How to Print from ASP.NET CrystalReport on client side printer

Question

How do I print report from CrystalReport (ASP.NET) on a client side printer.

Answer 1

You have two options:

1. Set the PrintMode to ActiveX or PDF, and leave the Crystal report viewer toolbar to handle it.
2. Create a pdf in an iFrame, and trigger the print command with JavaScript.

To simplify what the users had to install on each client I went with the hidden pdf option and a separate button to print to client.

On the aspx page I have an asp literal that I populate with the pdf embeded object at 1px x 1px so it isn't visible to the user. Then on pageload call the printToPrinter method.

// On server side
// Export to PDF
Guid imageGuid = Guid.NewGuid();
string _pdfName = String.Format(@"{0}{1}{2}.pdf", _pdfPath, _reportName, imageGuid);
// expport to unique filename
// ...
// Display the pdf object 
_sb.AppendFormat("<object ID=\"pdfObject\" type=\"application/pdf\" data=\"{0}\" src=\"{0}\" style=\"width: {1}; height: {2}; ", _pdf2Name, _width, _height);
_sb.AppendLine("z-index:1; display: block; border: 1px solid #cccccc; top: 0; left: 0; position: absolute;-+ \">");
_sb.Append("</object>");
pdfLiteral.Text = _sb.ToString();
pdfLiteral.Visible = true;

// javascript
// on document load call the printWithDialog function
 var code = function(){
 try
     {
        var pdf = $get('pdfObject');
        if (pdf == null)
            return;
        try {
            pdf.printWithDialog();
        }
        catch (err) {
            alert('Please Install Adobe Acrobat reader to use this feature');
        } 
     }
     catch(err)
     {
     }
  };
window.setTimeout(code, 1000);