Getting Started: ServerTextControl and MailMerge with ASP.NET Core

The following tutorial shows how to create a .NET 6 ASP.NET Core web application that uses the ServerTextControl ╰ TX Text Control .NET Server for ASP.NET
╰ TXTextControl Namespace
╰ ServerTextControl Class
The ServerTextControl class implements a component that provide high-level text processing features for server-based applications. class and MailMerge ╰ TX Text Control .NET Server for ASP.NET
╰ DocumentServer Namespace
╰ MailMerge Class
The MailMerge class is a .NET component that can be used to effortlessly merge template documents with database content in .NET projects, such as ASP.NET web applications, web services or Windows services. to create documents.

Creating the Application

Make sure that you downloaded the latest version of Visual Studio 2022 that comes with the .NET 6 SDK.

1. In Visual Studio 2022, create a new project by choosing Create a new project.

2. Select ASP.NET Core Web App (Model-View-Controller) as the project template and confirm with Next.

3. Choose a name for your project and confirm with Next.

4. In the next dialog, choose .NET 6 (Long-term support) as the Framework and confirm with Create.

   

Adding the NuGet Package

5. In the Solution Explorer, select your created project and choose Manage NuGet Packages... from the Project main menu.

   Select Text Control Offline Packages from the Package source drop-down.

   Install the latest versions of the following package:

   • TXTextControl.TextControl.ASP.SDK

   

Using ServerTextControl and MailMerge

6. Find the HomeController.cs file in the Controllers folder. Replace the Index() method with the following code:

   	public IActionResult Index() {
   	using (TXTextControl.ServerTextControl tx = new TXTextControl.ServerTextControl()) {
   	tx.Create();
   	// adding static text
   	TXTextControl.Selection sel = new TXTextControl.Selection();
   	sel.Text = "Welcome to Text Control\r\n";
   	sel.Bold = true;
   	tx.Selection = sel;
   	// adding merge fields
   	TXTextControl.DocumentServer.Fields.MergeField mergeField =
   	new TXTextControl.DocumentServer.Fields.MergeField() {
   	Text = "{{company}}",
   	Name = "company",
   	TextBefore = "Company name: "
   	};
   	tx.ApplicationFields.Add(mergeField.ApplicationField);
   	// alternatively load a template
   	//TXTextControl.LoadSettings ls = new TXTextControl.LoadSettings() {
   	// ApplicationFieldFormat = TXTextControl.ApplicationFieldFormat.MSWord
   	//};
   	//tx.Load("template.docx", TXTextControl.StreamType.WordprocessingML, ls);
   	// merge fields with MailMerge engine
   	using (TXTextControl.DocumentServer.MailMerge mailMerge =
   	new TXTextControl.DocumentServer.MailMerge()) {
   	mailMerge.TextComponent = tx;
   	mailMerge.MergeJsonData("[{\"company\": \"Text Control, LLC\" }]");
   	}
   	// return result as HTML
   	string result = "";
   	tx.Save(out result, TXTextControl.StringStreamType.HTMLFormat);
   	// alternatively save as PDF
   	//byte[] baPdf;
   	//tx.Save(out baPdf, TXTextControl.BinaryStreamType.AdobePDF);
   	ViewBag.Document = result;
   	}
   	return View();
   	}

   view raw test.cs hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Displaying the Results

7. Find the Index.cshtml file in the Views -> Home folder. Replace the complete file with the following code:

   	@{
   	ViewData["Title"] = "Home Page";
   	}
   	@Html.Raw(ViewBag.Document)

   view raw test.cshtml hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Compile and start the application.