Develop Reference

C# MVC generate PDF from View with NReco.PdfGenerator

I'm currently working on a project where I need to create a "dashboard" which can be exported as pdf. I wanted to use Rotativa but as our application uses .NET framework 4.0 it's not possible. So I found the NReco PdfGenerator.
Now that's the code how I create the PDF result:
var ViewAsString = RenderViewAsString("~/Views/QMetrics/StandardDashboard.cshtml", viewModel);
var htmlToPdf = new NReco.PdfGenerator.HtmlToPdfConverter();
htmlToPdf.PageWidth = 1600;
htmlToPdf.PageHeight = 900;
var pdfBytes = htmlToPdf.GeneratePdf(ViewAsString);
FileResult FileResult = new FileContentResult(pdfBytes, "application/pdf");
FileResult.FileDownloadName = "Dashboard-" + viewModel.ProjectName + "-" +
DateTime.Now.ToString() + "-.pdf";
return FileResult;
It successfully creates the PDF page with all the content that comes from the backend (Project information, and so on) but the page looks very ugly. On the original page I have 2 columns and on the PDF page it puts everything in one column. I tried a few different page sizes and I also changed the layout to be non-responsive but nothing has changed.
My first suggesstion was that the referenced CSS and JS files are not included when the PDF get's created, so I copied all the stuff that comes from external files (bootstrap, Chart.js) and pasted it directly in the .cshtml file. But nothing changed at all. My Chart is not rendering/loading and the missing CSS stuff is still not there.
On the NReco PDFGenerator website they say that it supports complex CSS code and also javascript code so I don't really understand why this is not working.
Has anyone here experiences with NReco or can someone recommend something else that works for .NET 4.0?

NReco PdfGenerator internally uses wkhtmltopdf tool, so you can check it and its options.
Regarding 2 columns: if you don't use flex/grid layout everything should work fine. Possibly you need to disable wkhtmltopdf smart shrinking logic (enabled by default) and define web page 'window' size explicitely (with "--viewport-size 1600" option).
Regarding CSS and charts: you need to check that CSS files could be accessed by wkhtmltopdf, simplest way to do that is running wkhtmltopdf.exe from the command line and check console log output (or, handle PdfGenerator's "LogReceived" event in C#). For Chart.js ensure that chart container div has explicit width (not in %), and that there are no js errors (you can get them in console by specifying "--debug-javascript" option). If your js code uses 'bind' method you have to include polyfill as WebKit engine version used in wkhtmltopdf doesn't support 'bind'.

Creating embedded resource in C# class library if it doesn't exist

I have an issue with a class library; I am preparing a library with an interface that represents a specific data storage signature. The purpose is to use the interface as a basis for implementing a number of specific classes storing configuration information in different formats (text files, xml files, etc.) while retaining the same usage profile to the application using it. I have a problem, though. In this case I am trying to embed an xml file as a resource - this file is one type of format to store configuration data. The file is located as an embedded resource in a subfolder to the project, as shown in the attached illustration.
In the following code snippet it is shown how I have implemented the functionality until now.
public ConfigInfoXmlSource()
{
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(Settings.Default.CurrentConfigFile))
FileNameAndPath = Settings.Default.CurrentConfigFile;
else
FileNameAndPath = DefaultConfigFileName + DefaultFileExtension;
// Prepare XML.
System.Reflection.Assembly a = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
Stream manifestResourceStream =
a.GetManifestResourceStream("TestTool.Config.Config1.xml");
if (manifestResourceStream == null)
{
// ???
}
...
doc.Load(manifestResourceStream);
...
}
In the section marked "Prepare XML" I am trying to read a stream from the embedded resource. After the reading, it is tested whether a stream was indeed created. If the file is found, the manifestResourceStream will contain the xml data - so far so good. The problem arises if the file for some reason has been accidentally deleted - in that case I want to create a new file as an embedded resource to replace the deleted file. That is supposed to happen in the conditional in the part shown as "???".
I have tried everything I could think of, searched Google for answers, etc. - to no avail.
Does anyone have a clue to how this is accomplished? Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Best regards.

If you have a embedded resource,it is built into your binaries.It is not an physical file,rather something which is present inside the built file(dll in this case).So,once it is included,I do not think it can ever be deleted. As per my knowledge embedded resource can only be set while building your project binaries and you can not explicitly do it at runtime as it is not needed due to reasons mentioned above.

Why MigraDoc gives an "image not found" with this fileless image?

I have the "image.png" fileless image included in my WPF C# project as "embedded resourse". The full name of such image is "myapplication.image.png".
I am using such image in a document generated via MigraDoc. However, the document generated contains all the contenent that I planified, but a gray square within wrote "image not found" instead of image "image.png".
In order to use "image.png" in my document via MigraDoc, I added the file "image.png" as embedded resource to my project. Therefore, I followed this sample to include this image in the document.
My resulting code looks like the following:
byte[] imageStream = LoadImage("myapplication.image.png");
string imageFilename = MigraDocFilenameFromByteArray(imageStream);
Image image = para.AddImage(imageFilename);
Where "LoadImage" and "MigraDocFilenameFromByteArray" methods are coded as in the sample.
What am I missing?
Would someone provide a pointer, please?

If using NuGet, please note that you have to check 'Include prerelease' in order for MigraDoc v1.50.x to show up in the list of packages. Note that this is the 'Version', not the 'Runtime Version' number (right-click your MigraDoc reference and check properties). The most recent stable release is only v1.32.x.

As suggested by #User241.007, the issue was using 1.32 and nor 1.50 or later. Hence, everything is working now that I removed 1.32 and installed 1.50 via package manager.

Get PNG Image From Native Win32 Resource In .NET

A DLL file contains some images inside PNG resource type.
I can view the PNG images in softwares like Resource Hacker, Anolis Resourcer & Resource Tuner. Check this screenshot of Anolis Resourcer for more details:
Can someone tell me how do I get the PNG image no. 5220 from the DLL file and put it inside a PictureBox? I don't think APIs like LoadImage or LoadBitmap will work.

// get the assembly containing the image
var assembly = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
// set the picturebox image to read the embedded resource
pictureBox1.Image = Image.FromStream(
assembly.GetManifestResourceStream("AssemblyName.test.png")
);
where AssemblyName.test.png is the fully qualified name of the embedded resource inside the assembly.
UPDATE:
It seems that you are trying to extract resources from a native assembly. You may take a look at the following article which illustrates how this could be done using P/Invoke.

The link that Darin posted (which has consequently been marked as the answer) does not contain functional code. I've evaluated the code posted there (http://khason.net/blog/how-to-load-unmanaged-native-resources-from-managed-c-code/) and found that it does not work properly for any Bitmap image embedded in any win32 dll as a bitmap resource.
Additionally, Hans Passant leaves off a myriad of steps effectively rendering his post useless.
The only somewhat close solution that I've been able to find comes from an article written in 2004 for the XP Theme dll junk. You can find the 'GetResourcePNG' method in ThemeManager.cs here http://www.codeproject.com/KB/miscctrl/XPTaskBar.aspx
However, it should be noted that I've been having a lot of difficulty with this method, as the call to bitmap.RotateFlip(RotateFlipType.Rotate180FlipX); causes memory issues when trying to access pngs within authui.dll on my system
Update:
I've found the code listed here (http://www.vbaccelerator.com/home/NET/Code/Controls/Explorer_Bar/ExplorerBar_Control_Source_Code.asp) to be by far the most functional, produce the fewest errors and produces the fastest results. The code is written in c# even though the domain name would indicate otherwise. Using the two classes; ImageUtility and ResourceLibrary, you can easily pull a PNG out of a standard, non-.net resource library/dll:
public static Bitmap GetStandardResourceBitmap(String dllName, String resourceId) {
Bitmap result = null;
using (ResourceLibrary library = new ResourceLibrary() { Filename = dllName }) {
IntPtr hDib = library.GetResource(resourceId, ResourceLibrary.ImageType.IMAGE_BITMAP, ResourceLibrary.ImageLoadOptions.LR_CREATEDIBSECTION);
if (!hDib.Equals(IntPtr.Zero)) {
result = ImageUtility.DibToBitmap(hDib);
ImageUtility.DeleteObject(hDib);
}
}
return result;
}
I chose to have resourceId in my method a String, only because it doesn't require an overload and using numbered resource Ids is as simple as prepending a '#'.
GetStandardResourceBitmap("shell32.dll", "#632");
Cheers

A PNG image is not one of the standard Win32 resource types. It is usually embedded as a binary blob with the named resource type "PNG", although that's not guaranteed. By far the easiest way to figure this out is by opening the file with Visual Studio's File + Open + File command. You'll see the embedded resources organized in a tree, hopefully with a descriptive name, right-click a candidate and select Export to save it to disk.
Doing this programmatically requires a lot of gritty pinvoke. It is tricky because both the resource type and the resource ID can be either a string or an IntPtr so you'll need 4 overloads for FindResource. In order, you'll need LoadLibraryEx() to load the file without executing any of its code. FindResource to get a handle to the resource. SizeOfResource to know how large it is. LoadResource + LockResource to get a pointer to the resource data. Marshal.Copy() to copy the resource data into a byte[]. Clean up with FreeResource and FreeLibrary.

Intellisense - Javascript in a string

I have a long javascript in a string and programatically using RegisterClientScriptBlock, I add it to my page.
Is there any way to have the intellisense detect my javascript inside the string?
Code:
string Script0 =
#"
function dummy()
{
}
var PTRValues = new Array();
...
...
..
";
this.Page.ClientScript.RegisterClientScriptBlock(this.GetType(), "myCustomScriptBlock", Script0, true);

No, you can't get intellisense inside the JS string. The IDE doesn't know this particular string is JS.
If it's long don't put it in the *.cs file. Instead store it in a *.js. If you really want you can load the file into memory at runtime and serve it embedded in the html instead of referenced.

Unfortunately, this is not possible.
The best solution is to make put the code separate .js file, then write the following:
Page.ClientScript.RegisterClientScriptBlock(
GetType(),
"myCustomScriptBlock",
File.ReadAllText(myJSFilePath),
true
);
For optimal performance, you should read it only once, then store in in the cache.

Ok, these guys are getting close...
Don't EVER embed scripts in code. Always embed as resource or for prototyping and develepment use ClientScript to render a <script/> tag and reference a .js file.
There are just too many reasons wny you would not want to embed script in code to list. google it.
What you are after is to render some javascript from the codebehind via ClientScript and you would like design time intellisense support?
Ok,
To get intellisense you will need a .js of some kind. The approach I suggest, to promote maintainability and prevent dupe scripts that can get out of sync is:
create an EMPTY file called myScript.js.
create another script containing your code named myScript-vsdoc.js
mark myScript-vsdoc.js as embedded resource and serve it as and embedded web resource
meanwhile, back in the IDE, add a script tag pointing to myScript.js, which is an EMPTY file
press SHIFT-CTRL-J and bingo, you have intellisense for your embedded script, your embedded script is in a source file that is editable and discoverable and you have no duplication.
That is how i do it.