How to use FastReport.OpenSource in ASP.NET MVC application

As we know, the FastReport.OpenSource libraries are “sharpened” for the .Net Core framework. However, it may be necessary to display reports in the ASP .Net MVC project. It would be nice to use free FROS for this purpose. In this article we will look at how this can be done.

Create an ASP.Net MVC project. Add FastReport.OpenSource libraries via NuGet:

Unfortunately, we cannot use the web report object, as it is designed for .Net Core. Therefore, we will use the available export of the report in HTML format. Multi-page report is exported to several html files. One file - one report page. Thus, you can organize a transition between report pages when viewing.

In the Model folder, create a class:

namespace FROS_ASPMVC.Models

{

    public static class Model

    {

        public static int PagesCount = 0;

        public static int CurrentPage = 0;

    }

}

     

There are only two static variables: PagesCount - stores the number of pages of the exported report, and gCurrentPage - stores the number of the currently displayed page.

Edit the HomeController.cs controller:

 public ActionResult Index()

        {

// If the report has not yet been displayed, the selected page is 0

            if (Model.CurrentPage == 0)

            {

              // Create a report object

                Report report = new Report();

              // Load the report template into the Report object.

report.Report.Load(this.Server.MapPath("/App_Data/Simple List.frx"));

// Create dataset

                DataSet dataSet = new DataSet();

              // load the data source into dataset

                dataSet.ReadXml(this.Server.MapPath("/App_Data/nwind.xml"));

             // Register the data source in the report object

                report.Report.RegisterData(dataSet, "NorthWind");

             // Making the report preparation for the show

                report.Prepare();

              // Create an export object in html format

                HTMLExport export = new HTMLExport();

             // Set Export Options

                export.Layers = true;

                export.EmbedPictures = true;

             // Perform report export to file

                export.Export(report, this.Server.MapPath("/App_Data/Simple List.html"));

              // Set the number of the selected page

                Model.CurrentPage = 1;

              // Remember the number of report pages

                Model.PagesCount = export.Count;

            }

// Open the file with the desired report page

            using (FileStream fstream = System.IO.File.OpenRead(this.Server.MapPath("/App_Data/Simple List.files/Simple List" + (Model.CurrentPage <= Model.PagesCount ? Model.CurrentPage.ToString() : Model.PagesCount.ToString()) + ".html")))

            {

                byte[] array = new byte[fstream.Length];

                // read data

                fstream.Read(array, 0, array.Length);

             // Save The Page Content In ViewData

                ViewData["Report"] = Encoding.UTF8.GetString(array);

            }

            return View();

        }

       // Increase the current page number by one and call the Index method, which will display the desired report page

        [HttpPost]

        public ActionResult Next()

        {

            Model.CurrentPage++;

            return RedirectToAction("Index");

        }

// Reduce the current page number by one and call the Index method, which will display the desired report page        [HttpPost]

        public ActionResult Prev()

        {

            Model.CurrentPage--;

            return RedirectToAction("Index");

        }

Now let's move on to editing the Index.cshtml view. Replace the code with your own:

@{

    ViewBag.Title = "Home Page";

}

<table>

    <tbody>

        <tr>

            <td>

                @using (Ajax.BeginForm("Prev", new AjaxOptions { UpdateTargetId = "updateArea" }))

                {<input type="submit" value="Prev" />}

            </td>

            <td>

                @using (Ajax.BeginForm("Next", new AjaxOptions { UpdateTargetId = "updateArea" }))

                {<input type="submit" value="Next" />}

            </td>

        </tr>

    </tbody>

</table>

<div id="updatreArea">

    <iframe width="800" height="800" srcdoc="@ViewData["Report"]" />

</div>

Here you use two ajax requests to navigate through the report pages. Below is the frame with the report page. We set the frame content using ViewData to transfer data from the controller to the view.

Run the application:

By default, the first page of the report is displayed. Click the Next button.

And we get the next page of the report.

Thus, we made sure that the free report generator FastReport.OpenSource can be used to display reports in the ASP .Net MVC project, although it is not designed for this.