In this article I will explain with an example, how to export data from database to CSV file in ASP.Net MVC Razor.
The data from the database is fetched using Entity Framework and a Comma Separated (Delimited) string is generated using StringBuilder class.
Finally, the generated string will be exported to CSV file in ASP.Net MVC Razor.
 
 
Database
Here I am making use of Microsoft’s Northwind Database. You can download it from here.
Download and install Northwind Database
 
 
Entity Framework Model
Once the Entity Framework is configured and connected to the database table, the Model will look as shown below.
Note: For beginners in ASP.Net MVC and Entity Framework, please refer my article ASP.Net MVC: Simple Entity Framework Tutorial with example. It covers all the information needed for connecting and configuring Entity Framework.
 
ASP.Net MVC: Export data from database to CSV File
 
 
Namespaces
You will need to import the following namespace.
using System.Text;
 
 
Controller
The Controller consists of following two Action methods.
Action method for handling GET operation
Inside this Action method, the Top 10 records from the Customers Table are fetched using Entity Framework and returned to the View.
 
Action method for handling the CSV File Export and Download operation
This Action method is executed when the Export Submit button is clicked.
Note: The following Action method performs File Download and hence the return type is set to FileResult. For more details on FileResult, please refer my article FileResult return type in ASP.Net MVC.
 
Inside this Action Method, the Top 10 Customer records are fetched from the Customers Table using Entity Framework and then using the StringBuilder class, a Comma Separated (Delimited) string is generated.
Finally, the string is converted to Byte Array and exported and downloaded as CSV file using the File function.
public class HomeController : Controller
{
    // GET: Home
    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        NorthwindEntities entities = new NorthwindEntities();
        return View(from customer in entities.Customers.Take(10)
                    select customer);
    }
 
    [HttpPost]
    public FileResult Export()
    {
        NorthwindEntities entities = new NorthwindEntities();
        List<object> customers = (from customer in entities.Customers.ToList().Take(10)
                                  select new[] {
                                        customer.CustomerID,
                                        customer.ContactName,
                                        customer.City,
                                        customer.Country
                                 }).ToList<object>();
 
        //Insert the Column Names.
        customers.Insert(0, new string[4] { "Customer ID", "Customer Name", "City", "Country" });
 
        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
        for (int i = 0; i < customers.Count; i++)
        {
            string[] customer = (string[])customers[i];
            for (int j = 0; j < customer.Length; j++)
            {
                //Append data with separator.
                sb.Append(customer[j] + ',');
            }
 
            //Append new line character.
            sb.Append("\r\n");
 
        }
 
        return File(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(sb.ToString()), "text/csv", "Grid.csv");
    }
}
 
 
View
Inside the View, in the very first line the Customer Entity is declared as IEnumerable which specifies that the Model will be available as a Collection.
 
Displaying the records
For displaying the records, an HTML Table is used.
A loop will be executed over the Model which will generate the HTML Table rows with the Customer records.
 
Exporting database data to CSV File
Below the HTML Table, there is an HTML Submit button enclosed inside a Form which has been created using the Html.BeginForm method with the following parameters.
ActionName – Name of the Action. In this case the name is Export.
ControllerName – Name of the Controller. In this case the name is Home.
FormMethod – It specifies the Form Method i.e. GET or POST. In this case it will be set to POST.
When the Export Submit button is clicked, the Form is submitted.
@model IEnumerable<Customer>
 
@{
    Layout = null;
}
<!DOCTYPE html>
 
<html>
<head>
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width" />
    <title>Index</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h4>Customers</h4>
    <hr />
    <table cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;">
        <tr>
            <th style="background-color: #B8DBFD;border: 1px solid #ccc">Customer Id</th>
            <th style="background-color: #B8DBFD;border: 1px solid #ccc">Customer Name</th>
            <th style="background-color: #B8DBFD;border: 1px solid #ccc">City</th>
            <th style="background-color: #B8DBFD;border: 1px solid #ccc">Country</th>
        </tr>
        @foreach (Customer customer in Model)
        {
            <tr>
                <td style="border: 1px solid #ccc">@customer.CustomerID</td>
                <td style="border: 1px solid #ccc">@customer.ContactName</td>
                <td style="border: 1px solid #ccc">@customer.City</td>
                <td style="border: 1px solid #ccc">@customer.Country</td>
            </tr>
        }
    </table>
    <br /><br />
    @using (Html.BeginForm("Export", "Home", FormMethod.Post))
    {
        <input type="submit" id="btnSubmit" value="Export" />
    }
</body>
</html>
 
 
Screenshots
HTML Table
ASP.Net MVC: Export data from database to CSV File
 
Exported CSV File
ASP.Net MVC: Export data from database to CSV File
 
 
Downloads
Download Code