How to attach an Xml to .net Mail Attachment using MemoryStream?

Question

I have a cshtml view in mvc filled with xml such as :

@model myproject.net.Models.mymodel
@{
    Layout = null;
    Response.ContentType = "application/vnd.ms-excel";
    Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; " + "filename=" + 
        Model.myusername.ToString()  + "(" + 
        Model.mydate.Date.ToShortDateString() + ").xls");
}

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ss:Workbook xmlns:ss="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:spreadsheet">
    <Styles>
        <Style ss:ID="s25">
            <Alignment ss:Horizontal="Center" ss:Vertical="Bottom"/>
            <Borders>
                <Border ss:Position="Bottom" ss:LineStyle="Continuous" ss:Weight="1"/>
            </Borders>
            <Interior ss:Color="#FFA500" ss:Pattern="Solid"/>
        </Style>
    </Styles>
    <ss:Worksheet ss:Name="Sheet1">
        <ss:Table>
        @if (Model.someNumerableContent.Count > 0)
        {
            <!-- MyContent -->
            <ss:Row>
                <ss:Cell><ss:Data ss:Type="String">Content Header</ss:Data></ss:Cell>
            </ss:Row>
            <ss:Row>
                <ss:Cell><ss:Data ss:Type="String">SubHeader 1</ss:Data></ss:Cell>
                <ss:Cell><ss:Data ss:Type="String">SubHeader 2</ss:Data></ss:Cell>
                <ss:Cell><ss:Data ss:Type="String">SubHeader 3</ss:Data></ss:Cell>
                <ss:Cell><ss:Data ss:Type="String">SubHeader 4</ss:Data></ss:Cell>
                <ss:Cell><ss:Data ss:Type="String">SubHeader 5</ss:Data></ss:Cell>
            </ss:Row>
            foreach (var subContent in Model.someNumerableContent)
            {
            <ss:Row>
                <ss:Cell><ss:Data ss:Type="String">@subContent.mydate.Date.ToShortDateString()</ss:Data></ss:Cell>
                <ss:Cell><ss:Data ss:Type="String">@subContent.number</ss:Data></ss:Cell>
                <ss:Cell><ss:Data ss:Type="String">@subContent.name</ss:Data></ss:Cell>
                <ss:Cell><ss:Data ss:Type="String">@subContent.surname</ss:Data></ss:Cell>
                <ss:Cell><ss:Data ss:Type="String">@subContent.issue</ss:Data></ss:Cell>
            </ss:Row>
            }
            <ss:Row> </ss:Row>
        }
        </ss:Table>
    </ss:Worksheet>
</ss:Workbook>

and i wanna convert it to .xls file and attach to a mail without saving it anywhere. but couldnt figure out how can i achive this. I cant use office.interop for some restrictions i got in the server so its not an option to me. I only want to create an .xls file by Xml and send it using .net mail. so far i've done this:

// Memory stream for the xml file
using (MemoryStream memoryStream = new MemoryStream())
{
    //                                                 Can i use something like this?
    byte[] contentAsBytes = Encoding.Default.GetBytes( View("ExportToExcel").ToString() );
    memoryStream.Write(contentAsBytes, 0, contentAsBytes.Length);
    // Set the position to the beginning of the stream.
    memoryStream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);
    // Create attachment
    ContentType contentType = new ContentType();
    contentType.MediaType = MediaTypeNames.Text.Xml;
    contentType.Name = UserName + "(" + FileDate + ").xls";
    // Attach
    mail.Attachment = new Attachment(memoryStream, contentType);
}

so how can i achive this?

We've done something similar put have always saved it to a local temp file not sure it can be done in memory. — Brad Patton, Dec 05 '12 at 15:22
@BradPatton thats the actual thing.. i mean think that you can attach it with memory, that would make it far more secure and HDD free. — Berker Yüceer, Dec 05 '12 at 15:24
what is the exact problem? rendering the model as xml or attaching a file (memory stream) to the email? — Jason Meckley, Dec 05 '12 at 15:27
@JasonMeckley I dont know how to retrieve that views data and attach it using memoryStream so both of them my problem and i'm kinda stuck but the main idea behind all these creating an excel file and sending it by mail without saving it anywhere. — Berker Yüceer, Dec 05 '12 at 15:30
@BradPatton i found a way to achieve it u may wanna check out. — Berker Yüceer, Dec 10 '12 at 15:30
@BerkerYüceer glad you got it working. Will keep it in mind for the future. — Brad Patton, Dec 10 '12 at 15:36

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 10 '12 at 15:23

I couldnt implement razor view successfull but after working 30 hours on it. i found another method..

First I created an XmlString as below:

public String XmlToImplement(int id)
{
    // Add values from db to model
    MyModel model = new MyModel();
    model.contents = db.contents.Where(c => c.MyData.id == id).ToList();
    // XmlString
    String XmlString = @"<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
    <ss:Workbook xmlns='urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:spreadsheet'
                xmlns:o='urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office'
                xmlns:x='urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:excel'
                xmlns:ss='urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:spreadsheet'
                xmlns:html='http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40'>
        <Styles>
            <Style ss:ID='s25'>
                <Alignment ss:Horizontal='Center' ss:Vertical='Bottom'/>
                <Borders>
                    <Border ss:Position='Bottom' ss:LineStyle='Continuous' ss:Weight='1'/>
                </Borders>
                <Interior ss:Color='#FFA500' ss:Pattern='Solid'/>
            </Style>
        </Styles>
        <ss:Worksheet ss:Name='Sheet1'>
            <ss:Table>";
            if (model.contents.Count > 0)
            {
                XmlString = XmlString + @"<!-- MyModelData -->
                <ss:Row>
                    <ss:Cell><ss:Data ss:Type='String'> MyModelData </ss:Data></ss:Cell>
                </ss:Row>
                <ss:Row>
                    <ss:Cell><ss:Data ss:Type='String'>Date</ss:Data></ss:Cell>
                    <ss:Cell><ss:Data ss:Type='String'>Number</ss:Data></ss:Cell>
                    <ss:Cell><ss:Data ss:Type='String'>Name/Surname</ss:Data></ss:Cell>
                </ss:Row>"; 
                foreach (var content in model.contents)
                {
                    XmlString = XmlString + @"<ss:Row>";
                    XmlString = XmlString + @"<ss:Cell><ss:Data ss:Type='String'>" + content.thedate.Date.ToShortDateString() + "</ss:Data></ss:Cell>";
                    XmlString = XmlString + @"<ss:Cell><ss:Data ss:Type='String'>" + content.number + "</ss:Data></ss:Cell>";
                    XmlString = XmlString + @"<ss:Cell><ss:Data ss:Type='String'>" + content.namesurname+ "</ss:Data></ss:Cell>";
                    XmlString = XmlString + @"</ss:Row>";
                }
                // An empty row for next value set
                XmlString = XmlString + "<ss:Row> </ss:Row>"; 
            }
            XmlString = XmlString + @"</ss:Table>
        </ss:Worksheet>
    </ss:Workbook>";
    return XmlString;
}

Then i saved it to MemoryStream with UTF8 Encoding..

// Create attachment
// Add XML to MemoryStream                                          /* MyXmlString */
MemoryStream memoryStream = new MemoryStream(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(XmlToImplement(id)));

Then defined ContentType as Excel

// Content Type
ContentType contentType = new ContentType("application/vnd.ms-excel");
contentType.Name = UserName + "(" + FileDate + ").xls";

At last i attached it to .net mail

// Attach
mail.Attachment = new Attachment(memoryStream, contentType);
mail.Attachment.NameEncoding = UTF8Encoding.UTF8;
mail.Attachment.TransferEncoding = TransferEncoding.Base64;
mail.Attachment.ContentDisposition.DispositionType = DispositionTypeNames.Attachment;

and it worked just fine. I may not be able to turn an xml view to mail attachment but easily i could turn an xml string to mail attachment and i hope this helps to the others that goes trough this problem.

Jason Meckley · Answer 2 · 2012-12-06T15:45:19.007

depending on what version of excel, or what features you required. Carlos Ag's Excel Writer may suffice. it's a bit dated, but works for simple excel workbooks.

If you need to roll the template yourself check out Razor Generator Templates to render the model as an string. pass the string to a Stream and attach to the email.

update

to use the razor templating first you need a view

@* Generator: Template *@
@inherits The.NameSpace.RazorTemplateBase<dynamic>

@functions  {
    public object Model { get; set; }
}

<your typical markup goes here...>

then you need the base class

public abstract class RazorTemplateBase<dynamic>
{
    public static string RootAddress { get; set; }

    public virtual RazorTemplateBase<dynamic> Layout { get; set; }

    private readonly StringBuilder generatingEnvironment = new StringBuilder();

    public abstract void Execute();

    public void WriteLiteral(string textToAppend)
    {
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(textToAppend))
        {
            return;
        }
        generatingEnvironment.Append(textToAppend);
    }

    public void Write(object value)
    {
        if ((value == null))
        {
            return;
        }
        string stringValue;
        var t = value.GetType();
        var method = t.GetMethod("ToString", new [] { typeof(IFormatProvider) });
        if ((method == null))
        {
            stringValue = value.ToString();
        }
        else
        {
            stringValue = ((string)(method.Invoke(value, new object[] { CultureInfo.InvariantCulture })));
        }
        WriteLiteral(stringValue);
    }

    string content;

    public string RenderBody()
    {
        return content;
    }

    public string TransformText()
    {
        Execute();
        if (Layout != null)
        {
            Layout.content = generatingEnvironment.ToString();
            return Layout.TransformText();
        }
        else
        {
            return generatingEnvironment.ToString();
        }
    }
}

following the instructions on the project homepage set the custom tool (view properies windows) RazorGenerator.

then you can do something this

string excelXml = new NameOfMyView { Model = theData }.TransformText();
//write string to memmory stream, attach to MailMessage

how can i implement my xml to it? I mean how can i return it as a viewresult || string and atach to the stream? can you explain it a little more? with some coding examples maybe? I tried some of the examples at the "Razor Generator Templates" link but i didnt succeed. — Berker Yüceer, Dec 06 '12 at 15:37
so far its helpfull thanks, but i seriously cant get myView implemented to `string excelXml = new myView { Model = mymodel.complaints }.TransformText();` certainly its not the way of its usage. — Berker Yüceer, Dec 07 '12 at 08:48
1. do you have a razor view? 2. does the view inherit `RazorTemplateBase`? 3. does the view contain the `@* Generator: Template *@` declaration as the first line? 4. does the view use `RazorGenerator` as the Custom Tool? if so this should automagically create a class (sorta like webforms code behind) you can then instantiate the view as a class and call `TransformText()`. — Jason Meckley, Dec 07 '12 at 13:11
view doesnt seem to exist! for that reason there is no way for me to call it like this `string excelXml = new` viewname `{ Model = theData }.TransformText();` — Berker Yüceer, Dec 07 '12 at 14:30
reviewing your code, the namespace for `RazorTemplateBase` is different than that in the view. If the custom tool is set then you should have a file like `MyView.cshtml.cs` nested under the view template. also... you have installed the nuget package, correct? — Jason Meckley, Dec 07 '12 at 14:34
i couldnt solve the problem with your methods but still it was really usefull and teaching "thanks for that". so i worked on another solution instead. Still your answer were really helpful. — Berker Yüceer, Dec 10 '12 at 15:25

How to attach an Xml to .net Mail Attachment using MemoryStream?

2 Answers2