DataGridView control is a Windows Forms control that gives you the ability to customize and edit tabular data. It gives you number of properties, methods and events to customize its appearance and behavior. In this article, we will discuss some frequently asked questions and their solutions. These questions have been collected from a variety of sources including some newsgroups, MSDN site and a few, answered by me at the MSDN forums.



Tip 1 – Populating a DataGridView

In this short snippet, we will populate a DataGridView using the LoadData() method. This method uses the SqlDataAdapter to populate a DataSet. The table ‘Orders’ in the DataSet is then bound to the BindingSource component which gives us the flexibility to choose/modify the data location.

C#


public



partial


class


Form1

:

Form


{



private


SqlDataAdapter

da;



private


SqlConnection

conn;



BindingSource

bsource =

new


BindingSource

();



DataSet

ds =

null

;



string

sql;



public

Form1()


{


InitializeComponent();


}



private


void

btnLoad_Click(

object

sender,

EventArgs

e)


{


LoadData();


}



private


void

LoadData()


{


string


connectionString =

"Data Source=localhost;Initial Catalog=Northwind;"

+

"Integrated Security=SSPI;"

;


conn =

new


SqlConnection

(connectionString);


sql =

"SELECT OrderID, CustomerID, EmployeeID, OrderDate, Freight,"

+

"ShipName, ShipCountry FROM Orders"

;


da =

new


SqlDataAdapter

(sql, conn);


conn.Open();


ds =

new


DataSet

();



SqlCommandBuilder

commandBuilder =

new


SqlCommandBuilder

(da);


da.Fill(ds,

"Orders"

);


bsource.DataSource = ds.Tables[

"Orders"

];


dgv.DataSource = bsource;


}


}

VB.NET


Public



Partial


Class

Form1



Inherits

Form



Private

da

As

SqlDataAdapter



Private

conn

As

SqlConnection



Private

bsource

As

BindingSource =

New

BindingSource()



Private

ds

As

DataSet =

Nothing



Private

sql

As


String



Public


Sub


New

()


InitializeComponent()



End


Sub


Private



Sub

btnLoad_Click(

ByVal

sender

As


Object

,

ByVal

e

As

EventArgs)


LoadData()



End


Sub



Private


Sub

LoadData()


Dim


connectionString

As


String

= "Data Source=localhost;Initial Catalog=Northwind;" & "Integrated Security=SSPI;"


conn =

New

SqlConnection(connectionString)


sql = "SELECT OrderID, CustomerID, EmployeeID, OrderDate, Freight," & "ShipName, ShipCountry FROM Orders"


da =

New

SqlDataAdapter(sql, conn)


conn.Open()


ds =

New

DataSet()


Dim


commandBuilder

As

SqlCommandBuilder =

New

SqlCommandBuilder(da)


da.Fill(ds, "Orders")


bsource.DataSource = ds.Tables("Orders")


dgv.DataSource = bsource



End


Sub


End



Class



Tip 2 – Update the data in the DataGridView and save changes in the database

After editing the data in the cells, if you would like to update the changes permanently in the database, use the following code:

C#



private


void

btnUpdate_Click(

object

sender,

EventArgs

e)


{



DataTable

dt = ds.Tables[

"Orders"

];



this

.dgv.BindingContext[dt].EndCurrentEdit();



this

.da.Update(dt);


}

VB.NET


Private



Sub

btnUpdate_Click(

ByVal

sender

As


Object

,

ByVal

e

As

EventArgs)



Dim

dt

As

DataTable = ds.Tables("Orders")



Me

.dgv.BindingContext(dt).EndCurrentEdit()



Me

.da.Update(dt)



End


Sub



Tip 3 – Display a confirmation box before deleting a row in the DataGridView

Handle the UserDeletingRow event to display a confirmation box to the user. If the user confirms the deletion, delete the row. If the user clicks cancel, set e.cancel = true which cancels the row deletion.

C#


private



void

dgv_UserDeletingRow(

object

sender,

DataGridViewRowCancelEventArgs

e)


{



if

(!e.Row.IsNewRow)


{



DialogResult

res =

MessageBox

.Show(

"Are you sure you want to delete this row?"

,

"Delete confirmation"

,



MessageBoxButtons

.YesNo,

MessageBoxIcon

.Question);



if

(res ==

DialogResult

.No)


e.Cancel =

true

;


}


}

VB.NET


Private



Sub

dgv_UserDeletingRow(

ByVal

sender

As


Object

,

ByVal

e

As

DataGridViewRowCancelEventArgs)



If

(

Not

e.Row.IsNewRow)

Then



Dim

res

As

DialogResult = MessageBox.Show("Are you sure you want to delete this row?", "Delete confirmation", MessageBoxButtons.YesNo, MessageBoxIcon.Question)



If

res = DialogResult.No

Then


e.Cancel =

True



End


If



End


If


End



Sub



Tip 4 – How to autoresize column width in the DataGridView

The snippet shown below, first auto-resizes the columns to fit its content. Then the AutoSizeColumnsMode is set to the ‘DataGridViewAutoSizeColumnsMode.AllCells’ enumeration value which automatically adjust the widths of the columns when the data changes.

C#


private



void

btnResize_Click(

object

sender,

EventArgs

e)


{


dgv.AutoResizeColumns();


dgv.AutoSizeColumnsMode =

DataGridViewAutoSizeColumnsMode

.AllCells;


}

VB.NET


Private



Sub

btnResize_Click(

ByVal

sender

As


Object

,

ByVal

e

As

EventArgs)


dgv.AutoResizeColumns()


dgv.AutoSizeColumnsMode = DataGridViewAutoSizeColumnsMode.AllCells


End



Sub




Tip 5 - Select and Highlight an entire row in DataGridView

C#


int


rowToBeSelected = 3;

// third row


if


(dgv.Rows.Count >= rowToBeSelected)


{



// Since index is zero based, you have to subtract 1


dgv.Rows[rowToBeSelected - 1].Selected =

true

;


}

VB.NET


Dim


rowToBeSelected

As


Integer

= 3

' third row


If


dgv.Rows.Count >= rowToBeSelected

Then



' Since index is zero based, you have to subtract 1


dgv.Rows(rowToBeSelected - 1).Selected =

True


End



If



Tip 6 - How to scroll programmatically to a row in the DataGridView

The DataGridView has a property called FirstDisplayedScrollingRowIndex that can be used in order to scroll to a row programmatically.

C#


int


jumpToRow = 20;


if


(dgv.Rows.Count >= jumpToRow && jumpToRow >= 1)


{


dgv.FirstDisplayedScrollingRowIndex = jumpToRow;


dgv.Rows[jumpToRow].Selected =

true

;


}

VB.NET


Dim


jumpToRow

As


Integer

= 20


If


dgv.Rows.Count >= jumpToRow

AndAlso

jumpToRow >= 1

Then


dgv.FirstDisplayedScrollingRowIndex = jumpToRow


dgv.Rows(jumpToRow).Selected =

True


End



If



Tip 7 - Calculate a column total in the DataGridView and display in a textbox


A common requirement is to calculate the total of a currency field and display it in a textbox. In the snippet below, we will be calculating the total of the ‘Freight’ field. We will then display the data in a textbox by formatting the result (observe the


ToString(

"c"

)


) while displaying the data, which displays the culture-specific currency.

C#


private



void

btnTotal_Click(

object

sender,

EventArgs

e)


{



if

(dgv.Rows.Count > 0)


txtTotal.Text = Total().ToString(

"c"

);


}



private


double

Total()


{



double

tot = 0;



int

i = 0;



for

(i = 0; i < dgv.Rows.Count; i++)


{


tot = tot +

Convert

.ToDouble(dgv.Rows[i].Cells[

"Freight"

].Value);


}



return

tot;


}

VB.NET


Private



Sub

btnTotal_Click(

ByVal

sender

As


Object

,

ByVal

e

As

EventArgs)



If

dgv.Rows.Count > 0

Then


txtTotal.Text = Total().ToString("c")



End


If


End



Sub


Private



Function

Total()

As


Double



Dim

tot

As


Double

= 0



Dim

i

As


Integer

= 0



For

i = 0

To

dgv.Rows.Count - 1


tot = tot + Convert.ToDouble(dgv.Rows(i).Cells("Freight").Value)



Next

i



Return

tot


End



Function



Tip 8 - Change the Header Names in the DataGridView

If the columns being retrieved from the database do not have meaningful names, we always have the option of changing the header names as shown in this snippet:

C#


private



void

btnChange_Click(

object

sender,

EventArgs

e)


{


dgv.Columns[0].HeaderText =

"MyHeader1"

;


dgv.Columns[1].HeaderText =

"MyHeader2"

;


}

VB.NET


Private



Sub

btnChange_Click(

ByVal

sender

As


Object

,

ByVal

e

As

EventArgs)


dgv.Columns(0).HeaderText = "MyHeader1"


dgv.Columns(1).HeaderText = "MyHeader2"


End



Sub



Tip 9 - Change the Color of Cells, Rows and Border in the DataGridView

C#


private



void

btnCellRow_Click(

object

sender,

EventArgs

e)


{



// Change ForeColor of each Cell



this

.dgv.DefaultCellStyle.ForeColor =

Color

.Coral;



// Change back color of each row



this

.dgv.RowsDefaultCellStyle.BackColor =

Color

.AliceBlue;



// Change GridLine Color



this

.dgv.GridColor =

Color

.Blue;



// Change Grid Border Style



this

.dgv.BorderStyle =

BorderStyle

.Fixed3D;


}

VB.NET


Private



Sub

btnCellRow_Click(

ByVal

sender

As


Object

,

ByVal

e

As

EventArgs)



' Change ForeColor of each Cell



Me

.dgv.DefaultCellStyle.ForeColor = Color.Coral



' Change back color of each row



Me

.dgv.RowsDefaultCellStyle.BackColor = Color.AliceBlue



' Change GridLine Color



Me

.dgv.GridColor = Color.Blue



' Change Grid Border Style



Me

.dgv.BorderStyle = BorderStyle.Fixed3D


End



Sub



Tip 10 - Hide a Column in the DataGridView

If you would like to hide a column based on a certain condition, here’s a snippet for that.

C#


private



void

btnHide_Click(

object

sender,

EventArgs

e)


{



this

.dgv.Columns[

"EmployeeID"

].Visible =

false

;


}

VB.NET


Private



Sub

btnHide_Click(

ByVal

sender

As


Object

,

ByVal

e

As

EventArgs)



Me

.dgv.Columns("EmployeeID").Visible =

False


End



Sub



Tip 11 - Handle SelectedIndexChanged of a ComboBox in the DataGridView

To handle the SelectedIndexChanged event of a DataGridViewComboBox, you need to use the DataGridView.EditingControlShowing event as shown below. You can then retrieve the selected index or the selected text of the combobox.

C#


private



void

dataGridView1_EditingControlShowing(

object

sender,

DataGridViewEditingControlShowingEventArgs

e)


{



ComboBox

editingComboBox = (

ComboBox

)e.Control;



if

(editingComboBox !=

null

)


editingComboBox.SelectedIndexChanged +=

new

System.

EventHandler

(

this

.editingComboBox_SelectedIndexChanged);


}


private



void

editingComboBox_SelectedIndexChanged(

object

sender, System.

EventArgs

e)


{



ComboBox

comboBox1 = (

ComboBox

)sender;



// Display index



MessageBox

.Show(comboBox1.SelectedIndex.ToString());



// Display value



MessageBox

.Show(comboBox1.Text);


}

VB.NET


Private



Sub

dataGridView1_EditingControlShowing(

ByVal

sender

As


Object

,

ByVal

e

As

DataGridViewEditingControlShowingEventArgs)



Dim

editingComboBox

As

ComboBox =

CType

(e.Control, ComboBox)



If


Not

editingComboBox

Is


Nothing


Then



AddHandler

editingComboBox.SelectedIndexChanged,

AddressOf

editingComboBox_SelectedIndexChanged



End


If


End



Sub


Private



Sub

editingComboBox_SelectedIndexChanged(

ByVal

sender

As


Object

,

ByVal

e

As

System.EventArgs)



Dim

comboBox1

As

ComboBox =

CType

(sender, ComboBox)



' Display index


MessageBox.Show(comboBox1.SelectedIndex.ToString())



' Display value


MessageBox.Show(comboBox1.Text)


End



Sub



Tip 12 - Change Color of Alternate Rows in the DataGridView

C#


private



void

btnAlternate_Click(

object

sender,

EventArgs

e)


{



this

.dgv.RowsDefaultCellStyle.BackColor =

Color

.White;



this

.dgv.AlternatingRowsDefaultCellStyle.BackColor =

Color

.Aquamarine;


}

VB.NET


Private



Sub

btnAlternate_Click(

ByVal

sender

As


Object

,

ByVal

e

As

EventArgs)



Me

.dgv.RowsDefaultCellStyle.BackColor = Color.White



Me

.dgv.AlternatingRowsDefaultCellStyle.BackColor = Color.Aquamarine


End



Sub



Tip 13 - Formatting Data in the DataGridView

The DataGridView exposes properties that enable you to format data such as displaying a currency column in the culture specific currency or displaying nulls in a desired format and so on.

C#


private



void

btnFormat_Click(

object

sender,

EventArgs

e)


{



// display currency in culture-specific currency for



this

.dgv.Columns[

"Freight"

].DefaultCellStyle.Format =

"c"

;



// display nulls as 'NA'



this

.dgv.DefaultCellStyle.NullValue =

"NA"

;


}

VB.NET


Private



Sub

btnFormat_Click(

ByVal

sender

As


Object

,

ByVal

e

As

EventArgs)



' display currency in culture-specific currency for



Me

.dgv.Columns("Freight").DefaultCellStyle.Format = "c"



' display nulls as 'NA'



Me

.dgv.DefaultCellStyle.NullValue = "NA"


End



Sub



Tip 14 – Change the order of columns in the DataGridView

In order to change the order of columns, just set the DisplayIndex property of the DataGridView to the desired value. Remember that the index is zero based.

C#


private



void

btnReorder_Click(

object

sender,

EventArgs

e)


{


dgv.Columns[

"CustomerID"

].DisplayIndex = 5;


dgv.Columns[

"OrderID"

].DisplayIndex = 3;


dgv.Columns[

"EmployeeID"

].DisplayIndex = 1;


dgv.Columns[

"OrderDate"

].DisplayIndex = 2;


dgv.Columns[

"Freight"

].DisplayIndex = 6;


dgv.Columns[

"ShipCountry"

].DisplayIndex = 0;


dgv.Columns[

"ShipName"

].DisplayIndex = 4;


}

VB.NET


Private



Sub

btnReorder_Click(

ByVal

sender

As


Object

,

ByVal

e

As

EventArgs)


dgv.Columns("CustomerID").DisplayIndex = 5


dgv.Columns("OrderID").DisplayIndex = 3


dgv.Columns("EmployeeID").DisplayIndex = 1


dgv.Columns("OrderDate").DisplayIndex = 2


dgv.Columns("Freight").DisplayIndex = 6


dgv.Columns("ShipCountry").DisplayIndex = 0


dgv.Columns("ShipName").DisplayIndex = 4


End



Sub

I hope this article was useful and I thank you for viewing it.