Create Excel (XLSX) or PDF file in ASP.NET Core

GemBox.Spreadsheet is a standalone .NET component that's ideal for web applications because of its fast performance and thread safety when working with multiple ExcelFile objects.

With GemBox.Spreadsheet you can build web applications that target ASP.NET Core 2.0 - 5.0. The following live demos show how you can create web apps that generate Excel and PDF files and download them to your browser.

To use GemBox.Spreadsheet, simply install the GemBox.Spreadsheet package with NuGet or add the following package reference in the project file.

View on GitHub 
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk.Web">

    <PropertyGroup>
        <TargetFramework>net5.0</TargetFramework>
    </PropertyGroup>

    <ItemGroup>
        <PackageReference Include="GemBox.Spreadsheet" Version="*" />
    </ItemGroup>

</Project>

Create Excel or PDF files in ASP.NET Core MVC

The following example shows how you can create an ASP.NET Core MVC application that:

  1. Exports tabular data from a web form to an Excel workbook.
  2. Creates a file of a specified format like XLSX or PDF.
  3. Downloads the generated file with a FileStreamResult.
Exporting tabular data from Razor view and generating XLSX file in ASP.NET Core MVC application
Screenshot of submitted web form and created Excel workbook
View on GitHub 
@model ReportModel

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <title>GemBox.Spreadsheet in ASP.NET Core MVC application</title>
    <link rel="icon" href="~/favicon.ico" />
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="~/lib/bootstrap/dist/css/bootstrap.min.css" />
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="~/css/site.css" />
</head>
<body>
    <header>
        <nav class="navbar border-bottom box-shadow mb-3">
            <div class="container">
                <a class="navbar-brand" asp-controller="Home" asp-action="Index">Home</a>
            </div>
        </nav>
    </header>

    <div class="container">
        <main class="pb-3 row">
            <h1 class="display-4 p-3">Report generator [Razor View]</h1>
            <div class="col-lg-6">
                <form asp-action="Download">
                    <table class="table-sm table-bordered">
                        <thead class="text-center">
                            <tr>
                                <th>Id</th>
                                <th>Name</th>
                                <th>Salery [$]</th>
                            </tr>
                        </thead>
                        <tbody>
                            @for (int index = 0; index < Model.Items.Count; index++)
                            {
                                <tr>
                                    <td><input asp-for="Items[index].Id" class="form-control" readonly /></td>
                                    <td><input asp-for="Items[index].Name" class="form-control" /></td>
                                    <td><input asp-for="Items[index].Salery" class="form-control" /></td>
                                </tr>
                            }
                        </tbody>
                    </table>
                    <div class="form-group">
                        Format:
                        <div class="row">
                            @foreach (string format in Model.FormatMappingDictionary.Select(item => item.Key))
                            {
                                <div class="col-3">
                                    <div class="form-check form-check-inline">
                                        <input asp-for="Format" class="form-check-input" type="radio" id="@format" value="@format">
                                        <label for="@format" class="form-check-label">@format</label>
                                    </div>
                                </div>
                            }
                        </div>
                    </div>
                    <div class="form-group"><input type="submit" value="Create" class="btn btn-primary" /></div>
                </form>
            </div>
        </main>
    </div>

    <footer class="footer border-top text-muted">
        <div class="container">&copy; GemBox Ltd. — All rights reserved.</div>
    </footer>
</body>
</html>
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.IO;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using SpreadsheetCoreMvc.Models;
using GemBox.Spreadsheet;

namespace SpreadsheetCoreMvc.Controllers
{
    public class HomeController : Controller
    {
        static HomeController()
        {
            // If using Professional version, put your serial key below.
            SpreadsheetInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY");
        }

        public IActionResult Index()
        {
            return View(new ReportModel());
        }

        public FileStreamResult Download(ReportModel model)
        {
            // Create new spreadsheet.
            var workbook = new ExcelFile();
            var worksheet = workbook.Worksheets.Add("Report");

            // Set styles on rows and columns.
            worksheet.Rows[0].Style.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignmentStyle.Center;
            worksheet.Rows[0].Style.Font.Weight = ExcelFont.BoldWeight;
            worksheet.Columns[0].SetWidth(40, LengthUnit.Pixel);
            worksheet.Columns[1].SetWidth(100, LengthUnit.Pixel);
            worksheet.Columns[2].SetWidth(100, LengthUnit.Pixel);
            worksheet.Columns[2].Style.NumberFormat = @"\$\ #,##0";

            // Create header row.
            worksheet.Cells["A1"].Value = nameof(ReportItemModel.Id);
            worksheet.Cells["B1"].Value = nameof(ReportItemModel.Name);
            worksheet.Cells["C1"].Value = nameof(ReportItemModel.Salery);

            // Create data rows.
            for (int r = 1; r <= model.Items.Count; r++)
            {
                ReportItemModel item = model.Items[r - 1];
                worksheet.Cells[r, 0].Value = item.Id;
                worksheet.Cells[r, 1].Value = item.Name;
                worksheet.Cells[r, 2].Value = item.Salery;
            }

            // Save spreadsheet in specified file format.
            var stream = new MemoryStream();
            workbook.Save(stream, model.Options);

            // Download file.
            return File(stream, model.Options.ContentType, $"OutputFromView.{model.Format.ToLower()}");
        }

        [ResponseCache(Duration = 0, Location = ResponseCacheLocation.None, NoStore = true)]
        public IActionResult Error()
        {
            return View(new ErrorViewModel() { RequestId = Activity.Current?.Id ?? HttpContext.TraceIdentifier });
        }
    }
}

namespace SpreadsheetCoreMvc.Models
{
    public class ReportModel
    {
        public IList<ReportItemModel> Items { get; set; } = new List<ReportItemModel>()
        {
            new ReportItemModel() { Id = 100, Name = "John Doe", Salery = 3600 },
            new ReportItemModel() { Id = 101, Name = "Jane Doe", Salery = 7200 },
            new ReportItemModel() { Id = 102, Name = "Fred Nurk", Salery = 2580 },
            new ReportItemModel() { Id = 103, Name = "Hans Meier", Salery = 3200 },
            new ReportItemModel() { Id = 104, Name = "Ivan Horvat", Salery = 4100 },
            new ReportItemModel() { Id = 105, Name = "Jean Dupont", Salery = 6850 },
            new ReportItemModel() { Id = 106, Name = "Mario Rossi", Salery = 4400 }
        };
        public string Format { get; set; } = "XLSX";
        public SaveOptions Options => this.FormatMappingDictionary[this.Format];
        public IDictionary<string, SaveOptions> FormatMappingDictionary => new Dictionary<string, SaveOptions>()
        {
            ["XLSX"] = new XlsxSaveOptions(),
            ["XLS"] = new XlsSaveOptions(),
            ["ODS"] = new OdsSaveOptions(),
            ["CSV"] = new CsvSaveOptions(CsvType.CommaDelimited),
            ["PDF"] = new PdfSaveOptions(),
            ["HTML"] = new HtmlSaveOptions() { EmbedImages = true },
            ["XPS"] = new XpsSaveOptions(),
            ["BMP"] = new ImageSaveOptions(ImageSaveFormat.Bmp),
            ["PNG"] = new ImageSaveOptions(ImageSaveFormat.Png),
            ["JPG"] = new ImageSaveOptions(ImageSaveFormat.Jpeg),
            ["GIF"] = new ImageSaveOptions(ImageSaveFormat.Gif),
            ["TIF"] = new ImageSaveOptions(ImageSaveFormat.Tiff)
        };
    }

    public class ReportItemModel
    {
        public int Id { get; set; }
        public string Name { get; set; }
        public int Salery { get; set; }
    }
}

Create Excel or PDF files in ASP.NET Core Razor Pages

The following example shows how you can create an ASP.NET Core Razor Pages application that:

  1. Exports tabular data from a web form to an Excel workbook.
  2. Creates a file of a specified format like XLSX or PDF.
  3. Downloads the generated file with a FileContentResult.
Exporting tabular data from Razor page and generating PDF file in ASP.NET Core Razor Pages application
Screenshot of submitted web form and created PDF file
View on GitHub 
@page
@model IndexModel

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <title>GemBox.Spreadsheet in ASP.NET Core Razor Pages application</title>
    <link rel="icon" href="~/favicon.ico" />
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="~/lib/bootstrap/dist/css/bootstrap.min.css" />
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="~/css/site.css" />
</head>
<body>
    <header>
        <nav class="navbar border-bottom box-shadow mb-3">
            <div class="container">
                <a class="navbar-brand" asp-page="/Index">Home</a>
            </div>
        </nav>
    </header>

    <div class="container">
        <main class="pb-3 row">
            <h1 class="display-4 p-3">Report generator [Razor Page]</h1>
            <div class="col-lg-6">
                <form method="post">
                    <table class="table-sm table-bordered">
                        <thead class="text-center">
                            <tr>
                                <th>Id</th>
                                <th>Name</th>
                                <th>Salery [$]</th>
                            </tr>
                        </thead>
                        <tbody>
                            @for (int index = 0; index < Model.Report.Items.Count; index++)
                            {
                                <tr>
                                    <td><input asp-for="Report.Items[index].Id" class="form-control" readonly /></td>
                                    <td><input asp-for="Report.Items[index].Name" class="form-control" /></td>
                                    <td><input asp-for="Report.Items[index].Salery" class="form-control" /></td>
                                </tr>
                            }
                        </tbody>
                    </table>
                    <div class="form-group">
                        Format:
                        <div class="row">
                            @foreach (string format in Model.Report.FormatMappingDictionary.Select(item => item.Key))
                            {
                                <div class="col-3">
                                    <div class="form-check form-check-inline">
                                        <input asp-for="Report.Format" class="form-check-input" type="radio" id="@format" value="@format">
                                        <label for="@format" class="form-check-label">@format</label>
                                    </div>
                                </div>
                            }
                        </div>
                    </div>
                    <div class="form-group"><input type="submit" value="Create" class="btn btn-primary" /></div>
                </form>
            </div>
        </main>
    </div>

    <footer class="footer border-top text-muted">
        <div class="container">&copy; GemBox Ltd. — All rights reserved.</div>
    </footer>
</body>
</html>
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.RazorPages;
using SpreadsheetCorePages.Models;
using GemBox.Spreadsheet;

namespace SpreadsheetCorePages.Pages
{
    public class IndexModel : PageModel
    {
        [BindProperty]
        public ReportModel Report { get; set; }

        public IndexModel()
        {
            this.Report = new ReportModel();

            // If using Professional version, put your serial key below.
            SpreadsheetInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY");
        }

        public void OnGet() { }

        public FileContentResult OnPost()
        {
            // Create new spreadsheet.
            var workbook = new ExcelFile();
            var worksheet = workbook.Worksheets.Add("Report");

            // Set styles on rows and columns.
            worksheet.Rows[0].Style.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignmentStyle.Center;
            worksheet.Rows[0].Style.Font.Weight = ExcelFont.BoldWeight;
            worksheet.Columns[0].SetWidth(40, LengthUnit.Pixel);
            worksheet.Columns[1].SetWidth(100, LengthUnit.Pixel);
            worksheet.Columns[2].SetWidth(100, LengthUnit.Pixel);
            worksheet.Columns[2].Style.NumberFormat = @"\$\ #,##0";

            // Create header row.
            worksheet.Cells["A1"].Value = nameof(ReportItemModel.Id);
            worksheet.Cells["B1"].Value = nameof(ReportItemModel.Name);
            worksheet.Cells["C1"].Value = nameof(ReportItemModel.Salery);

            // Create data rows.
            for (int r = 1; r <= this.Report.Items.Count; r++)
            {
                ReportItemModel item = this.Report.Items[r - 1];
                worksheet.Cells[r, 0].Value = item.Id;
                worksheet.Cells[r, 1].Value = item.Name;
                worksheet.Cells[r, 2].Value = item.Salery;
            }

            // Save spreadsheet in specified file format.
            var stream = new MemoryStream();
            workbook.Save(stream, this.Report.Options);

            // Download file.
            return File(stream.ToArray(), this.Report.Options.ContentType, $"OutputFromPage.{this.Report.Format.ToLower()}");
        }
    }
}

namespace SpreadsheetCorePages.Models
{
    public class ReportModel
    {
        public IList<ReportItemModel> Items { get; set; } = new List<ReportItemModel>()
        {
            new ReportItemModel() { Id = 100, Name = "John Doe", Salery = 3600 },
            new ReportItemModel() { Id = 101, Name = "Jane Doe", Salery = 7200 },
            new ReportItemModel() { Id = 102, Name = "Fred Nurk", Salery = 2580 },
            new ReportItemModel() { Id = 103, Name = "Hans Meier", Salery = 3200 },
            new ReportItemModel() { Id = 104, Name = "Ivan Horvat", Salery = 4100 },
            new ReportItemModel() { Id = 105, Name = "Jean Dupont", Salery = 6850 },
            new ReportItemModel() { Id = 106, Name = "Mario Rossi", Salery = 4400 }
        };
        public string Format { get; set; } = "PDF";
        public SaveOptions Options => this.FormatMappingDictionary[this.Format];
        public IDictionary<string, SaveOptions> FormatMappingDictionary => new Dictionary<string, SaveOptions>()
        {
            ["XLSX"] = new XlsxSaveOptions(),
            ["XLS"] = new XlsSaveOptions(),
            ["ODS"] = new OdsSaveOptions(),
            ["CSV"] = new CsvSaveOptions(CsvType.CommaDelimited),
            ["PDF"] = new PdfSaveOptions(),
            ["HTML"] = new HtmlSaveOptions() { EmbedImages = true },
            ["XPS"] = new XpsSaveOptions(),
            ["BMP"] = new ImageSaveOptions(ImageSaveFormat.Bmp),
            ["PNG"] = new ImageSaveOptions(ImageSaveFormat.Png),
            ["JPG"] = new ImageSaveOptions(ImageSaveFormat.Jpeg),
            ["GIF"] = new ImageSaveOptions(ImageSaveFormat.Gif),
            ["TIF"] = new ImageSaveOptions(ImageSaveFormat.Tiff)
        };
    }

    public class ReportItemModel
    {
        public int Id { get; set; }
        public string Name { get; set; }
        public int Salery { get; set; }
    }
}

Host and deploy ASP.NET Core

GemBox.Spreadsheet is licensed per individual developer, and the licenses include a royalty-free deployment. You can feel free to build an unlimited number of applications and deploy or distribute them to an unlimited number of services, servers, or end-user machines with no extra cost.

GemBox.Spreadsheet licenses are compatible with SaaS or PaaS solutions, as long as they don't offer similar or competing functionality to our component, or expose our features through an API for use by an unlicensed third party. For more information, please check the EULA.

Create PNG, JPG, or XPS files on Windows

GemBox.Spreadsheet supports saving to XPS and image formats (like PNG and JPG) on applications that target .NET Core 3.1 or .NET 5.0.

However, these features currently work only on Windows. In other words, besides .NET Core Runtime, you also need a .NET Windows Desktop Runtime installed on the server.

To export an XPS or image file in an ASP.NET Core application, add the following framework reference in the project file.

View on GitHub 
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk.Web">

    <PropertyGroup>
        <TargetFramework>net5.0</TargetFramework>
    </PropertyGroup>

    <ItemGroup>
        <PackageReference Include="GemBox.Spreadsheet" Version="*" />
    </ItemGroup>

    <ItemGroup>
        <FrameworkReference Include="Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App.Wpf" />
    </ItemGroup>

</Project>

Also, enable the following compatibility switch with the AppContext class.

public class Startup
{
    public Startup(IConfiguration configuration)
    {
        Configuration = configuration;

        // Add compatibility switch.
        AppContext.SetSwitch("Switch.System.Windows.Media.ShouldRenderEvenWhenNoDisplayDevicesAreAvailable", true);
    }

    public IConfiguration Configuration { get; }

    // This method gets called by the runtime. Use this method to add services to the container.
    public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
    {
        // ...
    }

    // This method gets called by the runtime. Use this method to configure the HTTP request pipeline.
    public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app, IWebHostEnvironment env)
    {
        // ...
    }
}

Or you can enable that compatibility switch by adding the following runtimeconfig.template.json file to your project.

{
  "configProperties": {
    "Switch.System.Windows.Media.ShouldRenderEvenWhenNoDisplayDevicesAreAvailable": true
  }
}

Limitations on Linux or macOS

You can use the full functionality of GemBox.Spreadsheet on Unix systems, but with the following exceptions:

These features currently have WPF dependencies which means they require a .NET Windows Desktop Runtime. However, we do have plans for providing cross-platform support for them in future releases.

See also

Create Excel (XLSX) or PDF file on Azure from .NET Core application

Create Excel (XLSX) or PDF file on Azure from .NET Core application

Create Excel (XLSX) or PDF on Docker container from .NET Core

Create Excel (XLSX) or PDF on Docker container from .NET Core

Export Excel files from ASP.NET GridView control

Export Excel files from ASP.NET GridView control

Next steps

GemBox.Spreadsheet is a .NET component that enables you to read, write, edit, convert, and print spreadsheet files from your .NET applications using one simple API.

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Published: December 13, 2018 | Modified: January 24, 2022 | Author: Marko Kozlina