BeginPrint event and dataGridView problem

Question

hi, I have a dataGridView on the form and thats have many columns and rows. Now I want draw dataGrid column and rows to printDocument and then print. But when BeginPrint event of printDocument is in running, gridView columns and rows is empty, although it is not. What is mistake?

private void printDocument_BeginPrint(object sender, System.Drawing.Printing.PrintEventArgs e)
    {
        try
        {
            strFormat = new StringFormat();
            strFormat.Alignment = StringAlignment.Near;
            strFormat.LineAlignment = StringAlignment.Center;
            strFormat.Trimming = StringTrimming.EllipsisCharacter;

            arrColumnLefts.Clear();
            arrColumnWidths.Clear();
            iCellHeight = 0;
            iRow = 0;
            bFirstPage = true;
            bNewPage = true;

            // Calculating Total Widths
            iTotalWidth = 0;

            foreach (DataGridViewColumn dgvGridCol in dataGridView1.Columns)
            {
                iTotalWidth += dgvGridCol.Width;
            }
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            MessageBox.Show(ex.Message, "Error", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error);
        }
    }

private void printDocument_PrintPage(object sender, System.Drawing.Printing.PrintPageEventArgs e)
    {
        try
        {
            //Set the left margin
            int iLeftMargin = e.MarginBounds.Left;

            //Set the top margin
            int iTopMargin = e.MarginBounds.Top;
            //Whether more pages have to print or not
            bool bMorePagesToPrint = false;
            int iTmpWidth = 0;

            //For the first page to print set the cell width and header height
            if (bFirstPage)
            {
                foreach (DataGridViewColumn GridCol in dataGridView1.Columns)
                {
                    iTmpWidth = (int)(Math.Floor((double)((double)GridCol.Width /
                                   (double)iTotalWidth * (double)iTotalWidth *
                                   ((double)e.MarginBounds.Width / (double)iTotalWidth))));

                    iHeaderHeight = (int)(e.Graphics.MeasureString(GridCol.HeaderText,
                                GridCol.InheritedStyle.Font, iTmpWidth).Height) + 11;

                    // Save width and height of headres
                    arrColumnLefts.Add(iLeftMargin);
                    arrColumnWidths.Add(iTmpWidth);
                    iLeftMargin += iTmpWidth;
                }
            }
            //Loop till all the grid rows not get printed
            while (iRow <= dataGridView1.Rows.Count - 1)
            {
                DataGridViewRow GridRow = dataGridView1.Rows[iRow];
                //Set the cell height
                iCellHeight = GridRow.Height + 5;
                int iCount = 0;
                //Check whether the current page settings allo more rows to print
                if (iTopMargin + iCellHeight >= e.MarginBounds.Height + e.MarginBounds.Top)
                {
                    bNewPage = true;
                    bFirstPage = false;
                    bMorePagesToPrint = true;
                    break;
                }
                else
                {
                    if (bNewPage)
                    {
                        //Draw Header
                        e.Graphics.DrawString("Customer Summary", new Font(dataGridView1.Font, FontStyle.Bold),
                                Brushes.Black, e.MarginBounds.Left, e.MarginBounds.Top -
                                e.Graphics.MeasureString("Customer Summary", new Font(dataGridView1.Font,
                                FontStyle.Bold), e.MarginBounds.Width).Height - 13);

                        String strDate = DateTime.Now.ToLongDateString() + " " + DateTime.Now.ToShortTimeString();
                        //Draw Date
                        e.Graphics.DrawString(strDate, new Font(dataGridView1.Font, FontStyle.Bold),
                                Brushes.Black, e.MarginBounds.Left + (e.MarginBounds.Width -
                                e.Graphics.MeasureString(strDate, new Font(dataGridView1.Font,
                                FontStyle.Bold), e.MarginBounds.Width).Width), e.MarginBounds.Top -
                                e.Graphics.MeasureString("Customer Summary", new Font(new Font(dataGridView1.Font,
                                FontStyle.Bold), FontStyle.Bold), e.MarginBounds.Width).Height - 13);

                        //Draw Columns                 
                        iTopMargin = e.MarginBounds.Top;
                        foreach (DataGridViewColumn GridCol in dataGridView1.Columns)
                        {
                            e.Graphics.FillRectangle(new SolidBrush(Color.LightGray),
                                new Rectangle((int)arrColumnLefts[iCount], iTopMargin,
                                (int)arrColumnWidths[iCount], iHeaderHeight));

                            e.Graphics.DrawRectangle(Pens.Black,
                                new Rectangle((int)arrColumnLefts[iCount], iTopMargin,
                                (int)arrColumnWidths[iCount], iHeaderHeight));

                            e.Graphics.DrawString(GridCol.HeaderText, GridCol.InheritedStyle.Font,
                                new SolidBrush(GridCol.InheritedStyle.ForeColor),
                                new RectangleF((int)arrColumnLefts[iCount], iTopMargin,
                                (int)arrColumnWidths[iCount], iHeaderHeight), strFormat);
                            iCount++;
                        }
                        bNewPage = false;
                        iTopMargin += iHeaderHeight;
                    }
                    iCount = 0;
                    //Draw Columns Contents                
                    foreach (DataGridViewCell Cel in GridRow.Cells)
                    {
                        if (Cel.Value != null)
                        {
                            e.Graphics.DrawString(Cel.Value.ToString(), Cel.InheritedStyle.Font,
                                        new SolidBrush(Cel.InheritedStyle.ForeColor),
                                        new RectangleF((int)arrColumnLefts[iCount], (float)iTopMargin,
                                        (int)arrColumnWidths[iCount], (float)iCellHeight), strFormat);
                        }
                        //Drawing Cells Borders 
                        e.Graphics.DrawRectangle(Pens.Black, new Rectangle((int)arrColumnLefts[iCount],
                                iTopMargin, (int)arrColumnWidths[iCount], iCellHeight));

                        iCount++;
                    }
                }
                iRow++;
                iTopMargin += iCellHeight;
            }

            //If more lines exist, print another page.
            if (bMorePagesToPrint)
                e.HasMorePages = true;
            else
                e.HasMorePages = false;
        }
        catch (Exception exc)
        {
            MessageBox.Show(exc.Message, "Error", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error);
        }
    }

Answer 1

Add this line to your BeginPrint event handler:

this.Show();

If you now see a new form pop up, with an empty grid, you are using the wrong form reference to get the printing going. If that new form is unresponsive then you've also got a threading problem.