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How to: Bind Objects to Windows Forms DataGridView Controls

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The following code example demonstrates how to bind a collection of objects to a DataGridView control so that each object displays as a separate row. This example also illustrates how to display a property with an enumeration type in a DataGridViewComboBoxColumn so that the combo box drop-down list contains the enumeration values.

Example

using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
public enum Title
{
    King,
    Sir
};
public class EnumsAndComboBox : Form
{
    private DataGridView dataGridView1 = new DataGridView();
    private BindingSource bindingSource1 = new BindingSource();

    public EnumsAndComboBox()
    {
        this.Load += new System.EventHandler(EnumsAndComboBox_Load);
    }

    private void EnumsAndComboBox_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
    {
        // Populate the data source.
        bindingSource1.Add(new Knight(Title.King, "Uther", true));
        bindingSource1.Add(new Knight(Title.King, "Arthur", true));
        bindingSource1.Add(new Knight(Title.Sir, "Mordred", false));
        bindingSource1.Add(new Knight(Title.Sir, "Gawain", true));
        bindingSource1.Add(new Knight(Title.Sir, "Galahad", true));

        // Initialize the DataGridView.
        dataGridView1.AutoGenerateColumns = false;
        dataGridView1.AutoSize = true;
        dataGridView1.DataSource = bindingSource1;

        dataGridView1.Columns.Add(CreateComboBoxWithEnums());

        // Initialize and add a text box column.
        DataGridViewColumn column = new DataGridViewTextBoxColumn();
        column.DataPropertyName = "Name";
        column.Name = "Knight";
        dataGridView1.Columns.Add(column);

        // Initialize and add a check box column.
        column = new DataGridViewCheckBoxColumn();
        column.DataPropertyName = "GoodGuy";
        column.Name = "Good";
        dataGridView1.Columns.Add(column);

        // Initialize the form.
        this.Controls.Add(dataGridView1);
        this.AutoSize = true;
        this.Text = "DataGridView object binding demo";
    }

    DataGridViewComboBoxColumn CreateComboBoxWithEnums()
    {
        DataGridViewComboBoxColumn combo = new DataGridViewComboBoxColumn();
        combo.DataSource = Enum.GetValues(typeof(Title));
        combo.DataPropertyName = "Title";
        combo.Name = "Title";
        return combo;
    }
    #region "business object"
    private class Knight
    {
        private string hisName;
        private bool good;
        private Title hisTitle;

        public Knight(Title title, string name, bool good)
        {
            hisTitle = title;
            hisName = name;
            this.good = good;
        }

        public Knight()
        {
            hisTitle = Title.Sir;
            hisName = "<enter name>";
            good = true;
        }

        public string Name
        {
            get
            {
                return hisName;
            }

            set
            {
                hisName = value;
            }
        }

        public bool GoodGuy
        {
            get
            {
                return good;
            }
            set
            {
                good = value;
            }
        }

        public Title Title
        {
            get
            {
                return hisTitle;
            }
            set
            {
                hisTitle = value;
            }
        }
    }
    #endregion

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

Imports System.Windows.Forms
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Public Enum Title
    King
    Sir
End Enum
Public Class EnumsAndComboBox
    Inherits Form

    Private flow As New FlowLayoutPanel()
    Private WithEvents checkForChange As Button = New Button()
    Private knights As List(Of Knight)
    Private dataGridView1 As New DataGridView()

    Public Sub New()
        MyBase.New()
        SetupForm()
        SetupGrid()
    End Sub

    Private Sub SetupForm()
        AutoSize = True
    End Sub

    Private Sub SetupGrid()
        knights = New List(Of Knight)
        knights.Add(New Knight(Title.King, "Uther", True))
        knights.Add(New Knight(Title.King, "Arthur", True))
        knights.Add(New Knight(Title.Sir, "Mordred", False))
        knights.Add(New Knight(Title.Sir, "Gawain", True))
        knights.Add(New Knight(Title.Sir, "Galahad", True))

        ' Initialize the DataGridView.
        dataGridView1.AutoGenerateColumns = False
        dataGridView1.AutoSize = True
        dataGridView1.DataSource = knights

        dataGridView1.Columns.Add(CreateComboBoxWithEnums())

        ' Initialize and add a text box column.
        Dim column As DataGridViewColumn = _
            New DataGridViewTextBoxColumn()
        column.DataPropertyName = "Name"
        column.Name = "Knight"
        dataGridView1.Columns.Add(column)

        ' Initialize and add a check box column.
        column = New DataGridViewCheckBoxColumn()
        column.DataPropertyName = "GoodGuy"
        column.Name = "Good"
        dataGridView1.Columns.Add(column)

        ' Initialize the form.
        Controls.Add(dataGridView1)
        Me.AutoSize = True
        Me.Text = "DataGridView object binding demo"
    End Sub

    Private Function CreateComboBoxWithEnums() As DataGridViewComboBoxColumn
        Dim combo As New DataGridViewComboBoxColumn()
        combo.DataSource = [Enum].GetValues(GetType(Title))
        combo.DataPropertyName = "Title"
        combo.Name = "Title"
        Return combo
    End Function

#Region "business object"
    Private Class Knight
        Private hisName As String
        Private good As Boolean
        Private hisTitle As Title

        Public Sub New(ByVal title As Title, ByVal name As String, _
            ByVal good As Boolean)

            hisTitle = title
            hisName = name
            Me.good = good
        End Sub

        Public Property Name() As String
            Get
                Return hisName
            End Get

            Set(ByVal Value As String)
                hisName = Value
            End Set
        End Property

        Public Property GoodGuy() As Boolean
            Get
                Return good
            End Get
            Set(ByVal Value As Boolean)
                good = Value
            End Set
        End Property

        Public Property Title() As Title
            Get
                Return hisTitle
            End Get
            Set(ByVal Value As Title)
                hisTitle = Value
            End Set
        End Property
    End Class
#End Region

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

End Class

Compiling the Code

This example requires:

  • References to the System and System.Windows.Forms assemblies.

See also