Apply Formatting Only To Cells in a Child Template

Updated on Sep 14, 2026

In a hierarchical RadGridView, a cell belongs to a child template when its ViewTemplate.Parent property is not null. Use this condition in a ViewCellFormatting event to limit visual changes to child templates only.

Example 1: Format Data Cells in Child Templates

Use the following example to change the BackColor of data cells in child templates only:

C#

void radGridView1_ViewCellFormatting(object sender, CellFormattingEventArgs e)
{
    if (e.CellElement.ViewTemplate.Parent != null)
    {
        e.CellElement.BackColor = Color.Yellow;
        e.CellElement.NumberOfColors = 1;
        e.CellElement.DrawFill = true;
    }
}

VB.NET

Private Sub RadGridView1_ViewCellFormatting(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As Telerik.WinControls.UI.CellFormattingEventArgs) Handles RadGridView1.ViewCellFormatting
    If e.CellElement.ViewTemplate.Parent IsNot Nothing Then
        e.CellElement.BackColor = Color.Yellow
        e.CellElement.NumberOfColors = 1
        e.CellElement.DrawFill = True
    End If
End Sub

Example 2: Set the Header Height in a Child Template

Use the following example to change the header height of the first-level child template:

C#

void radGridView1_ViewCellFormatting1(object sender, CellFormattingEventArgs e)
{
    if (e.CellElement.ViewTemplate.Parent != null)
    {
        e.CellElement.TableElement.TableHeaderHeight = 100;
    }
}

VB.NET

Private Sub RadGridView1_ViewCellFormatting1(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As Telerik.WinControls.UI.CellFormattingEventArgs) Handles RadGridView1.ViewCellFormatting
    If e.CellElement.ViewTemplate.Parent IsNot Nothing Then
        e.CellElement.TableElement.TableHeaderHeight = 100
    End If
End Sub

Example 3: Highlight Header Cells in Child Templates

Use the following example to change the background color of header cells and highlight them only in child templates.

C#

private void radGridView1_ViewCellFormatting(object sender, CellFormattingEventArgs e)
{
    if (e.CellElement is GridHeaderCellElement && e.CellElement.ViewTemplate.Parent != null)
    {
        e.CellElement.DrawFill = true;
        e.CellElement.GradientStyle = GradientStyles.Solid;
        e.CellElement.BackColor = Color.LightYellow;
    }
    else if (e.CellElement is GridHeaderCellElement)
    {
        e.CellElement.ResetValue(LightVisualElement.BackColorProperty, ValueResetFlags.Local);
        e.CellElement.ResetValue(LightVisualElement.GradientStyleProperty, ValueResetFlags.Local);
        e.CellElement.ResetValue(LightVisualElement.DrawFillProperty, ValueResetFlags.Local);
    }
}

VB.NET

Private Sub RadGridView1_ViewCellFormatting(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As CellFormattingEventArgs)
    If TypeOf e.CellElement Is GridHeaderCellElement AndAlso e.CellElement.ViewTemplate.Parent IsNot Nothing Then
        e.CellElement.DrawFill = True
        e.CellElement.GradientStyle = GradientStyles.Solid
        e.CellElement.BackColor = Color.LightYellow
    ElseIf TypeOf e.CellElement Is GridHeaderCellElement Then
        e.CellElement.ResetValue(LightVisualElement.BackColorProperty, ValueResetFlags.Local)
        e.CellElement.ResetValue(LightVisualElement.GradientStyleProperty, ValueResetFlags.Local)
        e.CellElement.ResetValue(LightVisualElement.DrawFillProperty, ValueResetFlags.Local)
    End If
End Sub

See Also

• Accessing Child Templates

• Expanding all rows

• Iterating the child rows collection of a chosen parent row in hierarchy RadGridView

• Resizing child GridViewInfo