Bind a Report to a CSV File (Runtime Sample)

• Sep 13, 2018
• 5 minutes to read

Tip

Online Example: How to bind a report to a CSV file at runtime

This example demonstrates how to bind a report to a CSV file and specify the report layout at runtime.

Do the following to bind a report to a CSV file:

1. Create the ExcelDataSource class’s instance and specify the full path to the source file by setting its ExcelDataSource.FileName property.

2. Create the CsvSourceOptions class’s instance to specify the required import settings.

   Enable the CsvSourceOptions.DetectEncoding, CsvSourceOptions.DetectNewlineType and CsvSourceOptions.DetectValueSeparator options to automatically determine the character encoding, the line break type and a character that separates values in the source CSV document.

   Assign the created CsvSourceOptions object to the ExcelDataSource.SourceOptions property.

3. The report engine automatically generates a data source schema by default. Do the following to manually define the data source schema if you need to customize the data fields’ display names and types:

   • Create as many FieldInfo class instances as there are columns in the selected CSV file.
   • Specify the FieldInfo.Name and FieldInfo.Type property for each data field, and specify whether to include the field in the resulting data source using the FieldInfo.Selected property.
   • Add the created fields to the ExcelDataSource.Schema collection using the FieldInfoList.AddRange method. The order in which the fields are added should match the order of the columns in the source file.
4. Assign the created data source to the report’s XtraReportBase.DataSource property.
5. Provide data to report controls using the XRControl.ExpressionBindings or XRControl.DataBindings property depending on the report’s data binding mode.

Program.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace BindingReportToCsvFile
{
    static class Program
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// The main entry point for the application.
        /// </summary>
        [STAThread]
        static void Main()
        {
            //Uncomment this line to switch to the legacy binding mode.  
            //DevExpress.XtraReports.Configuration.Settings.Default.UserDesignerOptions.DataBindingMode =
            //    DevExpress.XtraReports.UI.DataBindingMode.Bindings;
            Application.EnableVisualStyles();
            Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
            Application.Run(new Form1());
        }
    }
}

Form1.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using DevExpress.XtraReports.UI;
using DevExpress.DataAccess.Excel;
using DevExpress.XtraReports.Configuration;

namespace BindingReportToCsvFile
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            // Create an empty report.
            XtraReport report = new XtraReport();

            // Create a new Excel data source.
            ExcelDataSource excelDataSource = new ExcelDataSource();
            excelDataSource.FileName = "..//..//Northwind.csv";

            // Specify import settings.
            CsvSourceOptions csvSourceOptions = new CsvSourceOptions();
            csvSourceOptions.DetectEncoding = true;
            csvSourceOptions.DetectNewlineType = true;
            csvSourceOptions.DetectValueSeparator = true;
            excelDataSource.SourceOptions = csvSourceOptions;

            // Define the data source schema.
            FieldInfo fieldCategoryID = new FieldInfo { Name = "CategoryID", Type = typeof(double), Selected = false };
            FieldInfo fieldCategoryName = new FieldInfo { Name = "CategoryName", Type = typeof(string) };
            FieldInfo fieldDescription = new FieldInfo { Name = "Description", Type = typeof(string) };
            // Add the created fields to the data source schema in the order that matches the column order in the source file.
            excelDataSource.Schema.AddRange(new FieldInfo[] { fieldCategoryID, fieldCategoryName, fieldDescription });

            // Assign the data source to the report.
            report.DataSource = excelDataSource;

            // Add a detail band to the report.
            DetailBand detailBand = new DetailBand();
            detailBand.Height = 50;
            report.Bands.Add(detailBand);

            // Create a new label.
            XRLabel label = new XRLabel();
            // Specify the label's binding depending on the data binding mode.
            if (Settings.Default.UserDesignerOptions.DataBindingMode == DataBindingMode.Bindings)
                label.DataBindings.Add("Text", null, "CategoryName");
            else label.ExpressionBindings.Add(new ExpressionBinding("BeforePrint", "Text", "[CategoryName]"));
            // Add the label to the detail band.
            detailBand.Controls.Add(label);

            // Show the report's print preview.
            report.ShowPreview();

        }
    }
}

Form1.vb

Imports System
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.ComponentModel
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Drawing
Imports System.Linq
Imports System.Text
Imports System.Windows.Forms
Imports DevExpress.XtraReports.UI
Imports DevExpress.DataAccess.Excel
Imports DevExpress.XtraReports.Configuration

Namespace BindingReportToCsvFile
    Partial Public Class Form1
        Inherits Form

        Public Sub New()
            InitializeComponent()
        End Sub

        Private Sub button1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) Handles button1.Click
            ' Create an empty report.
            Dim report As New XtraReport()

            ' Create a new Excel data source.
            Dim excelDataSource As New ExcelDataSource()
            excelDataSource.FileName = "..//..//Northwind.csv"

            ' Specify import settings.
            Dim csvSourceOptions As New CsvSourceOptions()
            csvSourceOptions.DetectEncoding = True
            csvSourceOptions.DetectNewlineType = True
            csvSourceOptions.DetectValueSeparator = True
            excelDataSource.SourceOptions = csvSourceOptions

            ' Define the data source schema.
            Dim fieldCategoryID As FieldInfo = New FieldInfo With { _
                .Name = "CategoryID", _
                .Type = GetType(Double), _
                .Selected = False _
            }
            Dim fieldCategoryName As FieldInfo = New FieldInfo With { _
                .Name = "CategoryName", _
                .Type = GetType(String) _
            }
            Dim fieldDescription As FieldInfo = New FieldInfo With { _
                .Name = "Description", _
                .Type = GetType(String) _
            }
            ' Add the created fields to the data source schema in the order that matches the column order in the source file.
            excelDataSource.Schema.AddRange(New FieldInfo() { fieldCategoryID, fieldCategoryName, fieldDescription })

            ' Assign the data source to the report.
            report.DataSource = excelDataSource

            ' Add a detail band to the report.
            Dim detailBand As New DetailBand()
            detailBand.Height = 50
            report.Bands.Add(detailBand)

            ' Create a new label.
            Dim label As New XRLabel()
            ' Specify the label's binding depending on the data binding mode.
            If Settings.Default.UserDesignerOptions.DataBindingMode = DataBindingMode.Bindings Then
                label.DataBindings.Add("Text", Nothing, "CategoryName")
            Else
                label.ExpressionBindings.Add(New ExpressionBinding("BeforePrint", "Text", "[CategoryName]"))
            End If
            ' Add the label to the detail band.
            detailBand.Controls.Add(label)

            ' Show the report's print preview.
            report.ShowPreview()

        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

Program.vb

Imports System
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Linq
Imports System.Windows.Forms

Namespace BindingReportToCsvFile
    Friend NotInheritable Class Program

        Private Sub New()
        End Sub

        ''' <summary>
        ''' The main entry point for the application.
        ''' </summary>
        <STAThread> _
        Shared Sub Main()
            'Uncomment this line to switch to the legacy binding mode.  
            'DevExpress.XtraReports.Configuration.Settings.Default.UserDesignerOptions.DataBindingMode =
            '    DevExpress.XtraReports.UI.DataBindingMode.Bindings;
            Application.EnableVisualStyles()
            Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(False)
            Application.Run(New Form1())
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace