Autocomplete logic with 'Contains' instead of 'Starts with' on GridViewComboBoxColumn

[Francois]

Hi, I'm looking for a way to modify the AutoComplete mechanism to filter using 'Contains' instead of 'Starts with' when the user types.

I've seen this functionality is available on the ASP.NET and WPF controls, but haven't found a way to use it or implement it my own way with the WinForms controls.

Thanks!

[Martin Vasilev]

Hi Francois,

Thank you for writing.

RadGridView does not have the required functionality built-in. However, it is possible to implement it through customizing the combo-box editor. Please consider the following code sample:

    void radGridView1_CellEditorInitialized(object sender, GridViewCellEventArgs e)
    {
        RadDropDownListEditor dropDownEditor = this.radGridView1.ActiveEditor as RadDropDownListEditor;
        if (dropDownEditor != null)
        {
            RadDropDownListEditorElement dropDownEditorElement = (RadDropDownListEditorElement)dropDownEditor.EditorElement;

            dropDownEditorElement.AutoCompleteMode = AutoCompleteMode.Suggest;
            dropDownEditorElement.AutoCompleteSuggest = new CustomAutoSuggestHelper(dropDownEditorElement);
            dropDownEditorElement.DropDownStyle = RadDropDownStyle.DropDown;
        }
    }

public class CustomAutoSuggestHelper : AutoCompleteSuggestHelper
{
    public CustomAutoSuggestHelper(RadDropDownListElement owner)
        : base(owner)
    {
    }

    protected override bool DefaultFilter(RadListDataItem item)
    {
        return item.Text.Contains(this.Filter);
    }
}

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions. 

Kind regards,
Martin Vasilev
the Telerik team