How to use [Display (Name = "")] as column headers with LoadFromCollection

Question

On my MVC 5 site, I have an export function to Excel that is stable, but users have requested that the column headers be “user friendly”.

In my model, I use annotations [Display(Name="Friendly Column Name")]and they appear as intended on the watch pages, but they are not transferred to the exported Excel file when the user launches the export function. Instead, true names appear.

I know that I can load sheet cells using a method other than LoadFromCollection , but I was wondering if it is possible to use LoadFromCollection and use the Display model (Name () Annotations).

This is what I have:

public ActionResult ExportToExcel(string _selectedCampus)
    {
        // This is the query result set the user wishes to export to file.
        IEnumerable<Mia1aSec1FayExport> exportQuery = unitOfWork
            .Mia1aSec1FayRepository.Get().Select(n => new Mia1aSec1FayExport
        {
            Campus = n.Campus,
            StudentName = n.StudentName,
            CreditsBeforeSchoolYear = n.CreditsBeforeSchoolYear,
            CreditsDuringSemester1 = n.CreditsDuringSemester1,
            EligibleFayCount = n.EligibleFayCount,
            EligibleFayMeetingGoal = n.EligibleFayMeetingGoal
        }).Where(n => n.Campus == _selectedCampus).OrderBy(n => n.StudentName)
        .AsEnumerable();

        // The current iteration saves the table contents, but without the   
        // [Display{Name"xxx)] annotation from the model.

        byte[] response;   
        using (var excelFile = new ExcelPackage())
        {
            excelFile.Workbook.Properties.Title = "MIA 1A (i) Eligible FAY Students";                
            var worksheet = excelFile.Workbook.Worksheets.Add("Sheet1");                   
            worksheet.Cells["A1"]
                .LoadFromCollection(Collection: exportQuery, PrintHeaders: true);
            response = excelFile.GetAsByteArray();
        }

        // Save dialog appears through browser for user to save file as desired.
        return File(response, "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet", 
            "Mia1aSec1Fay.xlsx");
    }

The workaround is to overwrite the header cells, but this is undesirable for two reasons: (1) I already have the column names written as annotations in the model, which means that now I have the same information written in two different places, and (2) I need to manually synchronize the information if users want more changes, which I may have forgotten to do.

// This loads teh table as seen by the user in the index view.
            worksheet.Cells["A1"].LoadFromCollection(Collection: exportQuery, PrintHeaders: true);

            // Workaround overwrite header cells, as I'm not able to use Display Name annotation.
            worksheet.Cells[1, 1].Value = "Campus";
            worksheet.Cells[1, 2].Value = "Student Name";
            worksheet.Cells[1, 3].Value = "Credits Before SY";
            worksheet.Cells[1, 4].Value = "Credits During Semester 1";
            worksheet.Cells[1, 5].Value = "Legible Population";
            worksheet.Cells[1, 6].Value = "Eligible Students Earning 2+ Credits";                               

It is written, I really hope that this is not the only option. There should be a way to write the display name values ​​in the headers, not the true name.

Answer 1

LoadFromCollection DisplayName Description, Display.

, .

[DisplayName("Friendly Column Name")]
[Display(Name = "Friendly Column Name")]
public string StudentName { get; set; }

, PrintHeaders true LoadFromCollection, , , , , .