# Binding to Hierarchical Data Automatically

## Generating Two-Level Hierarchy

| RELATED VIDEOS                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
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| [RadGridView for WinForms Hierarchy Overview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3cR7A5VjdY\&index=11\&list=PLvmaC-XMqeBaRgdM2nVNSM-0SSG_xbjSN)<br>In this video you will learn the various ways you can display hierarchical data in a RadGridView. (Runtime: 12:13) | ![WinForms RadGridView Two-Level Hierarchy Tutorial](https://www.telerik.com/products/winforms/documentation/assets/619ce88f604aac6ad8a447f6afc48e58/gridview-hierarchical-grid-binding-to-hierarchical-data001.png) |

At runtime, if the data source for the grid is a **System.Data.DataSet** type and there are relations defined in it, the hierarchy can be created automatically. Set the **AutoGenerateHierarchy** property	*true* to get this behavior. In the example below, the Northwind dataset has `Categories` and `Products` joined by `CategoryID`.

<br>![WinForms RadGridView AutoGenerateHierarchy](https://www.telerik.com/products/winforms/documentation/assets/3069d7b6c45f76e4d8817215f40bccd9/gridview-hierarchical-grid-binding-to-hierarchical-data-automatically004.png)

The run-time code fills the categories and products data tables, sets the **AutoGenerateHierarchy** to *true*, assigns the data set containing both tables to the grid **DataSource** and the **DataMember** is the name of the parent table. The last three lines of code below can be configured at design time.

```C#

private void BindingToHierarchicalGridAutomatically_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    this.productsTableAdapter.Fill(this.nwindDataSet.Products);
    this.categoriesTableAdapter.Fill(this.nwindDataSet.Categories);
    radGridView1.AutoGenerateHierarchy = true;
    radGridView1.DataSource = this.nwindDataSet;
    radGridView1.DataMember = "Categories";
}

```

```VB.NET
Private Sub BindingToHierarchicalGridAutomatically_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
    'TODO: This line of code loads data into the 'NwindDataSet.Order_Details' table. You can move, or remove it, as needed.
    Me.Order_DetailsTableAdapter.Fill(Me.NwindDataSet.Order_Details)
    'TODO: This line of code loads data into the 'NwindDataSet.Order_Details' table. You can move, or remove it, as needed.

    Me.ProductsTableAdapter.Fill(Me.NwindDataSet.Products)
    Me.CategoriesTableAdapter.Fill(Me.NwindDataSet.Categories)
    RadGridView1.AutoGenerateHierarchy = True
    RadGridView1.DataSource = Me.NwindDataSet
    RadGridView1.DataMember = "Categories"
End Sub
```

## Generating Multi-Level Hierarchy

It is possible to auto generate Multi-level hierarchy as well. You should again set the **DataSource** and **AutoGenerateHierarachy** properties. Here are the three data tables from the Northwind database, used in the code snippet to generate the three-level hierarchy:

![WinForms RadGridView Multi-Level Hierarchy](https://www.telerik.com/products/winforms/documentation/assets/d5ece98fab0845a03cf64a09d1776b3f/gridview-hierarchical-grid-binding-to-hierarchical-data-automatically002.png)

```C#

public void Dummy()
{ 
    this.productsTableAdapter.Fill(this.nwindDataSet.Products);
    this.categoriesTableAdapter.Fill(this.nwindDataSet.Categories);
    this.order_DetailsTableAdapter.Fill(this.nwindDataSet.Order_Details);
    radGridView1.DataSource = nwindDataSet;
    radGridView1.DataMember = "Categories";
    radGridView1.AutoGenerateHierarchy = true;
}

```

```VB.NET

Public Sub Dummy()
    Me.ProductsTableAdapter.Fill(Me.NwindDataSet.Products)
    Me.CategoriesTableAdapter.Fill(Me.NwindDataSet.Categories)
    RadGridView1.DataSource = NwindDataSet
    RadGridView1.DataMember = "Categories"
    RadGridView1.AutoGenerateHierarchy = True
End Sub
```

![WinForms RadGridView AutoGenerateHierarchy](https://www.telerik.com/products/winforms/documentation/assets/8c0f278335e089376447e9b947513615/gridview-hierarchical-grid-binding-to-hierarchical-data-automatically003.png)

## See Also

* [Binding to Hierarchical Data Programmatically](https://www.telerik.com/products/winforms/documentation/controls/gridview/hierarchical-grid/binding-to-hierarchical-data-programmatically)

* [Binding to Hierarchical Data](https://www.telerik.com/products/winforms/documentation/controls/gridview/hierarchical-grid/binding-to-hierarchical-data)

* [Creating hierarchy using an XML data source](https://www.telerik.com/products/winforms/documentation/controls/gridview/hierarchical-grid/creating-hierarchy-using-an-xml-data-source)

* [Hierarchy of one to many relations](https://www.telerik.com/products/winforms/documentation/controls/gridview/hierarchical-grid/hierarchy-of-one-to-many-relations)

* [Load-On-Demand Hierarchy](https://www.telerik.com/products/winforms/documentation/controls/gridview/hierarchical-grid/load-on-demand-hierarchy)

* [Object Relational Hierarchy Mode](https://www.telerik.com/products/winforms/documentation/controls/gridview/hierarchical-grid/object-relational-hierarchy-mode)

* [Self-Referencing Hierarchy](https://www.telerik.com/products/winforms/documentation/controls/gridview/hierarchical-grid/self-referencing-hierarchy)

* [Tutorial Binding to Hierarchical Data](https://www.telerik.com/products/winforms/documentation/controls/gridview/hierarchical-grid/tutorial-binding-to-hierarchical-data)