DataGridView.DataSource Property

Definition

Gets or sets the data source that the DataGridView is displaying data for.

public object DataSource { get; set; }
public object? DataSource { get; set; }

Property Value

The object that contains data for the DataGridView to display.

Exceptions

An error occurred in the data source and either there is no handler for the DataError event or the handler has set the ThrowException property to true. The exception object can typically be cast to type FormatException.

Examples

The following code example demonstrates how to initialize a simple data-bound DataGridView. It also demonstrates how to set the DataSource property.

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

public class Form1 : System.Windows.Forms.Form
{
    private DataGridView dataGridView1 = new DataGridView();
    private BindingSource bindingSource1 = new BindingSource();

    public Form1()
    {
        dataGridView1.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
        this.Controls.Add(dataGridView1);
        InitializeDataGridView();
    }

    private void InitializeDataGridView()
    {
        try
        {
            // Set up the DataGridView.
            dataGridView1.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;

            // Automatically generate the DataGridView columns.
            dataGridView1.AutoGenerateColumns = true;

            // Set up the data source.
            bindingSource1.DataSource = GetData("Select * From Products");
            dataGridView1.DataSource = bindingSource1;

            // Automatically resize the visible rows.
            dataGridView1.AutoSizeRowsMode =
                DataGridViewAutoSizeRowsMode.DisplayedCellsExceptHeaders;

            // Set the DataGridView control's border.
            dataGridView1.BorderStyle = BorderStyle.Fixed3D;

            // Put the cells in edit mode when user enters them.
            dataGridView1.EditMode = DataGridViewEditMode.EditOnEnter;
        }
        catch (SqlException)
        {
            MessageBox.Show("To run this sample replace connection.ConnectionString" +
                " with a valid connection string to a Northwind" +
                " database accessible to your system.", "ERROR",
                MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Exclamation);
            System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.Abort();
        }
    }

    private static DataTable GetData(string sqlCommand)
    {
        string connectionString = "Integrated Security=SSPI;" +
            "Persist Security Info=False;" +
            "Initial Catalog=Northwind;Data Source=localhost";

        SqlConnection northwindConnection = new SqlConnection(connectionString);

        SqlCommand command = new SqlCommand(sqlCommand, northwindConnection);
        SqlDataAdapter adapter = new SqlDataAdapter();
        adapter.SelectCommand = command;

        DataTable table = new DataTable();
        table.Locale = System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture;
        adapter.Fill(table);

        return table;
    }

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

Remarks

The DataGridView class supports the standard Windows Forms data-binding model. This means the data source can be of any type that implements one of the following interfaces:

For specific examples, see the Example section and the task table at the end of this section.

Typically, you will bind to a BindingSource component and bind the BindingSource component to another data source or populate it with business objects. The BindingSource component is the preferred data source because it can bind to a wide variety of data sources and can resolve many data binding issues automatically.

When binding to a data source that contains multiple lists or tables, you must set the DataMember property to a string that specifies the list or table to bind to. When binding to a BindingSource component that contains multiple lists or tables, however, you can set the DataMember property of the BindingSource component instead.

When binding to an object collection rather than to database data, you will typically set the DataSourceNullValue property of the object returned by the DefaultCellStyle property to null rather than using the default value of DBNull.Value, which is appropriate for database data.

For more information, see Displaying Data in the Windows Forms DataGridView Control. The following table provides direct links to common tasks related to the DataSource property.

See Walkthrough: Creating a Master/Detail Form Using Two Windows Forms DataGridView Controls and How to: Bind Objects to Windows Forms DataGridView Controls.

Applies to

Product Versions
.NET Framework 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
Windows Desktop 3.0, 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

See also