Export GridView to Access Using ASP.Net C#

Background

There is often a need in a project's reporting module to export a GridView to Access. So by considering that requirement I decided to write this article especially focusing on beginners and those who want to learn how to export a GridView to Access Using ASP.NET C# and using the itextsharp DLL.

Prerequisites

To export the Grid view, we need to use a reference of itextsharp.dll.
Download the itextsharp.dll from the internet.

The itextsharp.dll is the free DLL available for download that provides some methods to export a Grid view into an Access file. After adding the reference, use the following reference of itextsharp.dll:

using iTextSharp.text;
using iTextSharp.text.pdf;
using iTextSharp.text.html.simpleparser;

Now before creating the application, let us create a table named employee in a database from where we show the records in a Grid view, the table has the following fields (shown in the following image):

I hope you have created the same type of table.

Now create the project as:

"Start" - "All Programs" - "Microsoft Visual Studio 2010".
"File" - "New Project" - "C#" - "Empty Project" (to avoid adding a master page).
Provide the Project name such as ExportGridToAccess or another as you wish and specify the location.
Then right-click on Solution Explorer - "Add New Item" - Default.aspx page.
One Button, one label, and a gridview.

Now let us create a function to bind the records to the Grid view from the database. If you are a beginner and don't know in detail how to bind a Grid view from a database then refer to my following article.

Inserting Form Data Into DataBase and Display In ASP.Net GridView

Now, for this article create the following function in the default.aspx.cs page to bind the Grid view:

private void Bindgrid()
{
connection();
query = "select *from Employee";//not recommended this i have written just for example,write stored procedure for security
com = new SqlCommand(query, con);
SqlDataReader dr = com.ExecuteReader();
GridView1.DataSource = dr;
GridView1.DataBind();
con.Close();
}

Now, call the above function on page load as:

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (!IsPostBack)
{
Bindgrid();
}
}

Now run the application and then we can see the following records in the Grid view:

We now have records to export into Access. Let us start coding for our actual requirements. Add the VerifyRenderingInServerForm event after the page load that is required when exporting a Grid view to Excel, Word and PDF to avoid the run time error "GridView' must be placed inside a form tag with runat=server."

public override void VerifyRenderingInServerForm(Control control)
{
//required to avoid the runtime error "
//Control 'GridView1' of type 'GridView' must be placed inside a form tag with runat=server."
}

Now before creating the function to Export the grid view to Access add the reference of itextsharp.dll by right-clicking the Solution Explorer. After adding the reference the Solution Explorer will look as in the following:

Now create the following function to export the Grid view to Access:

private void ExportGridToAccess()
{
Response.ContentType = "application/ms-access";
Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment; filename=Vithal_Wadje.mdb");
Response.Cache.SetCacheability(HttpCacheability.NoCache);
StringWriter sw = new StringWriter();
HtmlTextWriter hw = new HtmlTextWriter(sw);
GridView1.RenderControl(hw);
StringReader sr = new StringReader(sw.ToString());
Document AccessDoc = new Document(PageSize.A4, 10f, 10f, 10f, 0f);
HTMLWorker htmlparser = new HTMLWorker(AccessDoc);
PdfWriter.GetInstance(AccessDoc, Response.OutputStream);
AccessDoc.Open();
htmlparser.Parse(sr);
AccessDoc.Close();
Response.Write(AccessDoc);
Response.End();
GridView1.AllowPaging = true;
GridView1.DataBind();
}

Now double-click on the Export button and call the preceding function on "onclick" as in the following:

protected void Button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
ExportGridToAccess();
}

Now the entire code of the Default.aspx.cs page will be as follows:

using System;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.IO;
using System.Web;
using iTextSharp.text;
using iTextSharp.text.pdf;
using iTextSharp.text.html.simpleparser;
public partial class _Default : System.Web.UI.Page
{
private SqlConnection con;
private SqlCommand com;
private string constr, query;
private void connection()
{
constr = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["getconn"].ToString();
con = new SqlConnection(constr);
con.Open();
}
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (!IsPostBack)
{
Bindgrid();
}
}
public override void VerifyRenderingInServerForm(Control control)
{
//required to avoid the runtime error "
//Control 'GridView1' of type 'GridView' must be placed inside a form tag with runat=server."
}
private void Bindgrid()
{
connection();
query = "select *from Employee";//not recommended this i have written just for example,write stored procedure for security
com = new SqlCommand(query, con);
SqlDataReader dr = com.ExecuteReader();
GridView1.DataSource = dr;
GridView1.DataBind();
con.Close();
}
protected void Button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
ExportGridToAccess();
}
private void ExportGridToAccess()
{
Response.ContentType = "application/ms-access";
Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment; filename=Vithal_Wadje.mdb");
Response.Cache.SetCacheability(HttpCacheability.NoCache);
StringWriter sw = new StringWriter();
HtmlTextWriter hw = new HtmlTextWriter(sw);
GridView1.RenderControl(hw);
StringReader sr = new StringReader(sw.ToString());
Document AccessDoc = new Document(PageSize.A4, 10f, 10f, 10f, 0f);
HTMLWorker htmlparser = new HTMLWorker(AccessDoc);
PdfWriter.GetInstance(AccessDoc, Response.OutputStream);
AccessDoc.Open();
htmlparser.Parse(sr);
AccessDoc.Close();
Response.Write(AccessDoc);
Response.End();
GridView1.AllowPaging = true;
GridView1.DataBind();
}
}

Now run the application and click on the Export Button. The following popup is shown:

Now click and save the preceding file and open it with Excel by establishing the connection or you can open this file with the tool mdb file viewer.

Notes

Download the Zip file from the attachment for the full source code of the application.
Change the connection string in the web.config file to specify your server location.

Summary

I hope this article is useful for all readers, if you have any suggestion then please contact me including beginners also.

18 Comments

Join the conversation! Your thoughts help the community grow.

Puneet Kankar9y ago
When open mdb file its shown an error Unrecognised database formate.
Vithal Wadje10y ago
Shubham sir , I have not tried but try to use same code in WPF
Shubham Kumar10y ago
nice sir plzz share code for export datagridview in msasccess in wpf
viv verma10y ago
when open file its shown an error msg like this... Unrecognised database formate.
viv verma10y ago
actually Data are not shown, and also generated .mdb file are not open.
Vithal Wadje10y ago
Viv verma Bhai. this code is fine . fix your code things . and take this only as guidance not your final solution
- viv verma10y ago
  I need urgenlty..
viv verma10y ago
Pls share the .. resolve code
viv verma10y ago
Unrecognised database formate..( problem to open .mdb file )
viv verma10y ago
rt
Vithal Wadje11y ago
yes sure,Thanks for your input
Saqib Sultan11y ago
Sir can you please also share the code for datagridview to access in window form application
Vithal Wadje11y ago
Thanks
Krishna Rajput Singh11y ago
u wlcme
Vithal Wadje11y ago
sure Jaganathan Bantheswaran sir,i will change
Vithal Wadje11y ago
thanks Krishna Rajput sir
Jaganathan Bantheswaran11y ago
Nice one. The 'Access' word in the title is confusing if read the title first. Access could be 'MIcrosoft Access'.
Krishna Rajput Singh11y ago
nice article sir