Tips for sending a PDF created with jsPDF as an attachment in an email using asp.net c#

Question

Tips for sending a PDF created with jsPDF as an attachment in an email using asp.net c#

I'm wondering if there's a way to attach a PDF file that was generated using jsPDF and email it in asp.net C#?

This is the code snippet I have in c#:

MailMessage message = new MailMessage(fromAddress, toAddress);
        message.Subject = subject;
        message.IsBodyHtml = true;
        message.Body = StrContent.ToString();
        //message.Attachments.Add(new Attachment("getDPF()"));
        smtp.Send(message);

In addition, I am utilizing a JsPDF library in this manner:

<script type="text/javascript" src="jsPdf/jspdf.min.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
    function getPDF()
    {
        var doc = new jsPDF();
        doc.text(20, 20, 'TEST Message');
        doc.addPage();
        //doc.save('volt.pdf');
    }
</script>

Any ideas on how I can include the PDF attachment in the email before sending it off? Appreciate any help.

javascript c#asp.net jspdf

Answer 1

Answer №1

Sending client-side code (Javascript function) from server-side code (C#) is not possible directly. The communication between them can only occur through the (HTTP/HTTPS) protocol.

To achieve your goal of generating a PDF on the client side and emailing it as an attachment, you will have to first create the PDF client-side and then transfer it to the server in base64 format.

Once the base64 string representing the PDF is sent to the server, it can be converted back to a PDF file in C# and used for emailing purposes.

For Client Side:

function generatePdf() {    
    var doc = new jsPdf();
    doc.text("jsPDF to Mail", 40, 30);    
    var binary = doc.output();
    return binary ? btoa(binary) : "";
}

Sending the base64 PDF content to the server:

var reqData = generatePdf();
$.ajax({
    url:url,
    data: JSON.stringify({data:reqData}),
    dataType: "json",
    type: "POST",
    contentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8",
    success:function(){}
});

On the server side (MVC Controller):

public ActionResult YourMethod(string data)
{
    //create pdf
    var pdfBinary = Convert.FromBase64String(data);
    var dir = Server.MapPath("~/DataDump");

    if (!Directory.Exists(dir))
        Directory.CreateDirectory(dir);

    var fileName = dir + "\\PDFnMail-" + DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMdd-HHMMss") + ".pdf";

    // write content to the pdf
    using (var fs = new FileStream(fileName, FileMode.Create))
    using (var writer = new BinaryWriter(fs))
    {
        writer.Write(pdfBinary, 0, pdfBinary.Length);
        writer.Close();
    }
    //Mail the pdf and delete it
    // .... call mail method here 
    return null; 
}

For more information, visit https://github.com/Purush0th/PDFnMail

Answer 2

Sending client-side code (Javascript function) from server-side code (C#) is not possible directly. The communication between them can only occur through the (HTTP/HTTPS) protocol.

To achieve your goal of generating a PDF on the client side and emailing it as an attachment, you will have to first create the PDF client-side and then transfer it to the server in base64 format.

Once the base64 string representing the PDF is sent to the server, it can be converted back to a PDF file in C# and used for emailing purposes.

For Client Side:

function generatePdf() {    
    var doc = new jsPdf();
    doc.text("jsPDF to Mail", 40, 30);    
    var binary = doc.output();
    return binary ? btoa(binary) : "";
}

Sending the base64 PDF content to the server:

var reqData = generatePdf();
$.ajax({
    url:url,
    data: JSON.stringify({data:reqData}),
    dataType: "json",
    type: "POST",
    contentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8",
    success:function(){}
});

On the server side (MVC Controller):

public ActionResult YourMethod(string data)
{
    //create pdf
    var pdfBinary = Convert.FromBase64String(data);
    var dir = Server.MapPath("~/DataDump");

    if (!Directory.Exists(dir))
        Directory.CreateDirectory(dir);

    var fileName = dir + "\\PDFnMail-" + DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMdd-HHMMss") + ".pdf";

    // write content to the pdf
    using (var fs = new FileStream(fileName, FileMode.Create))
    using (var writer = new BinaryWriter(fs))
    {
        writer.Write(pdfBinary, 0, pdfBinary.Length);
        writer.Close();
    }
    //Mail the pdf and delete it
    // .... call mail method here 
    return null; 
}

For more information, visit https://github.com/Purush0th/PDFnMail

Answer 3

Answer №2

The provided code snippet showcases the utilization of pdf.text(), however, in many cases, it is preferable to export an HTML page containing tables or images. The most recent edition of jsPDF incorporates the html PlugIn, replacing the outdated addHtml() method. Below you will find a sample code implementing jsPDF html() alongside Web API integration.

On the client side:

function emailHtml() {
    let pdf = new jsPDF('p', 'pt', 'a3'); // Is A4 suitable as part of the page may be cropped?
    pdf.html(document.body, {
        callback: function (pdf) {
            let obj = {};
            obj.pdfContent = pdf.output('datauristring');
            var jsonData = JSON.stringify(obj);
            $.ajax({
                url: '/api/jspdf/html2pdf',
                type: 'POST',
                contentType: 'application/json',
                data: jsonData
            });
        }
    });
}

It should be noted that the datauristring generated by pdf.html contains an appended filename to the string, filename=generated.pdf;. Furthermore, it is advisable to switch from the now obsolete SmtpClient to employing MailKit.

[Route("[action]")]
[HttpPost]
public void Html2Pdf([FromBody] JObject jObject)
{
    dynamic obj = jObject;
    try
    {
        string strJson = obj.pdfContent;
        var match = Regex.Match(strJson, @"data:application/pdf;filename=generated.pdf;base64,(?<data>.+)");
        var base64Data = match.Groups["data"].Value;
        var binData = Convert.FromBase64String(base64Data);

        using (var memoryStream = new MemoryStream())
        {
            var mail = new MailMessage
            {
                From = new MailAddress("[FromEmail]")
            };
            mail.To.Add("");
            mail.Subject = "";
            mail.Body = "attached";
            mail.IsBodyHtml = true;
            mail.Attachments.Add(new Attachment(new MemoryStream(binData), "htmlToPdf.pdf"));

            var SmtpServer = new SmtpClient("[smtp]")
            {
                Port = 25,
                Credentials = new NetworkCredential("[FromEmail]", "password"),
                EnableSsl = true
            };

            SmtpServer.Send(mail);
        }
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        throw;
    }
}

Answer 4

The provided code snippet showcases the utilization of pdf.text(), however, in many cases, it is preferable to export an HTML page containing tables or images. The most recent edition of jsPDF incorporates the html PlugIn, replacing the outdated addHtml() method. Below you will find a sample code implementing jsPDF html() alongside Web API integration.

On the client side:

function emailHtml() {
    let pdf = new jsPDF('p', 'pt', 'a3'); // Is A4 suitable as part of the page may be cropped?
    pdf.html(document.body, {
        callback: function (pdf) {
            let obj = {};
            obj.pdfContent = pdf.output('datauristring');
            var jsonData = JSON.stringify(obj);
            $.ajax({
                url: '/api/jspdf/html2pdf',
                type: 'POST',
                contentType: 'application/json',
                data: jsonData
            });
        }
    });
}

It should be noted that the datauristring generated by pdf.html contains an appended filename to the string, filename=generated.pdf;. Furthermore, it is advisable to switch from the now obsolete SmtpClient to employing MailKit.

[Route("[action]")]
[HttpPost]
public void Html2Pdf([FromBody] JObject jObject)
{
    dynamic obj = jObject;
    try
    {
        string strJson = obj.pdfContent;
        var match = Regex.Match(strJson, @"data:application/pdf;filename=generated.pdf;base64,(?<data>.+)");
        var base64Data = match.Groups["data"].Value;
        var binData = Convert.FromBase64String(base64Data);

        using (var memoryStream = new MemoryStream())
        {
            var mail = new MailMessage
            {
                From = new MailAddress("[FromEmail]")
            };
            mail.To.Add("");
            mail.Subject = "";
            mail.Body = "attached";
            mail.IsBodyHtml = true;
            mail.Attachments.Add(new Attachment(new MemoryStream(binData), "htmlToPdf.pdf"));

            var SmtpServer = new SmtpClient("[smtp]")
            {
                Port = 25,
                Credentials = new NetworkCredential("[FromEmail]", "password"),
                EnableSsl = true
            };

            SmtpServer.Send(mail);
        }
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        throw;
    }
}

Tips for sending a PDF created with jsPDF as an attachment in an email using asp.net c#

Answer №1

Answer №2

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