LinkBase.CreateDocument(Boolean) Method

Creates a document from the link, so it can be displayed or printed. Optionally, the document pages can be generated progressively and accessed as soon as they are created. Document creation is always synchronous and does not occur in a background thread.

Namespace: DevExpress.Xpf.Printing

Assembly: DevExpress.Xpf.Printing.v24.1.dll

NuGet Package: DevExpress.Wpf.Printing

Declaration

C#

public void CreateDocument(
    bool buildForInstantPreview
)

VB.NET

Public Sub CreateDocument(
    buildForInstantPreview As Boolean
)

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
buildForInstantPreview	Boolean	true to enable accessing document pages progressively as they are created; otherwise false.

Remarks

Use the CreateDocument method to generate a document for the current link.

When this link is exported (i.e., the LinkBase.ExportToHtml or any other export method is called for this link), the CreateDocument method is internally called with the false parameter, prior to the start of the exporting procedure. Once the document export has started, it will run until the resulting document is complete and cannot be interrupted or canceled in the process.

Note

If the buildForInstantPreview parameter is set to true, document pages can be accessed progressively as they are created. In Print Preview, this enables you to start viewing the document as soon as its first page is ready. Remaining pages are progressively rendered in Print Preview.

Regardless of this parameter setting, a document will not be produced in a background thread. Document creation is not asynchronous, as a document is created using ticks from the DispatcherTimer class.

When this option is enabled, you can use the PrintingSystemBase.CreateDocumentException event to handle custom exceptions, which may occur during document creation. When an exception is handled (the ExceptionEventArgs.Handled property is set to true for it), the report creation process stops without displaying any errors in Print Preview.

Background document creation can be interrupted by calling the LinkBase.StopPageBuilding method.

Example

This example demonstrates how to use SimpleLink to print data from a non-hierarchical datasource.

To do this, perform the following steps.

• Create a DataTemplate for a single detail row and assign it to the SimpleLink.DetailTemplate property;
• Set the SimpleLink.DetailCount property to the total count of data rows in a data source;
• Handle the SimpleLink.CreateDetail event, and provide data for its CreateAreaEventArgs.Data parameter;
• Call the LinkBase.CreateDocument method to generate report pages.

Window1.xaml.cs

using System;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Windows;
using DevExpress.Xpf.Printing;
// ...
string[] data;

private void button1_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) {
    // Create an array of strings.
    data = CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.DateTimeFormat.DayNames;

    // Create a link and specify a template and detail count for it.
    SimpleLink link = new SimpleLink();
    link.DetailTemplate = (DataTemplate)Resources["dayNameTemplate"];
    link.DetailCount = data.Length;

    // Create a document.
    link.CreateDetail += new EventHandler<CreateAreaEventArgs>(link_CreateDetail);

    // Show a Print Preview window.
    PrintHelper.ShowPrintPreviewDialog(this, link);
}

void link_CreateDetail(object sender, CreateAreaEventArgs e) {
    e.Data = data[e.DetailIndex];
}

Window1.xaml.vb

Imports System
Imports System.Globalization
Imports System.Windows
Imports DevExpress.Xpf.Printing
' ...
Private data() As String

Private Sub button1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)
    ' Create an array of strings.
    data = CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.DateTimeFormat.DayNames

    ' Create a link and specify a template and detail count for it.
    Dim link As New SimpleLink()
    link.DetailTemplate = DirectCast(Resources("dayNameTemplate"), DataTemplate)
    link.DetailCount = data.Length

    ' Create a document.
    AddHandler link.CreateDetail, AddressOf link_CreateDetail

    ' Show a Print Preview window.
    PrintHelper.ShowPrintPreviewDialog(Me, link)
End Sub

Private Sub link_CreateDetail(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As CreateAreaEventArgs)
    e.Data = data(e.DetailIndex)
End Sub

Related GitHub Examples

The following code snippets (auto-collected from DevExpress Examples) contain references to the CreateDocument(Boolean) method.

Note

The algorithm used to collect these code examples remains a work in progress. Accordingly, the links and snippets below may produce inaccurate results. If you encounter an issue with code examples below, please use the feedback form on this page to report the issue.

C#

reporting-wpf-print-listview-data/CS/Window1.xaml.cs#L24

link.CreateDetail += new EventHandler<CreateAreaEventArgs>(link_CreateDetail);
link.CreateDocument(true);
preview.ShowDialog();

reporting-wpf-use-collectionview-link/CS/Window1.xaml.cs#L29

// Create a document.
link.CreateDocument(true);

VB.NET

reporting-wpf-print-listview-data/VB/Window1.xaml.vb#L26

AddHandler link.CreateDetail, New EventHandler(Of CreateAreaEventArgs)(AddressOf link_CreateDetail)
link.CreateDocument(True)
preview.ShowDialog()

reporting-wpf-use-collectionview-link/VB/Window1.xaml.vb#L28

' Create a document.
link.CreateDocument(True)
' Show a Print Preview.