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How to: Handle Errors That Occur During Data Entry in the Windows Forms DataGridView Control

The following code example demonstrates how to use the DataGridView control to report data entry errors to the user.

For a complete explanation of this code example, see Walkthrough: Handling Errors that Occur During Data Entry in the Windows Forms DataGridView Control.

Example

Imports System
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
Imports System.Windows.Forms

Public Class Form1
    Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form

    Private WithEvents dataGridView1 As New DataGridView()
    Private bindingSource1 As New BindingSource()

    Public Sub New()

        ' Initialize the form.
        Me.dataGridView1.Dock = DockStyle.Fill
        Me.Controls.Add(dataGridView1)

    End Sub

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

        ' Initialize the BindingSource and bind the DataGridView to it.
        bindingSource1.DataSource = GetData("select * from Customers")
        Me.dataGridView1.DataSource = bindingSource1
        Me.dataGridView1.AutoResizeColumns( _
            DataGridViewAutoSizeColumnsMode.AllCellsExceptHeader)

    End Sub

    Private Sub dataGridView1_DataError(ByVal sender As Object, _
        ByVal e As DataGridViewDataErrorEventArgs) _
        Handles dataGridView1.DataError

        ' If the data source raises an exception when a cell value is 
        ' commited, display an error message.
        If e.Exception IsNot Nothing AndAlso _
            e.Context = DataGridViewDataErrorContexts.Commit Then

            MessageBox.Show("CustomerID value must be unique.")

        End If

    End Sub

    Private Shared Function GetData(ByVal selectCommand As String) As DataTable

        Dim connectionString As String = _
            "Integrated Security=SSPI;Persist Security Info=False;" + _
            "Initial Catalog=Northwind;Data Source=localhost;Packet Size=4096"

        ' Connect to the database and fill a data table, including the 
        ' schema information that contains the CustomerID column 
        ' constraint.
        Dim adapter As New SqlDataAdapter(selectCommand, connectionString)
        Dim data As New DataTable()
        data.Locale = System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture
        adapter.Fill(data)
        adapter.FillSchema(data, SchemaType.Source)

        Return data

    End Function

    <STAThread()> _
    Shared Sub Main()
        Application.EnableVisualStyles()
        Application.Run(New Form1())
    End Sub

End Class
using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.Windows.Forms;

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

    public Form1()
    {
        // Initialize the form.
        this.dataGridView1.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
        this.Controls.Add(dataGridView1);
        this.Load += new EventHandler(Form1_Load);
    }

    private void Form1_Load(System.Object sender, System.EventArgs e)
    {
        // Attach the DataError event to the corresponding event handler.
        this.dataGridView1.DataError +=
            new DataGridViewDataErrorEventHandler(dataGridView1_DataError);

        // Initialize the BindingSource and bind the DataGridView to it.
        bindingSource1.DataSource = GetData("select * from Customers");
        this.dataGridView1.DataSource = bindingSource1;
        this.dataGridView1.AutoResizeColumns(
            DataGridViewAutoSizeColumnsMode.AllCellsExceptHeader);
    }

    private void dataGridView1_DataError(object sender,
        DataGridViewDataErrorEventArgs e)
    {
        // If the data source raises an exception when a cell value is 
        // commited, display an error message.
        if (e.Exception != null &&
            e.Context == DataGridViewDataErrorContexts.Commit)
        {
            MessageBox.Show("CustomerID value must be unique.");
        }
    }

    private static DataTable GetData(string selectCommand)
    {
        string connectionString =
            "Integrated Security=SSPI;Persist Security Info=False;" +
            "Initial Catalog=Northwind;Data Source=localhost;Packet Size=4096";

        // Connect to the database and fill a data table, including the 
        // schema information that contains the CustomerID column 
        // constraint.
        SqlDataAdapter adapter =
            new SqlDataAdapter(selectCommand, connectionString);
        DataTable data = new DataTable();
        data.Locale = System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture;
        adapter.Fill(data);
        adapter.FillSchema(data, SchemaType.Source);

        return data;
    }

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

}

Compiling the Code

This example requires:

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

For information about building this example from the command line for Visual Basic or Visual C#, see Building from the Command Line (Visual Basic) or Command-Line Building. You can also build this example in Visual Studio by pasting the code into a new project. How to: Compile and Run a Complete Windows Forms Code Example Using Visual Studio
How to: Compile and Run a Complete Windows Forms Code Example Using Visual Studio
How to: Compile and Run a Complete Windows Forms Code Example Using Visual Studio
How to: Compile and Run a Complete Windows Forms Code Example Using Visual Studio

Security

Storing sensitive information, such as a password, within the connection string can affect the security of your application. Using Windows Authentication (also known as integrated security) is a more secure way to control access to a database. For more information, see Securing Connection Strings.

See Also

Tasks

Walkthrough: Handling Errors that Occur During Data Entry in the Windows Forms DataGridView Control
Walkthrough: Validating Data in the Windows Forms DataGridView Control

Reference

DataGridView
BindingSource

Concepts

Securing Connection Strings

Other Resources

Data Entry in the Windows Forms DataGridView Control