Add a Document Viewer and Report Designer (JavaScript-Based) to a Project (Blazor Application Created with a DevExpress Blazor Application Template)

• Aug 14, 2024
• 8 minutes to read

Tip

To create a Blazor Reporting application, use preconfigured DevExpress templates to create an application with minimal effort and maximum efficiency. For more information, review the following help topics:

• Use DevExpress Project Templates to Create a Blazor Reporting Application (.NET CLI)
• Use DevExpress Project Templates to Create a Blazor Reporting Application (Visual Studio)

This tutorial integrates the Document Viewer and Report Designer controls in a sample Blazor Server application created from the DevExpress Blazor template.

View Example

Prerequisites

• .NET 6.0 or later
• Visual Studio 2022 (latest version) with the ASP.NET and web development workload
• DevExpress .NET Product Installer

When you install Blazor components with the DevExpress .NET Product Installer, the DevExpress Template Gallery automatically appears in Visual Studio’s New Project menu. The Gallery contains DevExpress Blazor project templates.

Create a New Blazor Application

Follow the steps below to create a sample Blazor application in Visual Studio:

1. Click Create a new project on Visual Studio’s start page, select the DevExpress v24.1 Blazor App Template Gallery, and click Next.

   

2. Specify the Project Name and Location, and click Create.

3. In the invoked Template Gallery, specify Project Name, Target Framework, Render Mode, and Authentication options, and click Run Wizard.

   Select Server from the Render Mode drop-down list.

   

4. The DevExpress Blazor Project Wizard allows you to select a theme to change the appearance of all components, and specify the culture used to localize UI elements. Click Create Project.

   

   For more information on available settings, refer to the following topic: Visual Studio: DevExpress Template Gallery.

5. Click Create Project in the wizard.

The application template creates a project that includes the following:

• References to the DevExpress Blazor NuGet package and DevExpress resources
• The DevExpress Blazing Berry theme
• Application layout based on the GridLayout component
• Sidebar navigation based on the Menu component
• The Grid component

Install the DevExpress Blazor Reporting NuGet Package

1. Right-click Dependencies in the Solution Explorer and select Manage NuGet Packages from the context menu.

2. In the invoked dialog, click the Browse tab, select the DevExpress 24.1 Local package source, and install the following NuGet packages:

   • DevExpress.Blazor.Reporting.JSBasedControls
   • DevExpress.AspNetCore.Reporting

   The DevExpress 24.1 Local package is automatically added as a package source to your NuGet configuration files if you use the DevExpress .NET Product Installer.

   

3. Build the project.

Register DevExpress Resources

1. Register the services required for Blazor Reporting, and specify endpoint routing. For this, call the following methods in the Program.cs file:

   • AddDevExpressBlazorReporting
   • UseDevExpressBlazorReporting
   Program.cs

   using DevExpress.Blazor.Reporting;
   using DevExpress.XtraReports.Web.Extensions;
   // ...
   builder.Services.AddDevExpressBlazorReporting();
   // ...
   app.UseDevExpressBlazorReporting();
   

2. Register the DevExpress.Blazor.Reporting namespace in the _Imports.razor file:

   _Imports.razor

   @using DevExpress.Blazor.Reporting  
   

Add the Report Storage

1. Implement the ReportStorageWebExtension descendant to save and load reports.

   The code below is a sample storage that uses the file system to store reports. Add the CustomReportStorageWebExtension.cs class file to your project with following content:

   CustomReportStorageWebExtension.cs

   using DevExpress.XtraReports.UI;
   using System.ServiceModel;
   
   public class CustomReportStorageWebExtension : DevExpress.XtraReports.Web.Extensions.ReportStorageWebExtension {
       readonly string reportDirectory = "Reports";
       const string FileExtension = ".repx";
       public CustomReportStorageWebExtension() {
           if (!Directory.Exists(reportDirectory)) {
               Directory.CreateDirectory(reportDirectory);
           }
       }
   
       public override bool CanSetData(string url) {
           // Determines whether a report with the specified URL can be saved.
           // Add custom logic that returns **false** for reports that should be read-only.
           // Return **true** if no valdation is required.
           // This method is called only for valid URLs (if the **IsValidUrl** method returns **true**).
   
           return true;
       }
   
       public override bool IsValidUrl(string url) {
           // Determines whether the URL passed to the current report storage is valid.
           // Implement your own logic to prohibit URLs that contain spaces or other specific characters.
           // Return **true** if no validation is required.
   
           return Path.GetFileName(url) == url;
       }
   
       public override byte[] GetData(string url) {
           // Uses a specified URL to return report layout data stored within a report storage medium.
           // This method is called if the **IsValidUrl** method returns **true**.
           // You can use the **GetData** method to process report parameters sent from the client
           // if the parameters are included in the report URL's query string.
           try {
               if (Directory.EnumerateFiles(reportDirectory).Select(Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension).Contains(url))
               {
                   return File.ReadAllBytes(Path.Combine(reportDirectory, url + FileExtension));
               }
           }
           catch (Exception) {
               throw new FaultException(new FaultReason("Could not get report data."), new FaultCode("Server"), "GetData");
           }
           throw new FaultException(new FaultReason(string.Format("Could not find report '{0}'.", url)), new FaultCode("Server"), "GetData");
       }
   
       public override Dictionary<string, string> GetUrls() {
           // Returns a dictionary that contains the report names (URLs) and display names. 
           // The Report Designer uses this method to populate the Open Report and Save Report dialogs.
   
           return Directory.GetFiles(reportDirectory, "*" + FileExtension)
                                   .ToDictionary(x => Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(x));
       }
   
       public override void SetData(XtraReport report, string url) {
           // Saves the specified report to the report storage with the specified name
           // (saves existing reports only). 
           var resolvedUrl = Path.GetFullPath(Path.Combine(reportDirectory, url + FileExtension));
           if (!resolvedUrl.StartsWith(reportDirectory + Path.DirectorySeparatorChar)) {
               throw new FaultException("Invalid report name.");
           }
   
           report.SaveLayoutToXml(resolvedUrl);
       }
   
       public override string SetNewData(XtraReport report, string defaultUrl) {
           // Allows you to validate and correct the specified name (URL).
           // This method also allows you to return the resulting name (URL),
           // and to save your report to a storage. The method is called only for new reports.
           SetData(report, defaultUrl);
           return defaultUrl;
       }
   }
   

   The HelloWorld class instance in the ReportFactory.Reports method is a sample XtraReport class created as described in the next section.

2. In Program.cs, register the CustomReportStorageWebExtension:

   Program.cs

   using DevExpress.XtraReports.Web.Extensions;
   // ...
   builder.Services.AddDevExpressBlazorReporting();
   // ...
   builder.Services.AddScoped<ReportStorageWebExtension, CustomReportStorageWebExtension>();
   

   Important

   Register the ReportStorageWebExtension after the AddDevExpressBlazorReporting method.

3. Add a new Reports folder to a project.

   The folder name should be specified in the ReportStorageWebExtension implementation.

Create a Sample Report

To perform this step, you should install DevExpress Reporting v24.1 on your machine. Refer to the following topic for more information: Run the Installation Wizard - DevExpress Unified Component Installer.

1. Select Project -> Add New Item… to invoke the Add New Item dialog. Navigate to the Reporting node and select the DevExpress v.24.1 Report item template.

   

   Name the report TestReport.cs and click Add.

2. Select Blank in the invoked Report Wizard page and click Finish.

   

3. Modify the newly created report in the Visual Studio Report Designer. Add a label and type Hello, World!:

   

4. Click the report’s smart tag and select Save…:

   

   In the invoked Save As dialog, specify the Reports project folder, Report XML Files (.repx) file type, and the TestReport.repx file name.

Create Routing to Controller Actions

1. In the Program.cs file, add the following code to map requests to controller actions:

   Program.cs

   //...
   builder.Services.AddMvc();
   //...
   app.UseHttpsRedirection();
   
   app.UseStaticFiles();
   
   app.UseRouting();
   app.UseAntiforgery();
   app.UseEndpoints(endpoints =>
   {
       endpoints.MapControllers();
   });
   

Implement Default Controllers

1. In Visual Studio, create a new Controllers folder.

2. Add a new class file (ReportingControllers.cs) with the following content:

   ReportingControllers.cs

   using DevExpress.AspNetCore.Reporting.QueryBuilder;
   using DevExpress.AspNetCore.Reporting.QueryBuilder.Native.Services;
   using DevExpress.AspNetCore.Reporting.ReportDesigner;
   using DevExpress.AspNetCore.Reporting.ReportDesigner.Native.Services;
   using DevExpress.AspNetCore.Reporting.WebDocumentViewer;
   using DevExpress.AspNetCore.Reporting.WebDocumentViewer.Native.Services;
   
       public class CustomWebDocumentViewerController : WebDocumentViewerController {
           public CustomWebDocumentViewerController(IWebDocumentViewerMvcControllerService controllerService) : base(controllerService) {
           }
       }
   
       public class CustomReportDesignerController : ReportDesignerController {
           public CustomReportDesignerController(IReportDesignerMvcControllerService controllerService) : base(controllerService) {
           }
       }
   
       public class CustomQueryBuilderController : QueryBuilderController {
           public CustomQueryBuilderController(IQueryBuilderMvcControllerService controllerService) : base(controllerService) {
           }
       }
   

Add a Document Viewer to a Page

Create a new razor file (DocumentViewer.razor) in the Pages folder. Use the code below to generate a page with a Document Viewer component.

For .NET 8 projects, enable interactivity for DevExpress components:

• Make sure the required interactive services are registered.

• Add an appropriate render mode attribute to a component’s page.

.NET 6.0 and .NET 7.0

@page "/documentviewer"

<DxDocumentViewer ReportName="TestReport" Height="1000px" Width="100%">
    <DxDocumentViewerTabPanelSettings Width="340" />
</DxDocumentViewer>

.NET 8.0

@page "/documentviewer"
@rendermode InteractiveServer

<DxDocumentViewer ReportName="TestReport" Height="1000px" Width="100%">
    <DxDocumentViewerTabPanelSettings Width="340" />
</DxDocumentViewer>

The DxDocumentViewer component invokes the default WebDocumentViewerController that processes requests from the Document Viewer and loads the TestReport report to create a document.

Add a Report Designer to a Page

Create a new razor file (ReportDesigner.razor) in the Pages folder. Use the code below to generate a page with a Report Designer component.

For .NET 8 projects, enable interactivity for DevExpress components:

• Make sure the required interactive services are registered.

• Add an appropriate render mode attribute to a component’s page.

.NET 6.0 and .NET 7.0

@page "/reportdesigner"

<DxReportDesigner ReportName="TestReport" Height="1000px" Width="100%" AllowMDI="true">
    <DxReportDesignerWizardSettings UseFullscreenWizard="true" />
</DxReportDesigner>

.NET 8.0

@page "/reportdesigner"
@rendermode InteractiveServer

<DxReportDesigner ReportName="TestReport" Height="1000px" Width="100%" AllowMDI="true">
    <DxReportDesignerWizardSettings UseFullscreenWizard="true" />
</DxReportDesigner>

The DxReportDesigner loads the TestReport report.

Note

If you implement a custom report that inherits from XtraReport and want to open it in the End-User Report Designer, add a constructor without parameters to this report.

Add Navigation Links

Add navigation links to the NavMenu.razor page:

NavMenu.razor

<Items>
    <DxMenuItem NavigateUrl="/" Text="Home" CssClass="menu-item" IconCssClass="icon home-icon"></DxMenuItem>
    <DxMenuItem NavigateUrl="/counter" Text="Counter" CssClass="menu-item" IconCssClass="icon counter-icon"></DxMenuItem>
    <DxMenuItem NavigateUrl="/weather" Text="Weather" CssClass="menu-item" IconCssClass="icon weather-icon"></DxMenuItem>
    <DxMenuItem NavigateUrl="/documentviewer" Text="Document Viewer" CssClass="menu-item"> </DxMenuItem>
    <DxMenuItem NavigateUrl="/reportdesigner" Text="Report Designer" CssClass="menu-item"> </DxMenuItem>
</Items>

Run the Project

Run the project. The Document Viewer and Report Designer components load the TestReport.repx report:

Document Viewer

Report Designer

Next Steps

Troubleshooting

Topic lists common issues that can occur in a Web Reporting application and describes solutions. For information on how to identify the cause of an issue, refer to the following topic: Reporting Application Diagnostics.

Specify Report Parameters

Topic describes how to specify report parameters using the built-in Parameters Panel or create custom UI elements and use them to submit parameter values to the report.

Document Viewer Customization

Topic describes how to specify the Viewer’s properties and handle events to adjust the Document Viewer appearance and behavior.

Report Designer Customization

Topic describes how handle events to adjust the Report Designer appearance and behavior.