Column Classes
The GridViewColumn is the abstract base class for all column types. GridViewColumn defines the basic interface for controlling column visual
appearance and behavior and also defines the UniqueName property. The UniqueName property is used to uniquely identify columns.
UniqueName can be assigned explicitly at design time, assigned explicitly in code or assigned automatically if left blank. Duplicate
UniqueName values will generate an exception.
The GridViewDataColumn descends from GridViewColumn and is the base class for all data bound column types. To bind a column to a property or
database column in the data source, its name should be assigned to the column’s FieldName property. In practice, the actual columns added to the
RadGridView are typically GridViewDataColumn descendants:
Auto-generated and manually added columns
RadGridView supports two modes of column generation:
- auto-generated, according to the columns in the datasource
- manually, with columns added by the user
The two modes can be switched using the AutoGenerateColumns property of a template of the RadGridView. The default value of the property is
true, indicating the columns will be generated from the datasource. When AutoGenerateColumns is true, all columns from the dataset are visible by
default. Any other changes to column visibility is made at runtime.
If additional control is required at compile time over the columns to be shown in the grid, columns can be added manually. Setting the AutoGenerateColumns
property to false allows the developer to add unbound columns or columns from the data source. Columns are added to using the Columns collection of a template.
While the type of auto-generated columns is strictly defined by the data layer, manually added columns are defined by the developer.
| [C#] Adding Columns in Code at Run Time |
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radGridView1.DataSource = categoriesBindingSource;
GridViewTextBoxColumn textBoxColumn = new GridViewTextBoxColumn();
textBoxColumn.UniqueName = "TextBoxColumn";
textBoxColumn.HeaderText = "Product Description";
textBoxColumn.FieldName = "Description";
textBoxColumn.MaxLength = 50;
textBoxColumn.TextAlignment = ContentAlignment.BottomRight;
textBoxColumn.Width = 250;
radGridView1.MasterGridViewTemplate.Columns.Add(textBoxColumn);
GridViewComboBoxColumn categoryColumn = new GridViewComboBoxColumn();
categoryColumn.DataType = typeof(int);
categoryColumn.UniqueName = "CategoryColumn";
categoryColumn.FieldName = "CategoryName";
categoryColumn.HeaderText = "Category";
categoryColumn.ValueMember = "CategoryID";
categoryColumn.DisplayMember = "CategoryName";
categoryColumn.Width = 150;
radGridView1.MasterGridViewTemplate.Columns.Add(categoryColumn);
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| [VB] Adding Columns in Code at Run Time |
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radGridView1.DataSource = categoriesBindingSource
Dim textBoxColumn As New GridViewTextBoxColumn()
textBoxColumn.UniqueName = "TextBoxColumn"
textBoxColumn.HeaderText = "Product Description"
textBoxColumn.FieldName = "Description"
textBoxColumn.MaxLength = 50
textBoxColumn.TextAlignment = ContentAlignment.BottomRight
textBoxColumn.Width = 250
radGridView1.MasterGridViewTemplate.Columns.Add(textBoxColumn)
Dim categoryColumn As New GridViewComboBoxColumn()
categoryColumn.DataType = GetType(Integer)
categoryColumn.UniqueName = "CategoryColumn"
categoryColumn.FieldName = "CategoryName"
categoryColumn.HeaderText = "Category"
categoryColumn.ValueMember = "CategoryID"
categoryColumn.DisplayMember = "CategoryName"
categoryColumn.Width = 150
radGridView1.MasterGridViewTemplate.Columns.Add(categoryColumn)
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Auto-generated columns can be removed and replaced with other columns at runtime:
| [C#] Removing and Replacing a column |
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GridViewDataColumn col =
radGridView1.MasterGridViewTemplate.Columns["ProductID"]
as GridViewDataColumn;
if (col !=
null)
{
radGridView1.MasterGridViewTemplate.Columns.Remove(col);
col = new GridViewImageColumn();
// set some properties like image, FieldName, etc.
radGridView1.MasterGridViewTemplate.Columns.Add(col);
}
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| [VB] Removing and Replacing a column |
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Dim col As GridViewDataColumn = TryCast(radGridView1.MasterGridViewTemplate.Columns("ProductID"), GridViewDataColumn)
If col <> Nothing Then
radGridView1.MasterGridViewTemplate.Columns.Remove(col)
col = New GridViewImageColumn()
radGridView1.MasterGridViewTemplate.Columns.Add(col)
End If
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Accessing columns
You can access a column by name or index. Note: if the user reorders the columns the indexes also change, hence accessing the columns by name is the preferred approach. For
example, the code snippet below sets the width of an image column named column1 to 110:
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((GridViewImageColumn)this.radGridView1.Columns["column1"]).Width = 110;
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(DirectCast(Me.radGridView1.Columns("column1"),
GridViewImageColumn)).Width = 110
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Column Visibility
The visibility of all columns can be managed by the end-user at runtime using Column Chooser control. To make a column visible the user drags
the column name from the chooser to the grid. To hide a column the user drags the column off the grid. To make a column visible in the Column Chooser set
VisibleInColumnChooser property to true.
| [C#] Using VisibleInColumnChooser Property |
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radGridView1.Columns[0].VisibleInColumnChooser =
true;
radGridView1.Columns[1].VisibleInColumnChooser =
false;
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| [VB] Using VisibleInColumnChooser Property |
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radGridView1.Columns(0).VisibleInColumnChooser = True
radGridView1.Columns(1).VisibleInColumnChooser = False
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Column Size
The width of columns can be set individually, per column. Note that the visible width will always include some amount of data even when set to very small amounts.
| [C#] Setting Column Width |
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foreach (GridViewColumn column in radGridView1.Columns)
{
column.Width = 100;
}
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| [VB] Setting Column Width |
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For Each column As GridViewColumn In
radGridView1.Columns
column.Width = 100
Next
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Columns can automatically fill the entire width of the grid by setting the GridViewTemplate.AutoSizeColumnsMode property to
GridViewAutoSizeColumnsMode.Fill. Also, column widths can be set to fit the content using the GridViewTemplate.BestFitColumns()
method. GridViewAutoSizeColumnsMode.Fill distributes the column widths evenly across all columns while BestFitColumns() has a more sophisticated
algorithm that attempts to fit in all header text and column data.
| [C#] Using AutoSizeColumnsMode Property and BestFitColumns Method |
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radGridView1.MasterGridViewTemplate.AutoSizeColumnsMode = GridViewAutoSizeColumnsMode.Fill;
//...or
radGridView1.MasterGridViewTemplate.BestFitColumns();
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| [VB] Using AutoSizeColumnsMode Property and BestFitColumns Method |
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radGridView1.MasterGridViewTemplate.AutoSizeColumnsMode = GridViewAutoSizeColumnsMode.Fill
radGridView1.MasterGridViewTemplate.BestFitColumns()
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Reordering Columns
Move method in Columns collection is used to change the columns order. The code snippet below moves the column at first place to the sixth place. Please note
that columns collection is zero-based.
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this.radGridView1.Columns.Move(0, 5);
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Me.radGridView1.Columns.Move(0, 5)
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Columns best fit
You should call the BestFit method of GridViewDataColumn in order to resize a column in RadGridView according to its content. Call the BestFitColumns method for
MasterGridViewTemplate to auto size all columns.
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this.radGridView1.MasterGridViewTemplate.BestFitColumns();
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Me.radGridView1.MasterGridViewTemplate.BestFitColumns()
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Column text properties
WrapText: wraps text if the text is wider than the column width.
TextAlignment: defines the text alignment.