToSave.FullName);
    sb.Append(Path.DirectorySeparatorChar);
    sb.Append(iRandom.ToString());
    sb.Append(extensionWithDot);

    filePath =   sb.ToString();

    

    unique = !File.Exists(filePath);
   }

   return filePath;

  }
       
 }

}

Adding a folder to the project for report output

To add a folder to the project

1. Open Windows Explorer and browse to the folder in which your project is contained.
2. On the File menu, click New > Folder.
3. Name the folder "ReportOutput".
4. Right-click the ReportOutput folder, select Sharing and Security..., and give write permissions for this folder to the Users group.
   
   

Samples | Walkthroughs

Tasks: Visual Studio.NET 2005 Web Changes

 

 

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