RadControls for WinForms
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You can generate columns for RadGridView in two ways:

  • Automatically, according to the columns in the data source
  • 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 data source. If additional control is required at compile time over the columns to be shown in the grid, columns can be added manually.

Automatic Column Generation

Auto-generation of columns means that when you set the DataSource property of the RadGridView control to a collection of employees for example, a separate column will be created for each one of the public properties of your Employee object. This is the default behavior and it does not require any additional efforts from your side. Just set the DataSource of your RadGridView and you are ready.

However, if you wish to prevent the creation of a column for it, use the System.ComponentModel.BrowsableAttribute, as it is shown in the sample below:

Copy[C#] Automatic column generation
public GeneratingColumns()
{
    InitializeComponent();

    BindingSource source = new BindingSource();
    List<string> firstName = new List<string> { "John", "Jim", "Jason", "Barbara", "Ben", "Thomas", "Antonio"};
    List<string> lastName = new List<string> { "Baumer", "Davidson", "Jones", "Jolie", "Pitt", "Ashword", "Moreno" };
    for (int i = 0; i < 7; i++)
    {
        source.Add(new Employee(i, firstName[i], lastName[i], i + 20));
    }
    radGridView1.DataSource = source;
}

public class Employee
{
    public Employee(int id, string fn, string ln, int age)
    {
        this.EmployeeId = id;
        this.FirstName = fn;
        this.LastName = ln;
        this.Age = age;
    }
    //the next attribute prevents the EmployeeId column from showing
    [Browsable(false)]
    public int EmployeeId { get; set; }
    public string FirstName { get; set; }
    public string LastName { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }
}
Copy[VB.NET] Automatic column generation
Public Sub New()
    InitializeComponent()

    Dim source As New BindingSource()

    Dim firstName As String() = {"John", "Jim", "Jason", "Barbara", "Ben", "Thomas", "Antonio"}
    Dim lastName As String() = {"Baumer", "Davidson", "Jones", "Jolie", "Pitt", "Ashword", "Moreno"}

    For i As Integer = 0 To 6
        source.Add(New Employee(i, firstName(i), lastName(i), i + 20))
    Next
    RadGridView1.DataSource = source

End Sub

Public Class Employee
    Public Sub New(ByVal id As Integer, ByVal fn As String, ByVal ln As String, ByVal age As Integer)
        Me.EmployeeId = id
        Me.FirstName = fn
        Me.LastName = ln
        Me.Age = age
    End Sub

    'the next attribute prevents the EmployeeId column from showing
    <Browsable(False)> _
    Public Property EmployeeId() As Integer
        Get
            Return m_EmployeeId
        End Get
        Set(ByVal value As Integer)
            m_EmployeeId = value
        End Set
    End Property
    Private m_EmployeeId As Integer
    Public Property FirstName() As String
        Get
            Return m_FirstName
        End Get
        Set(ByVal value As String)
            m_FirstName = value
        End Set
    End Property
    Private m_FirstName As String
    Public Property LastName() As String
        Get
            Return m_LastName
        End Get
        Set(ByVal value As String)
            m_LastName = value
        End Set
    End Property
    Private m_LastName As String
    Public Property Age() As Integer
        Get
            Return m_Age
        End Get
        Set(ByVal value As Integer)
            m_Age = value
        End Set
    End Property
    Private m_Age As Integer
End Class

And here is the result:

Manual Column Generation

Setting the AutoGenerateColumns property to false allows the developer to add unbound or bound 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. When defining a column you are able to choose between several column types

Copy[C#] Adding Columns in Code at Run Time
radGridView1.AutoGenerateColumns = false;
radGridView1.DataSource = categoriesBindingSource;

GridViewTextBoxColumn textBoxColumn = new GridViewTextBoxColumn();
textBoxColumn.Name = "TextBoxColumn";
textBoxColumn.HeaderText = "Product Description";
textBoxColumn.FieldName = "Description";
textBoxColumn.MaxLength = 50;
textBoxColumn.TextAlignment = ContentAlignment.BottomRight;
textBoxColumn.Width = 250;
radGridView1.MasterTemplate.Columns.Add(textBoxColumn);
GridViewComboBoxColumn categoryColumn = new GridViewComboBoxColumn();
categoryColumn.DataType = typeof(string);
categoryColumn.Name = "CategoryColumn";
categoryColumn.FieldName = "CategoryName";
categoryColumn.HeaderText = "Category";
categoryColumn.ValueMember = "CategoryID";
categoryColumn.DisplayMember = "CategoryName";
categoryColumn.Width = 150;
radGridView1.MasterTemplate.Columns.Add(categoryColumn);
Copy[VB.NET] Adding Columns in Code at Run Time
RadGridView1.AutoGenerateColumns = False
RadGridView1.DataSource = CategoriesBindingSource

Dim textBoxColumn As New GridViewTextBoxColumn()
textBoxColumn.Name = "TextBoxColumn"
textBoxColumn.HeaderText = "Product Description"
textBoxColumn.FieldName = "Description"
textBoxColumn.MaxLength = 50
textBoxColumn.TextAlignment = ContentAlignment.BottomRight
textBoxColumn.Width = 250
RadGridView1.MasterTemplate.Columns.Add(textBoxColumn)
Dim categoryColumn As New GridViewComboBoxColumn()
categoryColumn.DataType = GetType(String)
categoryColumn.Name = "CategoryColumn"
categoryColumn.FieldName = "CategoryName"
categoryColumn.HeaderText = "Category"
categoryColumn.ValueMember = "CategoryID"
categoryColumn.DisplayMember = "CategoryName"
categoryColumn.Width = 150
RadGridView1.MasterTemplate.Columns.Add(categoryColumn)

See Also

Other Resources

Data Formatting