Export Crystal Report to PDF and send as Email Attachment in ASP.Net

In this article I will explain with an example, how to export Crystal Report to PDF and send as Email Attachment in ASP.Net using C# and VB.Net.

Crystal Report provides function named ExportToStream which exports Crystal Report to Word, Excel, PDF or CSV file in Stream format.

Later the Stream can be used to attach the exported PDF file as Attachment and send as Email.

 

 

Database

Here I am making use of Microsoft’s Northwind Database. You can download it from here.

Download Northwind Database

 

 

HTML Markup

The HTML Markup consists of a CrystalReportViewer control and a Button to export Crystal Report to PDF and send as Email Attachment.

<CR:CrystalReportViewer ID="CrystalReportViewer1" runat="server" AutoDataBind="true"

    Height="400" Width="600" BestFitPage="False" ToolPanelView="None" />

<br />

<asp:Button ID="btnSend" Text="Send Email" runat="server" OnClick="SendEmail" />

 

 

Namespaces

You will need to import the following namespaces.

C#

using System.Net;

using System.Data;

using System.Net.Mail;

using System.Configuration;

using System.Data.SqlClient;

using CrystalDecisions.Shared;

using CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine;

 

VB.Net

Imports System.Net

Imports System.Data

Imports System.Net.Mail

Imports System.Configuration

Imports System.Data.SqlClient

Imports CrystalDecisions.Shared

Imports CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine

 

 

Designing and populating the Crystal Report from Database

Inside the Page Load event, the Crystal Report is populated from database.

Note: For more details about designing and populating Crystal Report, please refer the following article.
         Crystal Report ASP.Net Example using DataSet or DataTable in C# VB.Net and Visual Studio 2010

 

C#

ReportDocument crystalReport;

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)

{

    crystalReport = new ReportDocument();

    crystalReport.Load(Server.MapPath("~/CustomerReport.rpt"));

    Customers dsCustomers = this.GetData("SELECT TOP 5 * FROM customers");

    crystalReport.SetDataSource(dsCustomers);

    CrystalReportViewer1.ReportSource = crystalReport;

}

 

private Customers GetData(string query)

{

    string conString = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["constr"].ConnectionString;

    SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(query);

    using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(conString))

    {

        using (SqlDataAdapter sda = new SqlDataAdapter())

        {

            cmd.Connection = con;

 

            sda.SelectCommand = cmd;

            using (Customers dsCustomers = new Customers())

            {

                sda.Fill(dsCustomers, "DataTable1");

                return dsCustomers;

            }

        }

    }

}

 

VB.Net

Private crystalReport As ReportDocument

Protected Sub Page_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load

    crystalReport = New ReportDocument()

    crystalReport.Load(Server.MapPath("~/CustomerReport.rpt"))

    Dim dsCustomers As Customers = Me.GetData("SELECT TOP 5 * FROM customers")

    crystalReport.SetDataSource(dsCustomers)

    CrystalReportViewer1.ReportSource = crystalReport

End Sub

 

Private Function GetData(query As String) As Customers

    Dim conString As String = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("constr").ConnectionString

    Dim cmd As New SqlCommand(query)

    Using con As New SqlConnection(conString)

        Using sda As New SqlDataAdapter()

            cmd.Connection = con

            sda.SelectCommand = cmd

            Using dsCustomers As New Customers()

                sda.Fill(dsCustomers, "DataTable1")

                Return dsCustomers

            End Using

        End Using

    End Using

End Function

 

 

Exporting Crystal Report to PDF and sending as Email Attachment in ASP.Net

When the Send Email Button is clicked, first the Crystal Report is populated from database in the Page Load event and is exported PDF file in Stream format using the ExportToStream method.

Note: The Crystal Report can also be exported to other formats and send as Email Attachment, for more details, please refer Export Crystal Report on Button Click to Word Excel PDF and CSV in ASP.Net.

 

The exported PDF file is attached to the Email as Attachment and finally the Email is sent.

Note: This Article uses GMAIL server for sending email, for more details refer Send email using Gmail SMTP Mail Server in ASP.Net.

 

C#

protected void SendEmail(object sender, EventArgs e)

{

    using (MailMessage mm = new MailMessage("sender@gmail.com", "recipient@gmail.com"))

    {

        mm.Subject = "Crystal Report PDF";

        mm.Body = "Attachment: Customer's Crystal Report PDF";

        mm.Attachments.Add(new Attachment(crystalReport.ExportToStream(ExportFormatType.PortableDocFormat), "Crystal.pdf"));

        mm.IsBodyHtml = true;

        using (SmtpClient smtp = new SmtpClient())

        {

            smtp.Host = "smtp.gmail.com";

            smtp.UseDefaultCredentials = true;

            smtp.Credentials = new NetworkCredential

            {

                UserName = "sender@gmail.com",

                Password = "xxxx"

            };

            smtp.Port = 587;

            smtp.EnableSsl = true;

            smtp.Send(mm);

       }

    }

}

 

VB.Net

Protected Sub SendEmail(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)

    Using mm As MailMessage = New MailMessage("sender@gmail.com", "recipient@gmail.com")

        mm.Subject = "Crystal Report PDF"

        mm.Body = "Attachment: Customer's Crystal Report PDF"

        mm.Attachments.Add(New Attachment(crystalReport.ExportToStream(ExportFormatType.PortableDocFormat), "Crystal.pdf"))

        mm.IsBodyHtml = True

 

        Using smtp As SmtpClient = New SmtpClient()

            smtp.Host = "smtp.gmail.com"

            smtp.UseDefaultCredentials = True

            smtp.Credentials = New NetworkCredential With {

                .UserName = "sender@gmail.com",

                .Password = "xxxx"

            }

            smtp.Port = 587

           smtp.EnableSsl = True

            smtp.Send(mm)

        End Using

    End Using

End Sub

 

 

Screenshots

The Crystal Report

 

Email with Crystal Report PDF file as Attachment

 

Crystal Report exported to PDF file