Getting Started: ServerTextControl and MailMerge with ASP.NET MVC (.NET Framework)

The following tutorial shows how to create an ASP.NET 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.

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

2. Select ASP.NET Web Application (.NET Framework) as the project template and confirm with Next.

3. Choose a name for your project, select .NET Framework 4.8 as the Framework and confirm with Create.

4. In the next dialog, choose MVC as the project template and confirm with Create.

   

Adding TX Text Control References

5. While the project is selected in the Solution Explorer, choose Project -> Add Project Reference... to open the Reference Manager. In the opened dialog, select Browse... to select the required TX Text Control assemblies. Navigate to the installation folder of TX Text Control and select the following assemblies from the Assembly folder:

   • TXDocumentServer.dll
   • TXTextControl.dll
   • TXTextControl.Server.dll

   Repeat this step with the following assemblies from the Assembly/bin64 folder:

   • txic.dll
   • txkernel.dll
   • txtools.dll

   After selecting these assemblies, close the Reference Manager by confirming with OK.

6. While the project is selected in the Solution Explorer, choose Project -> Add New Item.... Select Text File, name the file licenses.licx and close the dialog by clicking Add.

   

   Open the newly added file and add the following content:

   TXTextControl.ServerTextControl, TXTextControl.Server, Version=31.0.1600.500, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=6b83fe9a75cfb638

   view raw licenses.licx hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Using ServerTextControl and MailMerge

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

   	public ActionResult 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

8. 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.