Export Crystal Report to Word Excel PDF and CSV in Windows Application using C# and VB.Net

In this article I will explain with an example, how to export Crystal Report to Word, Excel, PDF and CSV in Windows Forms (WinForms) Application using C# and VB.Net.

The Crystal Report will be populated using Typed DataSet in Windows Forms (WinForms) Application using C# and VB.Net.

Note: By default, Visual Studio 2010, 2012 and 2013 does not include Crystal Reports hence you need to download the Crystal Reports 13. Refer my following articles.

Download Crystal Reports for Visual Studio 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2017.

 

 

Database

Here I am making use of Microsoft’s Northwind Database. The download and install instructions are provided in the following article.

Download and install Northwind Database

 

 

Configuring Crystal Report in Windows Forms Application

The Crystal Report configuration has been covered in the following article Basic Crystal Report Tutorial with example in Windows Forms (WinForms) Application using C# and VB.Net.

 

 

Form Design

The Form consists of a CrystalReportViewer control, four RadioButtons in GroupBox and a Button.

 

 

Namespaces

You will need to import the following namespaces.

C#

using System.Data;

using System.Data.SqlClient;

using CrystalDecisions.Shared;

using CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine;

 

VB.Net

Imports System.Data

Imports System.Data.SqlClient

Imports CrystalDecisions.Shared

Imports CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine

 

 

Populating the Crystal Report from Database

Inside the Form Load event, first the Customers DataSet is populated with records from the Customers Table.

The Customers DataSet is set as a DataSource for the Crystal Report.

Finally, the Crystal Report is set as ReportSource for the CrystalReportViewer control.

C#

private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)

{

    CustomerReport crystalReport = new CustomerReport();

    Customers dsCustomers = GetData();

    crystalReport.SetDataSource(dsCustomers);

    this.crystalReportViewer1.ReportSource = crystalReport;

    this.crystalReportViewer1.RefreshReport();

}

 

private Customers GetData()

{

    string constr = @"Data Source=.\Sql2005;Initial Catalog=Northwind;Integrated Security = true";

    using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(constr))

    {

        using (SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("SELECT TOP 20 * FROM Customers"))

        {

            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 Sub Form1_Load(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load

    Dim crystalReport As New CustomerReport()

    Dim dsCustomers As Customers = GetData()

    crystalReport.SetDataSource(dsCustomers)

    Me.crystalReportViewer1.ReportSource = crystalReport

    Me.crystalReportViewer1.RefreshReport()

End Sub

 

Private Function GetData() As Customers

    Dim constr As String = "Data Source=.\Sql2005;Initial Catalog=Northwind;Integrated Security = true"

    Using con As New SqlConnection(constr)

        Using cmd As New SqlCommand("SELECT TOP 20 * FROM Customers")

            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 Using

End Function

 

 

Exporting the Crystal Report to Word, Excel, PDF or CSV file

When the Export Button is clicked, based on RadioButton selection the Crystal Report is exported to the desired format i.e. Word, Excel, PDF or CSV file.

C#

private void btnExport_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)

{

    if (rbWord.Checked)

    {

        crystalReport.ExportToDisk(ExportFormatType.WordForWindows, @"D:\Files\CustomerReport.doc");

    }

    else if (rbExcel.Checked)

    {

        crystalReport.ExportToDisk(ExportFormatType.Excel, @"D:\Files\CustomerReport.xls");

    }

    else if (rbPDF.Checked)

    {

        crystalReport.ExportToDisk(ExportFormatType.PortableDocFormat, @"D:\Files\CustomerReport.pdf");

    }

    else if (rbCSV.Checked)

    {

        crystalReport.ExportToDisk(ExportFormatType.CharacterSeparatedValues, @"D:\Files\CustomerReport.csv");

    }

}

 

VB.Net

Private Sub btnExport_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnExport.Click

    If rbWord.Checked Then

        crystalReport.ExportToDisk(ExportFormatType.WordForWindows, "D:\Files\CustomerReport.doc")

    ElseIf rbExcel.Checked Then

        crystalReport.ExportToDisk(ExportFormatType.Excel, "D:\Files\CustomerReport.xls")

    ElseIf rbPDF.Checked Then

        crystalReport.ExportToDisk(ExportFormatType.PortableDocFormat, "D:\Files\CustomerReport.pdf")

    ElseIf rbCSV.Checked Then

        crystalReport.ExportToDisk(ExportFormatType.CharacterSeparatedValues, "D:\Files\CustomerReport.csv")

    End If

End Sub

 

 

Screenshots

The Crystal Report

 

Crystal Report exported to Word Document

 

Crystal Report exported to Excel Spreadsheet

 

Crystal Report exported to PDF file

 

Crystal Report exported to CSV file

 

Note: If you get the following error while running the above application, please refer my article Crystal Reports: Could not load file or assembly crdb_adoplus.dll.

Could not load file or assembly 'file:///C:\Program Files (x86)\SAP BusinessObjects\Crystal Reports for .NET Framework 4.0\Common\SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 4.0\win32_x86\dotnet1\crdb_adoplus.dll' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.