The GridTableView object has an Items property that contains all the data rows in the table view. Each row is represented by a GridDataItem or GridEditFormItem object, depending on whether the row is an edit form. The GridDataItem or GridEditFormItem has an ItemIndex property that is its index in the Items property collection.

When implementing an event handler for an event such as ItemCreated, ItemDataBound, ItemCommand, UpdateCommand, InsertCommand, or DeleteCommand, you can obtain a GridDataItem or GridEditFormItem for the row from the event arguments (e.Item or, in a hierarchical grid, e.Item.OwnerTableView.ParentItem):

• C#
• VB.NET

CopyC#

//e is the event argument object
if (e.Item is GridDataItem)
{
    GridDataItem dataItem = e.Item as GridDataItem;
}
else if (e.Item is GridEditFormItem)
{
    GridEditFormItem editItem = e.Item as GridEditFormItem;
}

CopyVB.NET

'e is the event argument object
     If TypeOf e.Item Is GridDataItem Then 
Dim dataItem As GridDataItem = CType(e.Item, GridDataItem)
    ElseIf TypeOf e.Item Is GridEditFormItem Then
Dim editItem As GridEditFormItem = CType(e.Item, GridEditFormItem)
End If

Because of features such as column reordering and grouping, the index of individual columns can change on the client. This means that using indexes to access individual cells in the Cells collection of a row is not a reliable method of obtaining a cell in a particular column.

To provide a reliable way of locating the cell in a particular column, each column in the grid has a UniqueName property of type string. This property is assigned automatically at design time. For example, an auto-generated GridBoundColumn with DataField 'ContactName' generates a UniqueName of 'ContactName'). You can also set the UniqueName property explicitly, although the automatic generation handles most cases. Using the UniqueName property of a column lets you reliably locate a column even when its index changes:

• C#
• VB.NET

CopyC#

TableCell cell = dataItem["ColumnUniqueName"]; //where dataItem is object of type GridDataItem

CopyVB.NET

Dim cell As TableCell = dataItem("ColumnUniqueName")
'where dataItem is object of type GridDataItem

To get the cell's value, use the Text property of the cell:

• C#
• VB.NET

CopyC#

string itemValue = dataItem["ColumnUniqueName"].Text; //where dataItem is object of type GridDataItem

CopyVB.NET

Dim itemValue As String = dataItem("ColumnUniqueName").Text
'where dataItem is object of type GridDataItem

Caution
This approach of obtaining cell values works for auto-generated columns and built-in column types except for template columns. For template columns you must find the control in the grid cell and extract its value.

The same approach can be applied to header and footer items. Simply reference the header or footer item of the control and use the column UniqueName property to identify the cell of interest:

• C#
• VB.NET

CopyC#

GridHeaderItem headerItem = RadGrid1.MasterTableView.GetItems(GridItemType.Header)[0] as GridHeaderItem;
// fetch the data with headerItem["ColumnUniqueName"].Text
// or (headerItem["ColumnUniqueName"].Controls(0) as LinkButton).Text if sorting is enabled

CopyVB.NET

Dim headerItem As GridHeaderItem = CType(RadGrid1.MasterTableView.GetItems(GridItemType.Header)(0), GridHeaderItem)
'fetch the data with headerItem("ColumnUniqueName").Text
'or CType(headerItem["ColumnUniqueName"].Controls(0), LinkButton).Text if sorting is enabled

• C#
• VB.NET

CopyC#

GridFooterItem footerItem = RadGrid1.MasterTableView.GetItems(GridItemType.Footer)[0] as GridFooterItem;
//fetch the data with footerItem["ColumnUniqueName"].Text

CopyVB.NET

Dim footerItem As GridFooterItem = CType(RadGrid1.MasterTableView.GetItems(GridItemType.Footer)(0), GridFooterItem)
'fetch the data with footerItem("ColumnUniqueName").Text

While accessing cells with Template columns remains the same, you could use a little different approach to get the controls in the cell. For example to access a TextBox declared in the ItemTemplate of the column:

• C#
• VB.NET

CopyC#

TableCell cell = dataItem["ColumnUniqueName"];
TextBox textBox = dataItem.FindControl("TextBoxID") as TextBox;

CopyVB.NET

Dim cell As TableCell = dataItem("ColumnUniqueName")
Dim textBox As TextBox = CType(dataItem.FindControl("TextBoxID"), TextBox)

If the grid item is in edit mode, you can still use the column's UniqueName to access the cell (even if it is in an edit form). Then you can locate the control that contains the cell's value and, depending on the type of the column editor, cast it to the appropriate type, and access the value:

• C#
• VB.NET

CopyC#

TableCell cell = editedItem["ColumnUniqueName"];
string itemValue = (cell.Controls[0] as TextBox).Text;

CopyVB.NET

Dim cell As TableCell = editedItem("ColumnUniqueName")
Dim itemValue As String = (CType(cell.Controls(0), TextBox)).Text

If you have a reference to the column object, you can get an instance of GridEditManager from the item and use its GetColumnEditor(editableCol) method to access the column editor:

• C#
• VB.NET

CopyC#

GridEditableItem editedItem = e.Item as GridEditableItem;
GridEditManager editMan = editedItem.EditManager;
IGridColumnEditor editor = editMan.GetColumnEditor(columnReference);

CopyVB.NET

Dim editedItem As GridEditableItem = CType(e.Item, GridEditableItem)
Dim editMan As GridEditManager = editedItem.EditManager
Dim editor As IGridColumnEditor = editMan.GetColumnEditor(editableCol)

For a live example that uses GridEditManager to access the column editor, see Using Column Editors.

When editing or inserting a grid item, you could access and modify the controls generated in the editable item:

• C#
• VB.NET

CopyC#

protected void RadGrid1_ItemDataBound(object sender, GridItemEventArgs e)
{
    if (e.Item is GridEditableItem && e.Item.IsInEditMode)
    {
       GridEditableItem editableItem = e.Item as GridEditableItem;
       // execute custom logic
    }
}

CopyVB.NET

Protected Sub RadGrid1_ItemDataBound(sender As Object, e As GridItemEventArgs) Handles RadGrid1.ItemDataBound
    If TypeOf e.Item Is GridEditableItem AndAlso e.Item.IsInEditMode Then
        Dim editableItem As GridEditableItem = TryCast(e.Item, GridEditableItem)
        ' execute custom logic
    End If
End Sub

However, you will need to use a different approach corresponding to the chosen EditFormType:

• AutoGenerated:

  • C#
  • VB.NET

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  TextBox textBox = editableItem["ColumnUniqueName"].Controls[0] as TextBox;

  CopyVB.NET

  Dim textBox As TextBox = CType(editableItem("ColumnUniqueName").Controls(0), TextBox)

• Template:

  • C#
  • VB.NET

  CopyC#

  TextBox textBox = editableItem.FindControl("TextBox1") as TextBox;

  CopyVB.NET

  Dim textBox As TextBox = CType(editableItem.FindControl("TextBox1"), TextBox)

• WebUserControl:

  • C#
  • VB.NET

  CopyC#

  UserControl userControl = editableItem.FindControl(GridEditFormItem.EditFormUserControlID) as UserControl;
  TextBox textBox = userControl.FindControl("TextBox1") as TextBox;

  CopyVB.NET

  Dim userControl As UserControl = CType(editableItem.FindControl(GridEditFormItem.EditFormUserControlID), UserControl)
  Dim textBox As TextBox = CType(userControl.FindControl("TextBox1"), TextBox)

Caution
InPlace EditMode is supported only for AutoGenerated EditFormType. In this case, the editable item is of type GridDataItem and respectively GridDataInsertItem, rather than GridEditFormItem and GridEditFormInsertItem as usual.

You can access the cells client-side using the getCellByColumnUniqueName method of the GridTableView client-side object. For an example that uses this method to access cell values, see Getting cell values for selected rows client side.

In a hierarchical grid, each item in the Items collection of a parent GridTableView has a ChildItem property of type GridNestedViewItem. This child item is the container for the nested child table(s). The GridNestedViewItem has a NestedTableViews property that holds the collection of all the detail tables for the parent table.

You can use these properties to access the detail tables of a row in the parent table, as follows:

• C#
• VB.NET

CopyC#

GridTableView firstDetail = RadGrid1.MasterTableView.Items[0].ChildItem.NestedTableViews[0];

CopyVB.NET

Dim firstDetail As GridTableView = RadGrid1.MasterTableView.Items(0).ChildItem.NestedTableViews(0)

Conversely, if you have a reference to the instance of an item in a child table and want to access the parent table view, you can use the ParentItem property:

• C#
• VB.NET

CopyC#

GridTableView parentTable = childItem.OwnerTableView.ParentItem.OwnerTableView;

CopyVB.NET

Dim parentTable As GridTableView = childItem.OwnerTableView.ParentItem.OwnerTableView

Other Resources