Bill Printing in C#

Hi,
I am working on a billing system. Everything was fine until I got a problem while printing the bills.
I have to do something like this:

Code:

---

for(int i=0; i<noOfHouse; i++)
{
      -> read bill template (excel file that contains text and images)
      -> change the bill amounts for ith house reading from DB
      -> and then print the bill
}

---

Currently I am doing it like:
reading excel bill-template file and copying it cell-by-cell into another excel file except the cells that need to be changed.

Once the bill files are generated from the above for-loop, I've planned that the operator would select all the files and print them manually.


Can anyone give a better idea ??

I would think you could automate the printing easy enough but if it were me I would not be using Excel. SQL Server or the like with the needed reports would in most if not all cases be a MUCH better choice.

I did it like this:

Code:

---

xlApp = new Excel.ApplicationClass();
                xlWorkBook = xlApp.Workbooks.Open(@"D:\Askari9\" + billTemplateFileName, Type.Missing, true, Type.Missing, "permitAskari9", "permitAskari9", Type.Missing, Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.XlPlatform.xlWindows, Type.Missing, Type.Missing, Type.Missing, Type.Missing, Type.Missing, Type.Missing, Type.Missing);
                xlWorkSheet = (Excel.Worksheet)xlWorkBook.Worksheets.get_Item(1);
                range = (Excel.Range)xlWorkSheet.UsedRange;


for (int i = 0; i < lstHouseNo.Count; i++)
            {
                (range.Cells[12, 3] as Excel.Range).Value2 = lstOwnerName.ElementAt<String>(i); // Owner Name
                (range.Cells[13, 3] as Excel.Range).Value2 = lstHouseNo.ElementAt<String>(i); // House Number
                (range.Cells[14, 3] as Excel.Range).Value2 = textBoxBillingMonth.Text; // Billing Month
                (range.Cells[15, 3] as Excel.Range).Value2 = textBoxDueDate.Text; // Due Date
                (range.Cells[18, 6] as Excel.Range).Value2 = textBoxServiceCharges.Text; // Service Charges
                (range.Cells[21, 6] as Excel.Range).Value2 = lstArrears.ElementAt<String>(i); // Arreaes
                (range.Cells[24, 6] as Excel.Range).Value2 = lstMisc.ElementAt<String>(i); // Misc


                ((Excel._Workbook)xlWorkBook).PrintOut(missing, missing,
                    missing, missing, missing,
                    missing, missing, missing);

                // Time taken by printer to process one document -- keeps printer's job queue in control
                Thread.Sleep(1000);

                //SetLabelPropertyValue.Text = "Status: Printing bill for: " + Reader.GetValue(houseNoFieldIndexInDB).ToString().Trim();
                SetStatusLableValue(toolStripStatusLabel1, "Text", "Status: Printing bill for: " + lstHouseNo.ElementAt<String>(i));

                //printingProgressBar.Value = printingProgressBar.Value + 1;
                SetControlPropertyValue(printingProgressBar, "Value", printingProgressBar.Value + 1);

            }




            xlWorkBook.Save();
            xlWorkBook.Close(false, null, null); // parameter#1 is false as i dont want to save changes to my template file
            xlApp.Quit();

            releaseObject(xlWorkSheet);
            releaseObject(xlWorkBook);
            releaseObject(xlApp);

---

And this is exactly what I wanted :)