Email Reports

• Apr 10, 2023
• 5 minutes to read

This document describes how to send an exported report by e-mail.

Export to PDF and Send Email in Code

You can export a report to PDF and attach the PDF document to the email message.

For each report class you can specify different email export options in the Visual Studio Designer:

View Example: How to Email a Report as a Document in PDF

The following code exports a report to PDF, attaches the PDF document to a message, and sends the message using email options specified in the Visual Studio Report Designer.

C#

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Mail;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace SendReportAsEMail
{
    public partial class Form1 : DevExpress.XtraEditors.XtraForm
    {
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private static MailMessage CreateMailMessage(MemoryStream stream)
        {
            // Instantiate a report. 
            // Email export options are already specified at design time.                
            XtraReport1 report = new XtraReport1();

            report.ExportToPdf(stream);

            // Create a new attachment and add the PDF document.
            stream.Seek(0, System.IO.SeekOrigin.Begin);
            Attachment attachedDoc = new Attachment(stream, "TestReport.pdf", "application/pdf");

            // Create a new message.
            MailMessage mail = new MailMessage();
            mail.Attachments.Add(attachedDoc);

            // Specify the sender and retrieve the recipient settings from the report export options.
            mail.From = new MailAddress("[e-mail]", "Someone");
            mail.To.Add(new MailAddress(report.ExportOptions.Email.RecipientAddress,
                report.ExportOptions.Email.RecipientName));

            // Specify other e-mail options.
            mail.Subject = report.ExportOptions.Email.Subject;
            mail.Body = "This is a test e-mail message sent by an application.";

            return mail;
        }


        private async void btnSend_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            string SmtpHost = edtHost.EditValue.ToString();
            int SmtpPort = Int32.Parse(edtPort.EditValue.ToString());
            string SmtpUserName = edtUsername.EditValue.ToString();
            string SmtpUserPassword = edtPassword.EditValue.ToString();
            NetworkCredential nameAndPassword = new NetworkCredential(SmtpUserName, SmtpUserPassword);
            lblProgress.Text = "Sending mail...";
            lblProgress.Text = await SendAsync(SmtpHost, SmtpPort, nameAndPassword);
        }

        private static async Task<string> SendAsync(string SmtpHost, int SmtpPort, NetworkCredential nameAndPassword)
        {
            string result = "OK";
            // Create a new memory stream and export the report in PDF.
            using (MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream())
            {
                using (MailMessage mail = CreateMailMessage(stream))
                {
                    using (SmtpClient smtpClient = new SmtpClient(SmtpHost, SmtpPort))
                    {
                        smtpClient.Credentials = nameAndPassword;
                        smtpClient.DeliveryMethod = SmtpDeliveryMethod.Network;
                        smtpClient.EnableSsl = false;
                        try
                        {
                            await smtpClient.SendMailAsync(mail);
                        }
                        catch (Exception ex)
                        {
                            result = ex.Message;
                        }

                    }
                }
            }
            return result;
        }
    }
}

VB.NET

Imports System
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Net
Imports System.Net.Mail
Imports System.Threading.Tasks

Namespace SendReportAsEMail
    Partial Public Class Form1
        Inherits DevExpress.XtraEditors.XtraForm

        Public Sub New()
            InitializeComponent()
        End Sub

        Private Shared Function CreateMailMessage(ByVal stream As MemoryStream) As MailMessage
            ' Instantiate a report. 
            ' Email export options are already specified at design time.                
            Dim report As New XtraReport1()

            report.ExportToPdf(stream)

            ' Create a new attachment and add the PDF document.
            stream.Seek(0, System.IO.SeekOrigin.Begin)
            Dim attachedDoc As New Attachment(stream, "TestReport.pdf", "application/pdf")

            ' Create a new message.
            Dim mail As New MailMessage()
            mail.Attachments.Add(attachedDoc)

            ' Specify the sender and retrieve the recipient settings from the report export options.
            mail.From = New MailAddress("[e-mail]", "Someone")
            mail.To.Add(New MailAddress(report.ExportOptions.Email.RecipientAddress, report.ExportOptions.Email.RecipientName))

            ' Specify other e-mail options.
            mail.Subject = report.ExportOptions.Email.Subject
            mail.Body = "This is a test e-mail message sent by an application."

            Return mail
        End Function


        Private Async Sub btnSend_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) Handles btnSend.Click
            Dim SmtpHost As String = edtHost.EditValue.ToString()
            Dim SmtpPort As Integer = Int32.Parse(edtPort.EditValue.ToString())
            Dim SmtpUserName As String = edtUsername.EditValue.ToString()
            Dim SmtpUserPassword As String = edtPassword.EditValue.ToString()
            Dim nameAndPassword As New NetworkCredential(SmtpUserName, SmtpUserPassword)
            lblProgress.Text = "Sending mail..."
            lblProgress.Text = Await SendAsync(SmtpHost, SmtpPort, nameAndPassword)
        End Sub

        Private Shared Async Function SendAsync(ByVal SmtpHost As String, ByVal SmtpPort As Integer, ByVal nameAndPassword As NetworkCredential) As Task(Of String)
            Dim result As String = "OK"
            ' Create a new memory stream and export the report in PDF.
            Using stream As New MemoryStream()
                Using mail As MailMessage = CreateMailMessage(stream)
                    Using smtpClient As New SmtpClient(SmtpHost, SmtpPort)
                        smtpClient.Credentials = nameAndPassword
                        smtpClient.DeliveryMethod = SmtpDeliveryMethod.Network
                        smtpClient.EnableSsl = False
                        Try
                            Await smtpClient.SendMailAsync(mail)
                        Catch ex As Exception
                            result = ex.Message
                        End Try

                    End Using
                End Using
            End Using
            Return result
        End Function
    End Class
End Namespace

Instead of the System.Net.Mail.SmtpClient object you can use the MailKit library.

View Example: How to Use MailKit to Send a Report as a Document in PDF

Export to HTML Email Body

Do the following to export a report to an email message:

• Use the report’s ExportOptions.Email property to specify options for report export.
• Invoke an ExportToMail overloaded method report to convert a report to a MailMessage object (an HTML representation of the report).
• Initialize an SmtpClient and call its Send or SendAsync method to send the message.

View Example: How to send a report as HTML in an email body

C#

using System.Net;
using System.Net.Mail;
using DevExpress.XtraReports.UI;
// ...
    XtraReport report = new XtraReport1();

    string SmtpHost = "Enter_SMTP_Server_Name";
    int SmtpPort = 25;
    string SmtpUserName = "Enter_Sender_User_Name";
    string SmtpUserPassword = "Enter_Sender_Password";

    using (var smtpClient = new SmtpClient(SmtpHost, SmtpPort))
    {
        smtpClient.DeliveryMethod = SmtpDeliveryMethod.Network;
        smtpClient.EnableSsl = false;

        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(SmtpUserName))
        {
            smtpClient.Credentials = new NetworkCredential(SmtpUserName, SmtpUserPassword);
        }
        using(MailMessage message = report.ExportToMail("[e-mail]",
                "[e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]", "Enter_Message_Subject")) {
            smtpClient.Send(message);
        }
    } 

VB.NET

Imports System.Net
Imports System.Net.Mail
Imports DevExpress.XtraReports.UI
' ...

    Dim report As XtraReport = New XtraReport1() With {.DataSource = list}

    Dim SmtpHost As String = "Enter_SMTP_Server_Name"
    Dim SmtpPort As Integer = 25
    Dim SmtpUserName As String = "Enter_Sender_User_Name"
    Dim SmtpUserPassword As String = "Enter_Sender_Password"

    Using smtpClient = New SmtpClient(SmtpHost, SmtpPort)
        smtpClient.DeliveryMethod = SmtpDeliveryMethod.Network
        smtpClient.EnableSsl = False

        If Not String.IsNullOrEmpty(SmtpUserName) Then
            smtpClient.Credentials = New NetworkCredential(SmtpUserName, SmtpUserPassword)
        End If
        Using message As MailMessage = report.ExportToMail("[e-mail]", "[e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]", "Enter_Message_Subject")
            smtpClient.Send(message)
        End Using
    End Using

Email a Report in a Web Application

You can send a request to the server to export a report to PDF and email the resulting PDF document.

View Example: How to send a report via Email from the client side

Do the following:

Server Side

• Create a DocumentOperationService class descendant and override its CanPerformOperation) and PerformOperation methods.
• Implement the PerformOperation method that exports a report to PDF, composes the mail message, and uses the SmtpClient instance to send a message.
• Register an instance of a custom DocumentOperationService class as a service.

Client Side

• Call the PerformCustomDocumentOperation method to pass email address to the DocumentOperationService on the server.