Export to excel from model instead of controller

Question

I'm using the following to export to excel in an MVC application from a Controller. To do this I have to use some business logic and data objects in the Controller. My export works, but I don't think I should do this in the Controller. I'm new to MVC. Is there a better way to move this logic to the Model and get it out of the Controller?

public void ExportToExcel(PortalAccountMappingModel model)

    {
        var data = model.GetExport();
        var excelReport = new ExcelReportGenerator(Configurations.ReportTemplatesFolder);
        using (ExcelReportData reportData = excelReport.GenerateReport(ExcelReportDataOutputType.StreamData, Constants.PORTAL_ACCOUNT_MAPPING_REPORT_NAME, typeof(PortalAccountMappingReportItem), data))
        {
            byte[] reportByteArray = reportData.DataStream.ToArray();
            Response.Clear();
            Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", string.Format("attachment; filename={0}", reportData.FileName));
            Response.AddHeader("Content-Length", reportByteArray.Length.ToString());
            Response.ContentType = "application/octet-stream";
            Response.BinaryWrite(reportByteArray);
        }
    }

You probably don't want to move it to the Model as that kind of breaks the separation of concerns. I would instead create a Utility class with static member functions. This way, you don't need to instantiate the object and you have access to the method even if you're not using the particular model it was intended for. Can always make it generic as well. — Ingenioushax, Jul 20 '16 at 16:20
What would I use for the return type for the static method that returns the excel document to the Controller? — GoGetSOme, Jul 21 '16 at 13:57
This [SO post](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/25047487/how-to-i-create-and-return-an-excel-file-with-a-controller-in-mvc-4-in-vb-net) should get you going in the right direction. — Ingenioushax, Jul 22 '16 at 21:10

Export to excel from model instead of controller

0 Answers0