Response.Write fails to provide client with large Excel report

[hksl]

I am new to the whole issue of generating/sending Excel report in ASP.net. Code below sometimes does not work for large amount of data (large Excel report). Client has IE9 and MS Office 2010. Client does not get any errors, client simply does not get report after long wait time. Are there any alternative to the approach below, for providing client with large Excel report ? Anything done wrong in the code below that may cause the problem. All replies are appreciated.

Response.ContentType = "application/ms-excel"
Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=" + ReportName + ".xls")
 
Response.Write("<table border =1>")
For Each ch As ColumnHeaders In arrCh
    If ch.ColumnName <> "" Then
            pCh = pCh & "<td><b>" & ch.ColumnName & "</b></td>"
                    pColCount = pColCount + 1
                End If
Next
 
If pExtraHeader <> "" Then
    Response.Write(pExtraHeader)
End If
Response.Write("<tr>" & pCh & "</tr>")
If oSQLDataReader.HasRows Then
    Do While oSQLDataReader.Read()
            Response.Write("<tr>")
                For I = 0 To arrCh.Count - 1
                    If arrCh(I + 1).columnname <> "" Then
                        Response.Write("<td>" & strColumnValue & "</td>")
                        If arrCh.Item(I + 1).isTotal = True Then
                            arrCh.Item(I + 1).placeholder = CDbl(arrCh.Item(I + 1).placeholder) + CDbl(oSQLDataReader.GetValue(I))
                        End If
                     End If
                Next
                Response.Write("</tr>")
        Loop
 
        Dim pTotal As String = ""
        For Each ch As ColumnHeaders In arrCh
            If ch.ColumnName <> "" Then
              pTotal = pTotal & "<td><b>" & strColumnValue & "</b></td>"
          End If
        Next
    Response.Write("<tr>" & pTotal & "</tr>"
 
End If
Response.Write("</table>")

[Rabbit]

It works with small reports though? And how big are we talking?

[hksl]

I have no direct contact with client, but I was told 6 MB. Though when I retrieve same report connecting from my system, get ope or save prompt, and save, xls file size is 281 KB. Assumption is that size of HTML sent bt Response.Write is too big. I am trying to find way to decrease size of HTML that is sent using Response.Write or should I use something else instead of Response.Write?

[Frinavale]

Have you considered binding the data source to a GridView?
Or using a Repeater to display the data?

You could consider implementing pagination in your GridView or Repeater to reduce the amount of data being rendered at a given time.

-Frinny