Exporting Collapsed Child Rows in Self-Referencing Hierarchy GridView to Excel

Updated on Jan 8, 2026

Environment

Product Version	Product	Author
2025.4.1111	RadGridView for WinForms	Dinko Krastev

Description

When exported, child rows collapse as expected initially. However, when a parent row is expanded, its child rows are no longer collapsed. In this article, we will demonstrate how to maintain this collapsible functionality for child rows even after expanding a parent row.

Solution

To export a self-referencing hierarchy GridView to Excel with child rows collapsed while preserving their collapsible functionality, follow these steps:

1. Use GridViewSpreadExport to export the GridView.
2. Set the ExportChildRowsGrouped, ExportVisualSettings, and ExportHierarchy properties to True.
3. Handle the WorkbookCreated event and hide rows based on their outline level.

C#

private void radButton1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    GridViewSpreadExport export = new GridViewSpreadExport(this.radGridView1);
    export.ExportChildRowsGrouped = true;
    export.ExportVisualSettings = true;
    export.ExportHierarchy = true;
    var renderer = new SpreadExportRenderer();
    renderer.WorkbookCreated += this.Renderer_WorkbookCreated;
    export.RunExport(@"..\..\Exported\spreadsheet" + DateTime.Now.ToString("HH-mm-ss"), renderer);
}
 
private void Renderer_WorkbookCreated(object sender, WorkbookCreatedEventArgs e)
{
    var worksheet = e.Workbook.Worksheets[0];
    CellRange usedCellRange = worksheet.UsedCellRange;
    for (int rowIndex = usedCellRange.FromIndex.RowIndex; rowIndex <= usedCellRange.ToIndex.RowIndex; rowIndex++)
    {
        RangePropertyValue<int> outlineLevelRangeValue = worksheet.Rows[rowIndex].GetOutlineLevel();
        int outLineLevel = outlineLevelRangeValue.Value;
        if (outLineLevel > 0)
        {
            RowSelection rowSelection = worksheet.Rows[rowIndex];
            rowSelection.SetHidden(true);
        }
    }
}