Printing contents of string-variable to local printer ASP.NET

Question

I have a page in ASP.NET. In this page, I have a List<string> which contains various data. I need to be able to print this information on the client side. So if a logged on user clicks the print button, he is shown a dialog from which to choose settings like which printer, landscape/portrait, number if copies, etc. This is my code:

 private List<string> dataToBePrinted = new List<string>();

 public void addDataToList(string text)
 {
    dataToBePrinted.Add(text);
 }

 protected void btnPrint_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
 {
    //Print contents of dataToBePrinted to local printer here.
 }

So far, I have only been able to print the page as-is (with all controls, windows, etc.) but I only need the info in the List<string>. How can I accomplish this?

EDIT:

Ok thanks for all the comments/answers guys. I got it working:

//When clicking "Print" data, put list in session variables and redirect to new blank page
protected void btnGruppenkalenderDrucken_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    Session["Printing"] = lstData;
    Response.Redirect("Printing.aspx");
}

//This is the code behind of the new blank page. Cast session variable back to list,   then fill table
public partial class Printing : System.Web.UI.Page
{
    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        List<List<string>> lst = (List<List<string>>)Session["Printing"];
        foreach (List<string> temp in lst)
        {
            TableRow row = new TableRow();
            foreach (string data in temp)
            {
                TableCell cell = new TableCell();
                cell.Text = data;
                row.Cells.Add(cell);
            }
            tblData.Rows.Add(row);
        }
    }
}
}

//Markup of new page. I added button "btnPrint" that calls javascript for printing when clicked client side.
<%@ Page Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeBehind="Printing.aspx.cs" Inherits="WerIstWo.Printing" %>

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head runat="server">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>
    <title></title>
</head>
<body>
    <form id="form1" runat="server">
    <div>
        <asp:Table ID="tblData" runat="server">

        </asp:Table>  
        <asp:Button ID="btnPrint" runat="server" Text="Print" OnClientClick="javascript:window.print();"/>      
    </div>
    </form>
</body>
</html>

Now I will just have to format the blank page and all is well.

Thanks again!

Your title and your question seem to share no common ground. — spender, Jun 17 '13 at 13:22
sorry somehow the title of another question from last week got taken over. — LeonidasFett, Jun 17 '13 at 13:24
which code are you using for Print, any serverside code or client side code like: `window.print()`? — Sanjeev Rai, Jun 17 '13 at 13:27
Use javascript. http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/met_win_print.asp — kostas ch., Jun 17 '13 at 13:27
The important thing to note here is that server side code isn't going to get you very far with client side printing, hence why the answers you're getting are rightly referring to JavaScript and/or css. — Stephen Kennedy, Jun 17 '13 at 13:30

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 17 '13 at 13:27

1

Because of how web browsers are designed the server (your code) will not have direct access to the client's printer. Instead, you can have a link/button to a 'print page' or a page that only has the information you need (the contents of that list). The client can then print that page selecting their own local printer.

You could include some javascript in the print page after the main body that will prompt the user to print.

window.print() Should do what you want.

answered Jun 17 '13 at 13:27

BlargleMonster

1,602
2
18
33

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/2272.asp-net-print-only-the-content-inside-of-div.aspx for the JavaScript. – Stephen Kennedy Jun 17 '13 at 13:29
does this page have to be in my masterpage or do I just need as a "container" for the data I want to print? – LeonidasFett Jun 17 '13 at 13:31
It's basically a container to fit within the way webpages and browsers work. You can't print content except at the page level, so you use a fresh and temporary page as a container (good word choice) to deliver just the content you want to print. – BlargleMonster Jun 17 '13 at 13:38

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 17 '13 at 13:28

1

My suggestion would be to create a new page that lays the data out how you want it, redirect the user there and then in javascript call windows.print().

answered Jun 17 '13 at 13:28

Simon Halsey

5,459
1
21
32

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:21

0

Take a look at css media selector. Define css class like this:

.printable {
  display:none;
}

@media print {
.noPrint {
    display:none;
 }
.printable {
    display:block;
 }
}

Then add this class to all elements on your page, except the element in which you'll dump the List data. this element should have the printable class.

Reference:

Use CSS to hide contents on print

edited May 23 '17 at 12:21

Community

1
1

answered Jun 17 '13 at 13:29

Ondrej Svejdar

21,349
5
54
89

Printing contents of string-variable to local printer ASP.NET

3 Answers3

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