A zero-dependency fluent API for generating self-contained HTML reports with tables, SVG charts, KPI cards, progress bars, and more. No JavaScript, no external CSS — just clean HTML you can open in any browser, email, or print to PDF.
A zero-dependency .NET library for generating self-contained HTML reports using a fluent API. No JavaScript, no external CSS, no build tools — just clean HTML you can open in any browser, email as an attachment, or print to PDF.
Why?
Sometimes you need to produce a professional-looking report from C# without pulling in a heavyweight reporting framework, a headless browser, or a JavaScript bundler. CDS.FluentHtmlReports generates a single .html file that:
✅ Opens instantly in any browser
✅ Emails as a self-contained attachment
✅ Prints cleanly to PDF (Ctrl+P)
✅ Contains inline SVG charts — no image files
✅ Requires zero external dependencies
Installation
dotnet add package CDS.FluentHtmlReports
Targets: .NET 8 (LTS) and .NET 10+
Quick Start
using CDS.FluentHtmlReports;
var teamMembers = new[]
{
new { Name = "Alice Johnson", Role = "Backend", TasksCompleted = 23, Status = "Active" },
new { Name = "Bob Smith", Role = "Frontend", TasksCompleted = 19, Status = "Active" },
new { Name = "Carol White", Role = "QA", TasksCompleted = 31, Status = "Active" }
};
string html = Generator
.Create("Weekly Team Report")
.AddParagraph("Here's a quick overview of this week's progress for the development team.")
.AddLabelValueRow([
("Week Ending", DateTime.Now.ToString("MMM dd, yyyy")),
("Team", "Engineering"),
("Sprint", "Sprint 24")
])
.AddLine()
.AddHeading("Team Summary")
.AddKpiCards([
("Total Tasks", "73"),
("Completed", "68"),
("In Progress", "5"),
("Success Rate", "93%")
])
.AddLine()
.AddHeading("Team Members")
.AddTable(TableFixedHeader.Header, teamMembers)
.AddLine()
.AddHeading("Task Completion by Role")
.AddVerticalBarChart("Tasks Completed This Week", [
("Backend", 23),
("Frontend", 19),
("QA", 31)
])
.AddLine()
.AddAlert(AlertLevel.Success, "All sprint goals achieved! Great work team! 🎉")
.AddFooter("Generated with CDS.FluentHtmlReports — {timestamp}")
.Generate();
File.WriteAllText("report.html", html);
That's it — one fluent chain produces a complete, styled HTML document.
What It Looks Like
The code above generates a professional HTML report. Here's a preview of the output:
The actual HTML includes:
✨ Professional styling with a clean, modern design
Generator.Create("Title") — starts a new HTML document with embedded CSS
Chain .Add*() methods — each appends HTML to an internal StringBuilder
.Generate() — closes the document and returns the complete HTML string
The output is a single self-contained HTML file with:
An embedded stylesheet (no external CSS)
Inline SVG for all charts (no images or JavaScript)
Print-friendly @media print rules
There are no dependencies beyond the .NET Base Class Library.
Architecture
Generator Public fluent facade — the only class consumers interact with
├── TextRenderer Headings, paragraphs, lists, alerts, layout, etc.
├── TableRenderer Reflection-based table generation
├── ChartRenderer SVG chart rendering (bar, pie, donut, line)
└── HtmlHelpers Shared HTML encoding utility
All renderers are internal — the public API surface is just Generator, ReportOptions, and a handful of enums.
Running the Demos
The ConsoleTest project generates a suite of demo reports:
cd ConsoleTest
dotnet run
This creates several .html files in your Downloads folder and opens the index in your browser. The demos cover every feature and serve as living documentation.
Building
dotnet build
Packing for NuGet
dotnet pack -c Release
The .nupkg will be in CDS.FluentHtmlReports/bin/Release/.
