Introduction

Within the DataGridView .NET 2.x control the data table presentation features became much easier to implement in .NET Windows application. The most attractive features of the new control are:

• It allows for the mix both data bound and unbound, virtual columns in the GridView.
• It has a special virtual mode allowing for the display of more than 100.000 rows without a huge performance hit.
• Individual columns, rows, cells or an entire data source can easily be styled.

DataGrid Windows Forms control

Obviously we do not need to disregard the .NET DataGrid control. For most situations it works faster than the new DataGridView. Also the control gives you the ability to display hierarchical data. This is a big advantage for the DataGrid .NET Windows Forms control.

In Visual Studio .NET 1.x, the DataGrid control is not easy to use in .NET Windows application. A number of jobs you may want to achieve with the Windows Forms DataGrid control are, unexpectedly, more troublesome than you might expect. Principally, this is because the Windows Forms DataGrid control is column-based, rather than cell-based. As a result, to accomplish most tasks, you have to work with the columns, not the cells themselves.

The DataGridColumns .NET assembly from RustemSoft is a DataGrid Columns Styles software package specifically designed for .NET developers. The assembly allows you to use all the strengths of the MS Windows .NET forms DataGrid control without sacrificing the user interface elements your customers need. Learn more about DataGridColumns .NET assembly here.

VB.NET:

Private Sub AddDataGridColumn()
  Dim dataset As New DataSet
  ' Put some actions to populate the dataset
  Dim TblStyle As New DataGridTableStyle
  With .TblStyle
    ' Set column style
    With .GridColumnStyles
      ' Set datagrid ComboBox ColumnStyle for PubID field
      .Add(New DataGridComboBoxColumn(dataset.Tables.Item("Companies"), 1, 

0))
      With .Item(0)
        .MappingName = "PubID"
        .HeaderText = "Company ID"
        .Width = 150
        .NullText = String.Empty
      End With
    End With
  End With

  ' Add TableStyle
  DataGrid1.TableStyles.Add(TblStyle)
End Sub

C#:

private void AddDataGridColumn()
{
  DataSet dataset = new DataSet();
  // Put some actions to populate the dataset
  // Set column style
  DataGridTableStyle TblStyle = new DataGridTableStyle();

  // Set datagrid ComboBox ColumnStyle for PubID field
  DataTable tblCompanies = dataset.Tables["Companies"];
  TblStyle.GridColumnStyles.Add(new DataGridComboBoxColumn(ref 

tblCompanies, 
    1, 0, true, false, true,
    DataGridComboBoxColumn.DisplayModes.ShowDisplayMember,0));

  TblStyle.GridColumnStyles[0].MappingName = "PubID";
  TblStyle.GridColumnStyles[0].HeaderText = "Company ID";
  TblStyle.GridColumnStyles[0].Width = 150;
  TblStyle.GridColumnStyles[0].NullText = string.Empty;
  // Add TableStyle
  DataGrid1.TableStyles.Add(TblStyle);
}

The above example creates a DataGridComboBoxColumn and adds it into DataGrid TableStyle.

DataGridView Columns .NET 2.0 assembly

In the new MS Visual Studio .NET 2005, the DataGridView control provides a visual table layout for displaying data. All DataGridView control designing operations are done through the IDE design layout window via drag and drop. The DataGridView .NET 2.0 control seems a lot better than DataGrid .NET 1.x control. It provides a powerful and flexible way to display a data source. You can extend the DataGridView control in a number of ways to build custom behaviors into your applications. Although you can create your own types of cells the Windows Forms DataGridView control is mostly column-based, rather than cell-based. As a result, to accomplish most tasks, you have to work with the columns, just like the DataGrid control.

In November 2005, Microsoft officially released the new Visual Studio 2005 also known as .NET 2.0. RustemSoft is presenting a software package for customizing your .NET 2.0 Windows Forms DataGridView Columns.

DataGridViewColumns .NET 2.0 assembly from RustemSoft is a DataGridView Columns software package specifically designed for .NET 2.0 developers. The assembly allows you to leverage all of the strengths of the MS Windows .NET 2.0 forms DataGridView control without sacrificing the user interface elements your customers need. Learn more about DataGridViewColumns .NET assembly here.

The DataGridViewColumns dynamic link library contains the following DataGridView Columns:

• Combo (extended combobox)
• Memo column
• DateTimePicker column

The assembly also includes the intelligent formatting for DateTimeColumn, NumericColumn, TextFractionsColumn, MaskedTextBox column controls that can mask the date, time, numbers as well as the text fractions. It gives you ability to manage the IP Address, SS#, Phone numbers, etc., and checks the validation, and automatically set the delimiter location. These Column classes are chock full of functionality that you will not find in the standard Microsoft .NET 2.x DataGridView Columns, making it easier to build professional user interfaces.

VB.NET:

With DataGridView1
  ' Set DataGridView Combo Column for CarID field
  Dim ColumnCar As New DataGridViewComboColumn
  ' DataGridView Combo ValueMember field has name "CarID"
  ' DataGridView Combo DisplayMember field has name "Car"
  With ColumnCar
    .DataPropertyName = "CarID"
    .HeaderText = "Car Name"
    .Width = 80
    ' Bind ColumnCar to Cars table
    .box.DataSource = ds.Tables("Cars")
    .box.ValueMember = "CarID"
    .box.DisplayMember = "Car"
  End With

 .Columns.Add(ColumnCar)
End With

C#:

// Set DataGridView Combo Column for CarID field
DataGridViewComboColumn ColumnCar = new DataGridViewComboColumn();
// DataGridView Combo ValueMember field name is "CarID"
// DataGridView Combo DisplayMember field name is "Car"
ColumnCar.DataPropertyName = "CarID";
ColumnCar.HeaderText = "Car Name";
ColumnCar.Width = 80;

// Bind ColumnCar to Cars table
ColumnCar.box.DataSource = ds.Tables["Cars"];
ColumnCar.box.ValueMember = "CarID";
ColumnCar.box.DisplayMember = "Car";

// Add ColumnCar onto DataGridView layout
DataGridView1.Columns.Add(ColumnCar);

The code above presents DataGridViewCombo Column usage.

Extended DataGridView columns

The DataGridView control properties can be customized and the control object can be linked with or without an assigned DataSource object. The .NET 2.0 Framework includes six types of DataGridView column classes by default:

• DataGridViewButtonColumn
• DataGridViewCheckBoxColumn
• DataGridViewComboboxColumn
• DataGridViewImageColumn
• DataGridViewTextBoxColumn
• DataGridViewLinkColumn

RustemSoft DataGridViewColumns dynamic link library contains the following DataGridView Columns:

• DataGridViewComboColumn (extended combobox)
• DataGridViewMemoColumn
• DataGridViewDateTimePickerColumn
• DataGridViewDateTimeColumn
• DataGridViewNumericColumn
• DataGridViewTextFractions Column
• DataGridViewLabelColumn
• DataGridViewDomainUpDownColumn
• DataGridViewNumericUpDownColumn
• DataGridViewPictureColumn
• DataGridViewMaskedTextBoxColumn
• DataGridViewPrintClass

The DataGridViewPrint service class is intended to help you to create a print output based on your DataGridView content. The class has been included into the assembly since it is built for .NET 2.0 WinForms DataGridView control and very helpful for your .NET 2.0 DataGridView design. It will help you to implement an application with a print preview and a print support.

The DataGridViewPrint class is used by the Print dialog and DataGridViewPrintPreview dialog (on your .NET 2.0 form) to draw the DataGridView object content that should be printed. An object of the class is used for a .NET 2.0 PrintDocument object.

Also the special DataGridViewPrintPreview class has been designed and added to the assembly. The class gives the ability to print DataGridView content by clicking ‘Print’ button located on the dialog window. Also, a ‘Save to file’ button is added onto Preview dialog layout. It allows you to save the print document into a bitmap image file. Learn more about DataGridViewPrint Service class here.

References

DataGridView Columns .NET 2.0 assembly

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