How to programmatically measure string pixel width in ASP.NET?

Question

How do you get the size of a string? In Windows Forms it\'s easy, I just use graphics object and then MeasureString function. In ASP.NET I\'m not sure how to do this.

Answer 1

It is a completely impossible thing to do on server side (assuming by “ASP.NET”, you mean web pages created using ASP.NET”). ASP.NET outputs HTML, which is a markup language interpreted and rendered by a browser on the client. The same HTML code can be displayed on various devices, in various browsers, using various installed fonts, etc., resulting in grossly differing display.

Your ASP.NET site, running code on the server, does not know which font, what resolution, etc. your client uses. The only theoretical way this could be done would be to run client-side code (e.g. JavaScript, Silverlight, Flash, …) to report back to the server. However, this would be quite difficult.

Generally, you do not need to do that, you do not want to do that.