ASP.NET Get table html

Question

I have a table on my ASP.net page something like this:

<table runat="server" id="resultsTable"></table>

I dynamically add content to the table, and it works just fine. However, I want to get the HTML of the table once I've added the dynamic content, i.e. something like this (formatting isn't important, I've just added it)

<table runat="server" id="resultsTable">
  <tr>
    <td>Hello!</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Goodbye!</td>
  </tr>
</table>

I need the result as a string. Obviously I could do some looping and build my own table with the data, but I'd prefer to not do that if at all possible.

Do you need the content of each cell, or the whole table?

sgriffinusa
– sgriffinusa

2010-08-10 17:06:12 +00:00
Commented Aug 10, 2010 at 17:06 — sgriffinusa
– sgriffinusa, Commented Aug 10, 2010 at 17:06
The whole table, HTML and all

Wayne Werner
– Wayne Werner

2010-08-10 17:07:26 +00:00
Commented Aug 10, 2010 at 17:07 — Wayne Werner
– Wayne Werner, Commented Aug 10, 2010 at 17:07

sgriffinusa · Accepted Answer · 2010-08-10 17:20:46Z

6

Initially I though to just use the InnerHtml or InnerText methods, but these are not supported on the HtmlTable class.

So what if we use the Render method? Something like this (take from Anatoly Lubarsky)?

public string RenderControl(Control ctrl) 
{
    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
    StringWriter tw = new StringWriter(sb);
    HtmlTextWriter hw = new HtmlTextWriter(tw);

    ctrl.RenderControl(hw);
    return sb.ToString();
}

This method could obviously be cleaned up to handle closing the writers, etc.

edited Aug 10, 2010 at 17:20

answered Aug 10, 2010 at 17:14

sgriffinusa

4,2211 gold badge27 silver badges27 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Comments

DevExpress Team · Accepted Answer · 2010-08-10 17:14:10Z

0

Since your table is a server control, you may use its RenderControl method to obtain the render result:

    public static string GetRenderResult(Control control) {
        using(StringWriter sw = new StringWriter(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)) {
            using(HtmlTextWriter writer = new HtmlTextWriter(sw))
                control.RenderControl(writer);
            sw.WriteLine();
            return sw.ToString();
        }
    }

answered Aug 10, 2010 at 17:14

DevExpress Team

11.4k2 gold badges26 silver badges23 bronze badges

Comments

Ryan · Accepted Answer · 2010-08-10 17:14:19Z

0

There is a couple of way I can think of how to do this. The easy would be to surround the table in a . Then on your vb/C# side simply call hold.innerhtml and it will return a string.

answered Aug 10, 2010 at 17:14

Ryan

112 bronze badges

1 Comment

Wayne Werner Over a year ago

Unfortunately that doesn't work "because the contents are not literal."

kbrimington · Accepted Answer · 2010-08-10 17:14:19Z

0

I used the following in the OnLoad method of my page to convert your table to a string of HTML:

    string html;
    using (var writer = new StringWriter())
    using (var xmlwriter = new HtmlTextWriter(writer))
    {
        this.resultsTable.RenderControl(xmlwriter);
        html = writer.ToString();
    }

answered Aug 10, 2010 at 17:14

kbrimington

25.7k5 gold badges67 silver badges75 bronze badges

Comments

deostroll · Accepted Answer · 2010-08-10 17:16:26Z

0

Hmm. I'd javascript the table markup to some hidden field (which is a server control) before the form gets posted.

<div id="tablediv">
<table>...</table>
</div>

javascript:

var html = document.getElementById('tablediv').innerHTML;
document.getElementById('hfTableHtml').value = html;

EDIT: And yes, I'd worry about the request validation that is going to happen! You'd have to disable it or substitute those markup elements w/ something else before storing it into the hidden field

edited Aug 10, 2010 at 17:16

answered Aug 10, 2010 at 17:10

deostroll

12k22 gold badges94 silver badges168 bronze badges

Comments

LesterDove · Accepted Answer · 2010-08-10 17:22:02Z

0

Look into the HTMLAgilityPack (several SO posts reference it.)

answered Aug 10, 2010 at 17:22

LesterDove

3,0441 gold badge26 silver badges24 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

ASP.NET Get table html

6 Answers 6

Comments

Comments

1 Comment

Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

6 Answers 6

Comments

Comments

1 Comment

Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related