Behaviour-based chart print solution

[Alex]

Hello.
In the examples I found the solution that use the RadRichTextBox to print a Chart. As for me, it looks a little strange. So, I use something like this:

public class ChartPrintBehaviour

{
    private const double ImageMargin = 100;
    private const double PageMargin = 10;

    private readonly RadChart chart;

    private readonly string header;

    private readonly bool portrait;

    public static readonly DependencyProperty IsEnabledProperty = DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached("IsEnabled", typeof(bool), typeof(ChartPrintBehaviour), new PropertyMetadata(false, IsEnabledChanged));

    public static readonly DependencyProperty HeaderProperty = DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached("Header", typeof(string), typeof(ChartPrintBehaviour));

    public static readonly DependencyProperty PortraitProperty = DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached("Portrait", typeof(bool), typeof(ChartPrintBehaviour));

    public ChartPrintBehaviour(RadChart chart, string header, bool portrait)
    {
        this.chart = chart;
        this.header = header;
        this.portrait = portrait;
    }

    public static void SetIsEnabled(DependencyObject dependencyObject, bool isEnabled)
    {
        dependencyObject.SetValue(IsEnabledProperty, isEnabled);
    }

    public static bool GetIsEnabled(DependencyObject dependencyObject)
    {
        return (bool)dependencyObject.GetValue(IsEnabledProperty);
    }

    public static void SetHeader(DependencyObject dependencyObject, string header)
    {
        dependencyObject.SetValue(HeaderProperty, header);
    }

    public static void SetPortrait(DependencyObject dependencyObject, bool portrait)
    {
        dependencyObject.SetValue(PortraitProperty, portrait);
    }

    private static void IsEnabledChanged(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        var chart = d as RadChart;
        if (chart == null)
        {
            return;
        }

        if (!((bool)e.NewValue))
        {
            return;
        }
        var header = d.GetValue(HeaderProperty);
        var beh = new ChartPrintBehaviour(chart, header == null ? string.Empty : header.ToString(), (bool)d.GetValue(PortraitProperty));
        beh.Attach();
    }

    private void Attach()
    {
        chart.CommandBindings.Add(new CommandBinding(ApplicationCommands.Print, PrintExecuted, CanPrintExecute));
    }

    private void CanPrintExecute(object sender, CanExecuteRoutedEventArgs e)
    {
        e.CanExecute = chart != null;
    }

    private void PrintExecuted(object sender, ExecutedRoutedEventArgs e)
    {
        if (chart == null)
        {
            return;
        }

        var dlg = new PrintDialog { PrintQueue = LocalPrintServer.GetDefaultPrintQueue() };
        dlg.PrintTicket = dlg.PrintQueue.DefaultPrintTicket;
        if (!portrait)
        {
            dlg.PrintTicket.PageOrientation = PageOrientation.Landscape;
        }

        if (!dlg.ShowDialog().GetValueOrDefault())
        {
            return;
        }

        var doc = new FlowDocument
        {
            PageWidth = dlg.PrintableAreaWidth - PageMargin,
            PageHeight = dlg.PrintableAreaHeight - PageMargin
        };

        FillDocument(doc);

        var writer = PrintQueue.CreateXpsDocumentWriter(dlg.PrintQueue);
        writer.Write(((IDocumentPaginatorSource)doc).DocumentPaginator, dlg.PrintTicket);
    }

    protected virtual void FillDocument(FlowDocument doc)
    {
        var bi = new BitmapImage();
        bi.BeginInit();
        bi.CacheOption = BitmapCacheOption.OnLoad;
        var ms = new MemoryStream();
        chart.ExportToImage(ms, new PngBitmapEncoder());
        bi.StreamSource = ms;
        bi.EndInit();

        var img = new Image
        {
            Source = bi,
            Stretch = Stretch.Uniform,
            Height = doc.PageHeight - ImageMargin,
            Width = doc.PageWidth - ImageMargin,
            VerticalAlignment = VerticalAlignment.Top
        };

        Run headerRun = null;
        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(header))
        {
            headerRun = new Run(header);
        }

        var fig = new Figure
        {
            VerticalAnchor = FigureVerticalAnchor.ContentTop,
            HorizontalAnchor = FigureHorizontalAnchor.ContentCenter
        };

        if (headerRun != null)
        {
            fig.Blocks.Add(new Paragraph(headerRun) { TextAlignment = TextAlignment.Center });
        }

        var block = new BlockUIContainer(img);
        fig.Blocks.Add(block);

        doc.Blocks.Add(new Paragraph(fig));
    }
}

After that we can print any Chart with the this code:

  <telerik:RadChart TelerikExtentions:ChartPrintBehaviour.Header="Print Header"
                          TelerikExtentions:ChartPrintBehaviour.IsEnabled="True">
 <telerik:ChartArea.ContextMenu>
      <ContextMenu>
           <MenuItem Header="Print" Command="Print" />
      </ContextMenu>
</telerik:ChartArea.ContextMenu>

 

[Evgenia]

Hi Alex,

Thanks for sharing your sample code and approach for printing RadChart. I suggest that you send us your sample project so that  as a Code Library sample - it's a place for exchanging code samples, sharing knowledge and getting hands-on experience. For more information you can read here.

P.S. Your Telerik points were updated.

All the best,
Evgenia
the Telerik team

[andrea]

Hello,

 

i try to use your code but i'm unable to do this:

<telerik:RadChart TelerikExtentions:ChartPrintBehaviour.Header="Print Header"
                          TelerikExtentions:ChartPrintBehaviour.IsEnabled="True">

 

What is "TelerikExtensions"​?

 

thank you

[Evgenia]

Hi Andrea,

TelerikExtensions is a namespace name that points to a local class -- the one that Alex used to create an attached behavior. He posted the full source code below.

On a side note I'd like to say that we highly encourage our clients to migrate to our newest charting control - RadChartView. It addresses some of the limitations and deficiencies that we have identified in the RadChart implementation over the years (we chose to implement a separate control in order not to break backwards compatibility). Also the RadChartView control has been around for some years and provides rich and mature functionality that covers a large spectrum of user case scenarios. There is a very detailed documentation article that points the differencies between the RadChart and RadChartView controls here.

Regards,
Evgenia
Telerik