How to send DataGridView contents by email
How to send a DataGridView by mail.
Introduction
In my work, it is very often required to generate some reports based on database contents. I use the Windows Forms DataGridView and print its contents, but here is a question - how can I send emails with the DataGridView contents? I can send emails with DataGridView contents in two ways - directly in the message body or as an attachment (in my example, as an HTML file).
Using the code
First of all, let's load data into the DataGridView. In this example, I use an XML file as a data source. I've placed it in the bin/Debug folder. I then create an HTML file from the DataGridView. For this, I have a StringBuilder with the DataGridView contents in it.
After that, I can either put it in the message body or in the attachment.
//binding data from xml file to datagridview
DataSet ds = new DataSet();
ds.ReadXml("dataFile.xml");//xml file placed in bin/Debug folder
dataGridView1.DataSource = ds;
dataGridView1.DataMember = "authors";
private StringBuilder htmlMessageBody(DataGridView dg)
{
StringBuilder strB = new StringBuilder();
//create html & table
strB.AppendLine("<html><body><center><" +
"table border='1' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0'>");
strB.AppendLine("<tr>");
//cteate table header
for (int i = 0; i < dg.Columns.Count; i++)
{
strB.AppendLine("<td align='center' valign='middle'>" +
dg.Columns[i].HeaderText + "</td>");
}
//create table body
strB.AppendLine("<tr>");
for (int i = 0; i < dg.Rows.Count; i++)
{
strB.AppendLine("<tr>");
foreach (DataGridViewCell dgvc in dg.Rows[i].Cells)
{
strB.AppendLine("<td align='center' valign='middle'>" +
dgvc.Value.ToString() + "</td>");
}
strB.AppendLine("</tr>");
}
//table footer & end of html file
strB.AppendLine("</table></center></body></html>");
return strB;}
// Create a message with datagridview contents
// in its body and set up the recipients.
MailMessage myMessage = new MailMessage();
try
{
myMessage.From = "from@yourDomain.com";//place here from address
myMessage.To = "to@recipientsDomain";//place here to address
myMessage.Cc = "cc@someDomain.com";//place here copy address
myMessage.BodyEncoding = Encoding.UTF8;
myMessage.BodyFormat = MailFormat.Html;
//call method, creating HTML from datagridview
myMessage.Body = htmlMessageBody(dataGridView1).ToString();
//place here your subject
myMessage.Subject = "message subject";
//if it is needed set up credentials
myMessage.Fields.Add("http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/" +
"configuration/smtpauthenticate",
"1");//Basic Authentication
myMessage.Fields.Add("http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/" +
"configuration/sendusername",
"userName");//user name
myMessage.Fields.Add("http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/" +
"configuration/sendpassword",
"password");//password
//place here SMTP server
SmtpMail.SmtpServer = "your SMTP server";
SmtpMail.Send(myMessage);
MessageBox.Show("Message sent!");
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
MessageBox.Show("Error! "+ex.Message);
}
//create message with datagridview contents in attachment
MailMessage myMessage = new MailMessage();
try
{
myMessage.From = "from@yourDomain.com";//place here from address
myMessage.To = "to@recipientsDomain";//place here to address
myMessage.Cc = "cc@someDomain.com";//place here copy address
myMessage.BodyEncoding = Encoding.UTF8;
myMessage.BodyFormat = MailFormat.Html;
myMessage.Body = "some body text";//place here some text
myMessage.Subject = "message subject";//place here your subject
//creating attachment
StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter("file.html",
true, Encoding.UTF8);//creating html file
//write datagridview contents to HTML file
sw.Write(htmlMessageBody(dataGridView1).ToString());
sw.Close();
//create attachment
MailAttachment myAttach = new MailAttachment("file.html");
myMessage.Attachments.Add(myAttach);//add attachment to our message
//if it is needed set up credentials
myMessage.Fields.Add("http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/" +
"configuration/smtpauthenticate",
"1");//Basic Authentication
myMessage.Fields.Add("http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/" +
"configuration/sendusername",
"userName");//user name
myMessage.Fields.Add("http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/" +
"configuration/sendpassword",
"password");//password
//place here SMTP server
SmtpMail.SmtpServer = "your SMTP server";
SmtpMail.Send(myMessage);
MessageBox.Show("Message sent!");
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
MessageBox.Show("Error! " + ex.Message);
}
Points of Interest
Now, I do not need to export my DataGridView into a Word or Excel file and then send it to my chief - I can directly send the DataGridView to him :-)