Export merged ASP.Net GridView cell to PDF using C#

Hi Hazel,

Instead of calling MergeGridviewRows(gvSiriAudit) on gvAuditPlanSearch_PreRender call MergeGridviewRows after BindGridSiriAudit().

Refer below sample.

HTML

<asp:GridView ID="gvSiriAudit" runat="server" OnRowDataBound="gvSiriAudit_RowDataBound" CssClass="mGridA" OnPreRender="gvAuditPlanSearch_PreRender"
    AutoGenerateColumns="False" ShowHeaderWhenEmpty="true" DataKeyNames="GROUP">
    <%--OnDataBound="gvSiriAudit_DataBound"--%>
    <EmptyDataRowStyle HorizontalAlign="Center" ForeColor="Red" />
    <EmptyDataTemplate>
        <strong><span>NO DATA</span></strong>
    </EmptyDataTemplate>
    <%--<AlternatingRowStyle BackColor="#dedede"></AlternatingRowStyle>--%>
    <Columns>
        <%--<asp:BoundField HeaderText="Id" DataField="Id" ItemStyle-HorizontalAlign="Center"></asp:BoundField>--%>
        <asp:BoundField HeaderText="GROUP" DataField="Group" ItemStyle-HorizontalAlign="Center"></asp:BoundField>
        <asp:TemplateField HeaderText="NAME" ItemStyle-HorizontalAlign="Center" ItemStyle-Width="350px">
            <ItemTemplate>
                <asp:GridView ID="gvStaffName" runat="server" ShowHeader="false" Width="100%">
                </asp:GridView>
            </ItemTemplate>
        </asp:TemplateField>
        <asp:BoundField HeaderText="CLAUSE" DataField="Clause"></asp:BoundField>
        <asp:BoundField HeaderText="PROCESS" DataField="Process" ItemStyle-HorizontalAlign="Center"></asp:BoundField>
        <asp:BoundField HeaderText="SUBPROCESS" DataField="SubProcess" ItemStyle-HorizontalAlign="Center"></asp:BoundField>
        <asp:BoundField HeaderText="DEPARTMENT" DataField="Department"></asp:BoundField>
    </Columns>
</asp:GridView>
<br />
<asp:Button Text="Export" OnClick="ExportToPDF" runat="server" />

Namespaces

using System.IO;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.Configuration;
using iTextSharp.text;
using iTextSharp.text.html.simpleparser;
using iTextSharp.text.pdf;

Code

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

public void BindGridSiriAudit()
{
    string conString = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["constr"].ConnectionString;
    using (SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection(conString))
    {
        try
        {
            SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("SELECT * FROM SiriAudit", conn);
            cmd.CommandType = CommandType.Text;
            SqlDataAdapter da = new SqlDataAdapter(cmd);
            DataSet ds = new DataSet();
            da.Fill(ds);

            gvSiriAudit.DataSource = ds;
            gvSiriAudit.DataBind();
            MergeGridviewRows(gvSiriAudit);
        }
        finally
        {
            if (conn != null && conn.State == ConnectionState.Open)
            {
                conn.Close();
            }
        }
    }
}

protected void gvSiriAudit_RowDataBound(object sender, GridViewRowEventArgs e)
{
    if (e.Row.RowType == DataControlRowType.DataRow)
    {
        GridView gvStaffName = (GridView)e.Row.FindControl("gvStaffName");
        string kdkump = gvSiriAudit.DataKeys[e.Row.RowIndex].Values["GROUP"].ToString();

        string conString = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["constr"].ConnectionString;
        using (SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection(conString))
        {
            try
            {
                SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("SELECT * FROM StaffName WHERE Id =@kdkump ", conn);
                cmd.CommandType = CommandType.Text;
                cmd.Parameters.Add("@kdkump", SqlDbType.VarChar).Value = kdkump;
                SqlDataAdapter da = new SqlDataAdapter(cmd);
                DataSet ds = new DataSet();
                da.Fill(ds);
                gvStaffName.DataSource = ds;
                gvStaffName.DataBind();
            }
            finally
            {
                if (conn != null && conn.State == ConnectionState.Open)
                {
                    conn.Close();
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

private void MergeGridviewRows(GridView gridView)
{
    for (int rowIndex = gridView.Rows.Count - 2; rowIndex >= 0; rowIndex--)
    {
        GridViewRow gvRow = gridView.Rows[rowIndex];
        GridViewRow gvPreviousRow = gridView.Rows[rowIndex + 1];

        if (gvRow.Cells[0].Text == gvPreviousRow.Cells[0].Text)
        {
            if (gvPreviousRow.Cells[0].RowSpan < 2)
            {
                gvRow.Cells[0].RowSpan = 2;
            }
            else
            {
                gvRow.Cells[0].RowSpan = gvPreviousRow.Cells[0].RowSpan + 1;
            }
            gvPreviousRow.Cells[0].Visible = false;
        }

        if (gvRow.Cells[0].Text == gvPreviousRow.Cells[0].Text)
        {
            if (gvPreviousRow.Cells[1].RowSpan < 2)
            {
                gvRow.Cells[1].RowSpan = 2;
            }
            else
            {
                gvRow.Cells[1].RowSpan = gvPreviousRow.Cells[2].RowSpan + 1;
            }
            gvPreviousRow.Cells[1].Visible = false;
        }

        if (gvRow.Cells[0].Text == gvPreviousRow.Cells[0].Text)
        {
            if (gvPreviousRow.Cells[2].RowSpan < 2)
            {
                gvRow.Cells[2].RowSpan = 2;
            }
            else
            {
                gvRow.Cells[2].RowSpan = gvPreviousRow.Cells[2].RowSpan + 1;
            }
            gvPreviousRow.Cells[2].Visible = false;
        }

        if (gvRow.Cells[0].Text == gvPreviousRow.Cells[0].Text)
        {
            if (gvPreviousRow.Cells[3].RowSpan < 2)
            {
                gvRow.Cells[3].RowSpan = 2;
            }
            else
            {
                gvRow.Cells[3].RowSpan = gvPreviousRow.Cells[3].RowSpan + 1;
            }
            gvPreviousRow.Cells[3].Visible = false;
        }

        if (gvRow.Cells[0].Text == gvPreviousRow.Cells[0].Text)
        {
            if (gvPreviousRow.Cells[4].RowSpan < 2)
            {
                gvRow.Cells[4].RowSpan = 2;
            }
            else
            {
                gvRow.Cells[4].RowSpan = gvPreviousRow.Cells[4].RowSpan + 1;
            }
            gvPreviousRow.Cells[4].Visible = false;
        }

        if (gvRow.Cells[5].Text == gvPreviousRow.Cells[5].Text)
        {
            if (gvPreviousRow.Cells[5].RowSpan < 2)
            {
                gvRow.Cells[5].RowSpan = 2;
            }
            else
            {
                gvRow.Cells[5].RowSpan = gvPreviousRow.Cells[5].RowSpan + 1;
            }
            gvPreviousRow.Cells[5].Visible = false;
        }
    }
}

protected void gvAuditPlanSearch_PreRender(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
//MergeGridviewRows(gvSiriAudit);
}

protected void ExportToPDF(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    //Set the Size of PDF document.
    Rectangle rect = new Rectangle(500, 300);
    Document pdfDoc = new Document(rect, 10f, 10f, 10f, 10f);

    //Initialize the PDF document object.
    PdfWriter.GetInstance(pdfDoc, Response.OutputStream);
    pdfDoc.Open();

    //Loop through GridView Pages.
    for (int i = 0; i < gvSiriAudit.PageCount; i++)
    {
        //Set the Page Index.
        gvSiriAudit.PageIndex = i;

        //Hide Page as not needed in PDF.
        gvSiriAudit.PagerSettings.Visible = false;

        //Populate the GridView with records for the Page Index.
        this.BindGridSiriAudit();

        //Render the GridView as HTML and add to PDF.
        using (StringWriter sw = new StringWriter())
        {
            using (HtmlTextWriter hw = new HtmlTextWriter(sw))
            {
                gvSiriAudit.RenderControl(hw);
                HTMLWorker htmlparser = new HTMLWorker(pdfDoc);
                StringReader sr = new StringReader(sw.ToString());
                htmlparser.Parse(sr);
            }
        }

        //Add a new Page to PDF document.
        pdfDoc.NewPage();
    }
    //Close the PDF document.
    pdfDoc.Close();

    //Download the PDF file.
    Response.ContentType = "application/pdf";
    Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment;filename=GridViewExport.pdf");
    Response.Cache.SetCacheability(HttpCacheability.NoCache);
    Response.Write(pdfDoc);
    Response.End();
}

public override void VerifyRenderingInServerForm(Control control)
{
    /* Confirms that an HtmlForm control is rendered for the specified ASP.NET
        server control at run time. */
}

Screenshot

Output

 I've change a bit the code to suit my needs.

protected void imgBtnPrint_Click(object sender, ImageClickEventArgs e)
{           
    Document doc = new Document(PageSize.A4.Rotate(), 30f, 30f, 30f, 30f);
    PdfWriter.GetInstance(doc, Response.OutputStream);
    doc.Open();
 
    for (int i = 0; i < gvSiriAudit.PageCount; i++)
    {
        //Set the Page Index.
        gvSiriAudit.PageIndex = i;
 
        //Hide Page as not needed in PDF.
        gvSiriAudit.PagerSettings.Visible = false;
 
        //Populate the GridView with records for the Page Index.
        this.BindGridSiriAudit();
 
        //Render the GridView as HTML and add to PDF.
        using (StringWriter sw = new StringWriter())
        {
            using (HtmlTextWriter hw = new HtmlTextWriter(sw))
            {
                gvSiriAudit.RenderControl(hw);
                HTMLWorker htmlparser = new HTMLWorker(doc);                       
                StringReader sr = new StringReader(sw.ToString());
                gvSiriAudit.HeaderStyle.ForeColor = System.Drawing.Color.White;
                htmlparser.Parse(sr);
            }
        }
 
        //Add a new Page to PDF document.
        doc.NewPage();
    }
    
    doc.Close();
    Response.ContentType = "Application/pdf";
    Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "inline; filename=GridviewExport.pdf");
    Response.Cache.SetCacheability(HttpCacheability.NoCache);
    Response.Write(doc);
    Response.End();
}