Export to CSV

• Jul 13, 2021
• 5 minutes to read

This document describes how to export a report document to CSV format.

You can export a report from the Report Designer’s Preview and the Document Viewer on all supported platforms (WinForms, WPF, ASP.NET Web Forms, ASP.NET MVC, and ASP.NET Core). To export a file, expand the Export Document drop-down list and select CSV File. Specify export options in the invoked dialog and click OK.

To export a report document to CSV format in code, use one of the following approaches:

• Export a Report

  Call an XtraReport.ExportToCsv overloaded method to export a report. To export a report asynchronously in a separate task, call an XtraReport.ExportToCsv overloaded method instead. To specify export options, create a CsvExportOptions class instance and pass this instance to the invoked method, or use the XtraReport‘s ExportOptions.Csv property.

  C#

  using DevExpress.XtraPrinting;
  using DevExpress.XtraReports.UI;
  using DevExpress.Utils;
  // ...
  public bool ExportReport(XtraReport report, string filename) {
      try {
          // Specify CSV export options.
          var options = new CsvExportOptions();
          options.SkipEmptyColumns = false;
          options.SkipEmptyRows = false;
          options.EncodeExecutableContent = DefaultBoolean.True;
          // Export a report to CSV.
          report.ExportToCsv(filename, options);
          return true;
      }
      // Return false if the CSV export failed.
      catch {
          return false;
      }
  }
  

  VB.NET

  Imports DevExpress.XtraPrinting
  Imports DevExpress.XtraReports.UI
  Imports DevExpress.Utils
  ' ...
  Public Function ExportReport(ByVal report As XtraReport, ByVal filename As String) As Boolean
    Try
        ' Specify CSV export options.
        Dim options = New CsvExportOptions()
        options.SkipEmptyColumns = False
        options.SkipEmptyRows = False
        options.EncodeExecutableContent = DefaultBoolean.True
        ' Export a report to CSV.
        report.ExportToCsv(filename, options)
        Return True
    ' Return false if the CSV export failed.
    Catch
        Return False
    End Try
  End Function
  

• Export a Document

  Call a PrintingSystem.ExportToCsv overloaded method to export a document. To specify export options, create a CsvExportOptions class instance and pass this instance to the invoked method, or use PrintingSystem‘s ExportOptions.Csv property.

  C#

  using DevExpress.XtraPrinting;
  using DevExpress.XtraReports.UI;
  using DevExpress.Utils;
  // ...
  public bool ExportDocument(PrintingSystem printingSystem, string filename) {
      try {
          // Specify CSV export options.
          var options = new CsvExportOptions();
          options.SkipEmptyColumns = false;
          options.SkipEmptyRows = false;
          options.EncodeExecutableContent = DefaultBoolean.True;
          // Export a document to CSV.
          printingSystem.ExportToCsv(filename, options);
          return true;
      }
      // Return false if the CSV export failed.
      catch {
          return false;
      }
  }
  

  VB.NET

  Imports DevExpress.XtraPrinting
  Imports DevExpress.XtraReports.UI
  Imports DevExpress.Utils
  ' ...
  Public Function ExportDocument(ByVal printingSystem As PrintingSystem, ByVal filename As String) As Boolean
    Try
        ' Specify CSV export options.
        Dim options = New CsvExportOptions()
        options.SkipEmptyColumns = False
        options.SkipEmptyRows = False
        options.EncodeExecutableContent = DefaultBoolean.True
        ' Export a document to CSV.
        printingSystem.ExportToCsv(filename, options)
        Return True
    ' Return false if the CSV export failed.
    Catch
        Return False
    End Try
  End Function
  

• Export a Control

  Call a PrintingLink.ExportToCsv overloaded method to export a control. To specify export options, create a CsvExportOptions class instance and pass this instance to the invoked method.

  C#

  using DevExpress.XtraPrinting;
  using DevExpress.XtraReports.UI;
  using DevExpress.Utils;
  // ...
  public bool ExportControl(IPrintable control, string filename) {
      try {
          PrintingSystem printingSystem = new PrintingSystem();
          PrintableComponentLink link = new PrintableComponentLink();
          printingSystem.Links.Add(link);
          link.Component = control;
          // Specify CSV export options.
          var options = new CsvExportOptions();
          options.SkipEmptyColumns = false;
          options.SkipEmptyRows = false;
          options.EncodeExecutableContent = DefaultBoolean.True;
          // Export a document to CSV.
          link.ExportToCsv(filename, options);
          return true;
      }
      // Return false if the CSV export failed.
      catch {
          return false;
      }
  }
  

  VB.NET

  Imports DevExpress.XtraPrinting
  Imports DevExpress.XtraReports.UI
  Imports DevExpress.Utils
  ' ...
  Public Function ExportControl(ByVal control As IPrintable, ByVal filename As String) As Boolean
    Try
        Dim printingSystem As New PrintingSystem()
        Dim link As New PrintableComponentLink()
        printingSystem.Links.Add(link)
        link.Component = control
        ' Specify CSV export options.
        Dim options = New CsvExportOptions()
        options.SkipEmptyColumns = False
        options.SkipEmptyRows = False
        options.EncodeExecutableContent = DefaultBoolean.True
        ' Export a document to CSV.
        link.ExportToCsv(filename, options)
        Return True
    ' Return false if the CSV export failed.
    Catch
        Return False
    End Try
  End Function
  

Tip

Code example: How to export a report to CSV format.

To export a control to CSV, a report uses the control’s protected GetTextView method that returns a two-dimensional string array as the control’s text representation:

• An XRLabel is exported as a string.
• An XRRichTextBox is exported as a one-dimensional array of strings.
• An XRPictureBox cannot be represented as a string.

Note

You cannot export a report that uses another report’s page. The exported file contains only one of the merged reports.

As a workaround:

• Use subreports to combine multiple reports into a single document.
• Export your reports to separate CSV files, and then join these files in a single file.

Export Options

Use the following properties to change the CSV export options:

• CsvExportOptions.TextExportMode

  Specifies how to export text data from controls.

  • Set this property to Text to export all data fields as strings. The formatting is embedded in these strings.
  • Set this property to Value to export values only.

• CsvExportOptions.SkipEmptyColumns and CsvExportOptions.SkipEmptyRows

  These properties specify whether to include empty columns and/or rows in the exported file.

• EncodeExecutableContent

  Specifies whether to encode potentially dangerous content in the exported file. This option is available at runtime only.

Overlapped Controls

To ensure that Report controls are exported to CSV correctly, these controls should not intersect. Otherwise, the file layout can be corrupted.

Report Designers highlight overlapped controls. Users can move the mouse pointer over these controls to see what needs to be fixed.

Limitations

If a report uses a CachedReportSource, changes made in Preview are not included in the exported CSV files.