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Export to PDF

The easiest way of saving FlexGrid as a PDF is to use the System.PrintDocument class. You can set its PrinterName property to "Microsoft Print to PDF" and invoke Print method of the class.


var printDocument = _flexGrid.PrintParameters.PrintDocument;
printDocument.DocumentName = "Export to PDF";
printDocument.PrinterSettings.PrinterName = "Microsoft Print to PDF";
// Print document into Microsoft PDF printer
 printDocument.Print();       
Dim printDocument = _flexGrid.PrintParameters.PrintDocument
printDocument.DocumentName = "Export to PDF"
printDocument.PrinterSettings.PrinterName = "Microsoft Print to PDF"
' Print document into Microsoft PDF printer
printDocument.Print()

However, this approach has some limitations and it does not let you set advanced options such as setting borders, printing by specific page or column breaks etc. To implement these kind of advanced export options, you can use the C1PrintDocument class of the C1PrintDocument library shipped with ComponentOne WinForms Edition as shown in the section below.

Advanced Export to PDF

To export a grid to PDF with advanced options, you need to create images of grid by defining the rows and columns per page and hence, finding the row and column range to be drawn on each page. Then, add these images to generate a PDF using the C1PrintDocument class. Below are the detailed steps and sample code to implement the advanced export to PDF.



Step 1: Create Ranges

First, you need to set the UserData property according to the defined rows per page and columns per page. This helps in finding out the row and column range to be drawn on each page of the PDF document. So, this step acts as a ground to create images of the grid in the step below.


// get rows/cols per page
int rpp = 10;
int cpp = 3;
try
{
    rpp = int.Parse(_rpp.Text);
    cpp = int.Parse(_cpp.Text);
}
catch { }
// mark grid with row/column breaks
for (int r = _flex.Rows.Fixed; r < _flex.Rows.Count; r++)
{
    _flex.Rows[r].UserData = (r % rpp == 0)
        ? "*"
        : null;
}
for (int c = _flex.Cols.Fixed; c < _flex.Cols.Count; c++)
{
    _flex.Cols[c].UserData = (c % cpp == 0)
        ? "*"
        : null;
}
Dim rpp As Integer = 10
Dim cpp As Integer = 3
Try
    rpp = Integer.Parse(_rpp.Text)
    cpp = Integer.Parse(_cpp.Text)
Catch ex As Exception
End Try
For r As Integer = _flex.Rows.Fixed To _flex.Rows.Count - 1
    _flex.Rows(r).UserData = If((r Mod rpp = 0), "*", Nothing)
Next
For c As Integer = _flex.Cols.Fixed To _flex.Cols.Count - 1
    _flex.Cols(c).UserData = If((c Mod cpp = 0), "*", Nothing)
Next

Step 2: Create Grid Images

Now, create a custom class (in this case, FlexPDFCreator) to create images of the grid using CreateImage method of the C1FlexGrid class. The images are created based on the UserData property set in the step above.


public class FlexPdfCreator
{
    // ** fields
    private ArrayList _images;
    private ArrayList _rowOnPage;
    private ArrayList _colOnPage;
    private int _rpp, _cpp;
    // ** ctor
    public FlexPdfCreator(C1FlexGrid flex, int _rpp, int _cpp)
    {
        // create page images
        _images = new ArrayList();
        _colOnPage = new ArrayList();
        _rowOnPage = new ArrayList();
        this._rpp = _rpp;
        this._cpp = _cpp;
        // initialize
        int r1, c1, r2, c2;
        // loop through columns looking for breaks
        c1 = c2 = flex.Cols.Fixed;
        for (int c = flex.Cols.Fixed; c < flex.Cols.Count; c++)
        {
            // check if this is a column break
            if (c == flex.Cols.Count - 1 ||
                (flex.Cols[c].UserData != null && flex.Cols[c].UserData.ToString() == "*"))
            {
                // found break, column range is c1-c
                c2 = c;
                // loop through rows looking for breaks
                r1 = r2 = flex.Rows.Fixed;
                for (int r = flex.Rows.Fixed; r < flex.Rows.Count; r++)
                {
                    // look for next row break
                    if (r == flex.Rows.Count - 1 ||
                        (flex.Rows[r].UserData != null && flex.Rows[r].UserData.ToString() == "*"))
                    {
                        // found break, row range is r1-r
                        r2 = r;
                        // create image
                        _images.Add(flex.CreateImage(r1, c1, r2, c2));
                        _rowOnPage.Add(r2 - r1);
                        _colOnPage.Add(c2 - c1);
                        // update row range
                        r1 = r + 1;
                    }
                }
                // update column range
                c1 = c + 1;
            }
        }
    }
Public Class FlexPdfCreator
    Private _images As ArrayList
    Private _rowOnPage As ArrayList
    Private _colOnPage As ArrayList
    Private _rpp, _cpp As Integer
    Public Sub New(ByVal flex As C1FlexGrid, ByVal _rpp As Integer, ByVal _cpp As Integer)
        _images = New ArrayList()
        _colOnPage = New ArrayList()
        _rowOnPage = New ArrayList()
        Me._rpp = _rpp
        Me._cpp = _cpp
        Dim r1, c1, r2, c2 As Integer
        c1 = flex.Cols.Fixed
        c2 = flex.Cols.Fixed
        For c As Integer = flex.Cols.Fixed To flex.Cols.Count - 1
            If c = flex.Cols.Count - 1 OrElse (flex.Cols(c).UserData IsNot Nothing AndAlso flex.Cols(c).UserData.ToString() = "*") Then
                c2 = c
                r1 = flex.Rows.Fixed
                r2 = flex.Rows.Fixed
                For r As Integer = flex.Rows.Fixed To flex.Rows.Count - 1
                    If r = flex.Rows.Count - 1 OrElse (flex.Rows(r).UserData IsNot Nothing AndAlso flex.Rows(r).UserData.ToString() = "*") Then
                        r2 = r
                        _images.Add(flex.CreateImage(r1, c1, r2, c2))
                        _rowOnPage.Add(r2 - r1)
                        _colOnPage.Add(c2 - c1)
                        r1 = r + 1
                    End If
                Next
                c1 = c + 1
            End If
        Next
    End Sub

Step 3: Generate PDF Document

In this step, create a document using C1PrintDocument class of the C1PrintDocument library shipped with ComponentOne WinForms Edition. Use the RenderImage class to add created images to this document and finally, save the PDF document using Export method.


public void Save(string fileName)
{
    int perUnitWidth = 250 / _cpp;
    int perUnitHeight = 190 / _rpp;
    // create new C1PrintDocument
    C1PrintDocument c1PrintDocument1 = new C1PrintDocument();
    c1PrintDocument1.AllowNonReflowableDocs = true;
    RenderArea ra1 = new RenderArea();
    // add images to document
    for (int page = 0; page < _images.Count; page++)
    {
        Image img = _images[page] as Image;
        RenderImage ri1 = new RenderImage(img);
        ri1.Width = perUnitWidth * (int)_colOnPage[page] + "mm";
        ri1.Height = perUnitHeight * (int)_rowOnPage[page] + "mm";
        ra1.Children.Add(ri1);
    }
    c1PrintDocument1.Body.Children.Add(ra1);
    c1PrintDocument1.Reflow();
    c1PrintDocument1.Export(fileName);
}
Public Sub Save(ByVal fileName As String)
    Dim perUnitWidth As Integer = 250 / _cpp
    Dim perUnitHeight As Integer = 190 / _rpp
    Dim c1PrintDocument1 As C1PrintDocument = New C1PrintDocument()
    c1PrintDocument1.AllowNonReflowableDocs = True
    Dim ra1 As RenderArea = New RenderArea()
    For page As Integer = 0 To _images.Count - 1
        Dim img As Image = TryCast(_images(page), Image)
        Dim ri1 As RenderImage = New RenderImage(img)
        ri1.Width = perUnitWidth * CInt(_colOnPage(page)) & "mm"
        ri1.Height = perUnitHeight * CInt(_rowOnPage(page)) & "mm"
        ra1.Children.Add(ri1)
    Next
    c1PrintDocument1.Body.Children.Add(ra1)
    c1PrintDocument1.Reflow()
    c1PrintDocument1.Export(fileName)
End Sub
End Class