how to export programmatically without a webform control

[Timothy]

Hey, I am trying to figure out if it is possible to construct a grid and use the export to excel functionality without using it in a webform. I just want to get the functional feature of exporting without visually displaying it in the web. Is that possible?

I know there is a TelerikData.dll that contains ExportToExcelML, so I'm looking for something like that, but probably in the ASP.NET version...

Thanks!

[Eyup]

Hello Timothy,

One possible approach is to create the grid only when exporting is needed:
   mark-up:

<asp:PlaceHolder runat="server" ID="PlaceHolder1" />

   code-behind:

RadGrid grid = new RadGrid();
protected void Button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    DefineGridStructure();
    grid.MasterTableView.ExportToExcel();
}
private void DefineGridStructure()
{
    grid.ID = "RadGrid2";
    grid.DataSourceID = "SqlDataSource1";
    grid.Skin = "Vista";
    grid.Width = Unit.Percentage(100);
    grid.PageSize = 15;
    grid.AllowPaging = true;
    grid.PagerStyle.Mode = GridPagerMode.NextPrevAndNumeric;
    grid.AutoGenerateColumns = false;
    grid.MasterTableView.Width = Unit.Percentage(100);
    grid.MasterTableView.DataKeyNames = new string[] { "OrderID" };
    GridBoundColumn boundColumn = new GridBoundColumn();
    boundColumn.DataField = "OrderID";
    boundColumn.HeaderText = "Customer ID";
    grid.MasterTableView.Columns.Add(boundColumn);
    boundColumn = new GridBoundColumn();
    boundColumn.DataField = "ShipName";
    boundColumn.HeaderText = "Contact Name";
    grid.MasterTableView.Columns.Add(boundColumn);
}

Please refer to the following topic for additional details on creating the grid programmatically:
 RadGrid Programmatic Creation ( Section: Creating the grid entirely in the code behind )

An alternative approach would be to hide the grid with CSS:

<style type="text/css">
  .RadGrid
  {
      display:none;
  }
  </style>

That way the export functionality will work without the grid being displayed in the web page as requested.

Regards,
Eyup
the Telerik team