How to: Bind data to the Windows Forms DataGridView control

The DataGridView control supports the standard Windows Forms data binding model, so it can bind to a variety of data sources. Usually, you bind to a BindingSource that manages the interaction with the data source. The BindingSource can be any Windows Forms data source, which gives you great flexibility when choosing or modifying your data's location. For more information about data sources the DataGridView control supports, see the DataGridView control overview.

Visual Studio has extensive support for data binding to the DataGridView control. For more information, see How to: Bind data to the Windows Forms DataGridView control using the Designer.

To connect a DataGridView control to data:

  1. Implement a method to handle the details of retrieving the data. The following code example implements a GetData method that initializes a SqlDataAdapter, and uses it to populate a DataTable. It then binds the DataTable to the BindingSource.

  2. In the form's Load event handler, bind the DataGridView control to the BindingSource, and call the GetData method to retrieve the data.

Example

This complete code example retrieves data from a database to populate a DataGridView control in a Windows form. The form also has buttons to reload data and submit changes to the database.

This example requires:

  • Access to a Northwind SQL Server sample database. For more information about installing the Northwind sample database, see Get the sample databases for ADO.NET code samples.

  • References to the System, System.Windows.Forms, System.Data, and System.Xml assemblies.

To build and run this example, paste the code into the Form1 code file in a new Windows Forms project. For information about building from the C# or Visual Basic command line, see Command-line building with csc.exe or Build from the command line.

Populate the connectionString variable in the example with the values for your Northwind SQL Server sample database connection. Windows Authentication, also called integrated security, is a more secure way to connect to the database than storing a password in the connection string. For more information about connection security, see Protect connection information.

using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace WindowsFormsApp
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }
    }
}
public class Form1 : Form
{
    private DataGridView dataGridView1 = new DataGridView();
    private BindingSource bindingSource1 = new BindingSource();
    private SqlDataAdapter dataAdapter = new SqlDataAdapter();
    private Button reloadButton = new Button();
    private Button submitButton = new Button();

    [STAThread()]
    public static void Main()
    {
        Application.Run(new Form1());
    }

    // Initialize the form.
    public Form1()
    {
        dataGridView1.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;

        reloadButton.Text = "Reload";
        submitButton.Text = "Submit";
        reloadButton.Click += new EventHandler(ReloadButton_Click);
        submitButton.Click += new EventHandler(SubmitButton_Click);

        FlowLayoutPanel panel = new FlowLayoutPanel
        {
            Dock = DockStyle.Top,
            AutoSize = true
        };
        panel.Controls.AddRange(new Control[] { reloadButton, submitButton });

        Controls.AddRange(new Control[] { dataGridView1, panel });
        Load += new EventHandler(Form1_Load);
        Text = "DataGridView data binding and updating demo";
    }

    private void GetData(string selectCommand)
    {
        try
        {
            // Specify a connection string.
            // Replace <SQL Server> with the SQL Server for your Northwind sample database.
            // Replace "Integrated Security=True" with user login information if necessary.
            String connectionString =
                "Data Source=<SQL Server>;Initial Catalog=Northwind;" +
                "Integrated Security=True";

            // Create a new data adapter based on the specified query.
            dataAdapter = new SqlDataAdapter(selectCommand, connectionString);

            // Create a command builder to generate SQL update, insert, and
            // delete commands based on selectCommand.
            SqlCommandBuilder commandBuilder = new SqlCommandBuilder(dataAdapter);

            // Populate a new data table and bind it to the BindingSource.
            DataTable table = new DataTable
            {
                Locale = CultureInfo.InvariantCulture
            };
            dataAdapter.Fill(table);
            bindingSource1.DataSource = table;

            // Resize the DataGridView columns to fit the newly loaded content.
            dataGridView1.AutoResizeColumns(
                DataGridViewAutoSizeColumnsMode.AllCellsExceptHeader);
        }
        catch (SqlException)
        {
            MessageBox.Show("To run this example, replace the value of the " +
                "connectionString variable with a connection string that is " +
                "valid for your system.");
        }
    }

    private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        // Bind the DataGridView to the BindingSource
        // and load the data from the database.
        dataGridView1.DataSource = bindingSource1;
        GetData("select * from Customers");
    }

    private void ReloadButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        // Reload the data from the database.
        GetData(dataAdapter.SelectCommand.CommandText);
    }

    private void SubmitButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        // Update the database with changes.
        dataAdapter.Update((DataTable)bindingSource1.DataSource);
    }
}
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
Imports System.Windows.Forms

Public Class Form1
    Inherits Form

    Private dataGridView1 As New DataGridView()
    Private bindingSource1 As New BindingSource()
    Private dataAdapter As New SqlDataAdapter()
    Private WithEvents ReloadButton As New Button()
    Private WithEvents SubmitButton As New Button()

    Public Shared Sub Main()
        Application.Run(New Form1())
    End Sub

    ' Initialize the form.
    Public Sub New()

        dataGridView1.Dock = DockStyle.Fill

        ReloadButton.Text = "Reload"
        SubmitButton.Text = "Submit"

        Dim panel As New FlowLayoutPanel With {
            .Dock = DockStyle.Top,
            .AutoSize = True
        }
        panel.Controls.AddRange(New Control() {ReloadButton, SubmitButton})

        Controls.AddRange(New Control() {dataGridView1, panel})
        Text = "DataGridView data binding and updating demo"

    End Sub

    Private Sub GetData(ByVal selectCommand As String)

        Try
            ' Specify a connection string.  
            ' Replace <SQL Server> with the SQL Server for your Northwind sample database.
            ' Replace "Integrated Security=True" with user login information if necessary.
            Dim connectionString As String =
                "Data Source=<SQL Server>;Initial Catalog=Northwind;" +
                "Integrated Security=True;"

            ' Create a new data adapter based on the specified query.
            dataAdapter = New SqlDataAdapter(selectCommand, connectionString)

            ' Create a command builder to generate SQL update, insert, and
            ' delete commands based on selectCommand. 
            Dim commandBuilder As New SqlCommandBuilder(dataAdapter)

            ' Populate a new data table and bind it to the BindingSource.
            Dim table As New DataTable With {
                .Locale = Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture
            }
            dataAdapter.Fill(table)
            bindingSource1.DataSource = table

            ' Resize the DataGridView columns to fit the newly loaded content.
            dataGridView1.AutoResizeColumns(
                DataGridViewAutoSizeColumnsMode.AllCellsExceptHeader)

        Catch ex As SqlException
            MessageBox.Show("To run this example, replace the value of the " +
                "connectionString variable with a connection string that is " +
                "valid for your system.")
        End Try

    End Sub

    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) _
        Handles Me.Load

        ' Bind the DataGridView to the BindingSource
        ' and load the data from the database.
        dataGridView1.DataSource = bindingSource1
        GetData("select * from Customers")

    End Sub

    Private Sub ReloadButton_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) _
        Handles ReloadButton.Click

        ' Reload the data from the database.
        GetData(dataAdapter.SelectCommand.CommandText)

    End Sub

    Private Sub SubmitButton_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) _
        Handles SubmitButton.Click

        ' Update the database with changes.
        dataAdapter.Update(CType(bindingSource1.DataSource, DataTable))

    End Sub

End Class

See also