We are happy to announce the availability of VIBlend Silverlight Controls 6.0.  The newest version of VIBlend Silverlight Controls includes a set of new Metro UI Themes - Metro Blue, Metro Green and Metro Orange themes.

In this post we will show you how to display the WinForms GridView in a Popup control. We will also use the new Metro Blue theme.

1. The first step is to drag and drop a new instance of the VIBlend DataGridView and the ControlBox control.
The ControlBox control is a control similar to the WinForms ComboBox, but it can display any content in its Popup.

2. The next step is to initialize the Grid. We will add 5 rows and 5 columns and will populate it in unbound mode. The first column will display images in the grid cells. The rest columns will be traditional text columns.

- Create the Grid Rows and Columns:

C#

for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
{
    Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items.Add(i.ToString());
    Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items.Add("Column " + i);
}

VB .NET

For i As Integer = 0 To 4
    Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items.Add(i.ToString())
    Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items.Add("Column " & i)
Next i

Fill the first grid column with images. In order to display an image in a grid cell, you need to do two things - set the cell's display settings to DisplaySettings.ImageOnly and call the SetCellImage method passing the cell's row, column and image index parameters.

C#

Grid1.ImageList = imageList1;
HierarchyItem columnImage = Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[0];

for (int i = 0; i < Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items.Count; i++)
{
    HierarchyItem rowItem = Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items[i];
    Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellDisplaySettings(rowItem, columnImage, DisplaySettings.ImageOnly);
    Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellImage(rowItem, columnImage, i);
}

VB .NET
 
Grid1.ImageList = imageList1
Dim columnImage As HierarchyItem = Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(0)

For i As Integer = 0 To Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items.Count - 1
    Dim rowItem As HierarchyItem = Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items(i)
    Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellDisplaySettings(rowItem, columnImage, DisplaySettings.ImageOnly)
    Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellImage(rowItem, columnImage, i)
Next i

Fill the rest of the columns by using the SetCellValue method.

C#

Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items[0], Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[1], "Porsche Boxster");
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items[1], Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[1], "Acura TL");
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items[2], Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[1], "Audi A4");
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items[3], Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[1], "BMW 645Ci");
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items[4], Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[1], "BMW 760Li");

Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items[0], Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[2], true);
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items[1], Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[2], true);
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items[2], Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[2], true);
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items[3], Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[2], true);
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items[4], Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[2], true);

Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items[0], Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[3], "4 years");
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items[1], Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[3], "4 years");
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items[2], Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[3], "4 years");
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items[3], Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[3], "4 years");
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items[4], Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[3], "4 years");

Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items[0], Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[4], "www.porsche.com");
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items[1], Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[4], "www.acura.com");
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items[2], Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[4], "www.audi.com");
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items[3], Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[4], "www.bmw.com");
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items[4], Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[4], "www.bmw.com");

VB .NET

Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items(0), Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(1), "Porsche Boxster")
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items(1), Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(1), "Acura TL")
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items(2), Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(1), "Audi A4")
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items(3), Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(1), "BMW 645Ci")
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items(4), Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(1), "BMW 760Li")

Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items(0), Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(2), True)
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items(1), Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(2), True)
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items(2), Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(2), True)
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items(3), Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(2), True)
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items(4), Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(2), True)

Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items(0), Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(3), "4 years")
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items(1), Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(3), "4 years")
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items(2), Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(3), "4 years")
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items(3), Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(3), "4 years")
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items(4), Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(3), "4 years")

Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items(0), Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(4), "www.porsche.com")
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items(1), Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(4), "www.acura.com")
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items(2), Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(4), "www.audi.com")
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items(3), Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(4), "www.bmw.com")
Grid1.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Grid1.RowsHierarchy.Items(4), Grid1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(4), "www.bmw.com")

3. In order to display the Grid in the ControlBox's Popup,  you need to set the ControlBox's ContentControl property to point to the Grid instance.

C#

this.vControlBox.ContentControl = this.Grid1;

VB .NET

Me.vControlBox.ContentControl = Me.Grid1

 

CodeProject

In this post, we will show you how to use the cells merge functionality of VIBlend DataGridView for WinForms.

The first step is to add the DataGridView to your Form. You can do this by drag and drop from the Visual Studio toolbox or you can create it in the code behind.

C#

private vDataGridView grid = new vDataGridView();

public Form1()
{
    InitializeComponent();
    grid.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
    grid.VIBlendTheme = VIBLEND_THEME.NERO;
    this.Controls.Add(grid);
    this.LoadData();
    this.MergeCells();
    this.SetCellsValues();
}

VB .NET

Private grid As New vDataGridView()

Public Sub New()
    InitializeComponent()
    grid.Dock = DockStyle.Fill
    grid.VIBlendTheme = VIBLEND_THEME.NERO
    Me.Controls.Add(grid)
    Me.LoadData()
    Me.MergeCells()
    Me.SetCellsValues()
End Sub

Now, we need to implement the LoadData, MergeCells and SetCellValues methods. The LoadData method will add rows and columns to the DataGridView.

C#

private void LoadData()
{
    // add columns.
    for (int i = 1; i <= 8; i++)
    {
        grid.ColumnsHierarchy.Items.Add("Column " + i);
    }
    // add rows.
    for (int i = 1; i <= 25; i++)
    {
        grid.RowsHierarchy.Items.Add("Row " + i);
    }

    grid.RowsHierarchy.AutoResize();
    grid.ColumnsHierarchy.AutoResize();
    grid.Refresh();
}

VB .NET

Private Sub LoadData()
    ' add columns.
    For i As Integer = 1 To 8
        grid.ColumnsHierarchy.Items.Add("Column " & i)
    Next i
    ' add rows.
    For i As Integer = 1 To 25
        grid.RowsHierarchy.Items.Add("Row " & i)
    Next i

    grid.RowsHierarchy.AutoResize()
    grid.ColumnsHierarchy.AutoResize()
    grid.Refresh()
End Sub

To add rows and columns we use the Add method of the DataGridView's Rows and Columns hierarchies.

The SetCellValues method will simply insert values in the Grid cells. This will be achieved by using the SetCellValue method which accepts three parameters - row, column and cell value.

C#

private void SetCellsValues()
{
    HierarchyItem rowItem1 = grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[0];
    HierarchyItem columnItem1 = grid.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[0];

    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(rowItem1, columnItem1, "Monthly Housing and Transportation Expenses");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[1], columnItem1, "Primary residence");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[1], this.grid.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[3], "Transportation Expenses");
    // fill data

    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[2], columnItem1, "Mortgage Payment");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[3], columnItem1, "Property Tax");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[4], columnItem1, "Insurance");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[5], columnItem1, "Electricity");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[6], columnItem1, "Water");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[7], columnItem1, "Cabel TV Service");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[8], columnItem1, "High Speed Internet");

    // fill second column data.
    HierarchyItem columnItem2 = this.grid.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[1];
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[2], columnItem2, "$1,459,76");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[3], columnItem2, "$212.54");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[4], columnItem2, "$49.21");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[5], columnItem2, "$73.44");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[6], columnItem2, "$41.48");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[7], columnItem2, "$22.14");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[8], columnItem2, "$24.99");

    // fill third column data.

    HierarchyItem columnItem3 = this.grid.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[3];
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[2], columnItem3, "Vehicle 1 Payment");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[3], columnItem3, "Vehicle 1 Insurance");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[4], columnItem3, "Vehicle 1 Gas");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[5], columnItem3, "Vehicle 1 Maintenance");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[6], columnItem3, "Vehicle 2 Lease");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[7], columnItem3, "Vehicle 2 Insurance");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[8], columnItem3, "Vehicle 2 Gas");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[9], columnItem3, "Vehicle 2 Maintenance");

    // fiil fourth column data.
    HierarchyItem columnItem4 = this.grid.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[4];
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[2], columnItem4, "$351,34");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[3], columnItem4, "$55.12");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[4], columnItem4, "$129.21");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[5], columnItem4, "$55.17");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[6], columnItem4, "$311.12");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[7], columnItem4, "$109.35");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[8], columnItem4, "$114.99");
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(this.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[9], columnItem4, "$35.19");
}

VB .NET

Private Sub SetCellsValues()
    Dim rowItem1 As HierarchyItem = grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(0)
    Dim columnItem1 As HierarchyItem = grid.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(0)

    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(rowItem1, columnItem1, "Monthly Housing and Transportation Expenses")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(1), columnItem1, "Primary residence")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(1), Me.grid.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(3), "Transportation Expenses")
    ' fill data

    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(2), columnItem1, "Mortgage Payment")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(3), columnItem1, "Property Tax")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(4), columnItem1, "Insurance")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(5), columnItem1, "Electricity")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(6), columnItem1, "Water")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(7), columnItem1, "Cabel TV Service")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(8), columnItem1, "High Speed Internet")

    ' fill second column data.
    Dim columnItem2 As HierarchyItem = Me.grid.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(1)
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(2), columnItem2, "$1,459,76")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(3), columnItem2, "$212.54")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(4), columnItem2, "$49.21")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(5), columnItem2, "$73.44")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(6), columnItem2, "$41.48")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(7), columnItem2, "$22.14")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(8), columnItem2, "$24.99")

    ' fill third column data.

    Dim columnItem3 As HierarchyItem = Me.grid.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(3)
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(2), columnItem3, "Vehicle 1 Payment")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(3), columnItem3, "Vehicle 1 Insurance")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(4), columnItem3, "Vehicle 1 Gas")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(5), columnItem3, "Vehicle 1 Maintenance")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(6), columnItem3, "Vehicle 2 Lease")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(7), columnItem3, "Vehicle 2 Insurance")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(8), columnItem3, "Vehicle 2 Gas")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(9), columnItem3, "Vehicle 2 Maintenance")

    ' fiil fourth column data.
    Dim columnItem4 As HierarchyItem = Me.grid.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(4)
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(2), columnItem4, "$351,34")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(3), columnItem4, "$55.12")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(4), columnItem4, "$129.21")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(5), columnItem4, "$55.17")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(6), columnItem4, "$311.12")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(7), columnItem4, "$109.35")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(8), columnItem4, "$114.99")
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellValue(Me.grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(9), columnItem4, "$35.19")
    columnItem3.Width = 150
    columnItem1.Width = 150
    grid.Refresh()
End Sub

The MergeCells method will lllustrate how to merge grid cells by using the SetCellSpan method. When you use the SetCellSpan method, you need to pass four parameters to it - row, column, rows span and columns span. In the method we will merge cells in the first and second rows and we will also set custom visual style to the merged cells.

C#

private void MergeCells()
{
    HierarchyItem rowItem1 = grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[0];
    HierarchyItem columnItem1 = grid.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[0];

    // create a custom cell style.
    GridCellStyle style = new GridCellStyle();
    style.FillStyle = new FillStyleSolid(Color.FromArgb(255, 0, 175, 240));
    style.Font = new Font(this.Font.FontFamily, 11.0f, FontStyle.Bold);
    style.TextColor = Color.White;

    GridCellStyle orangestyle = new GridCellStyle();
    orangestyle.FillStyle = new FillStyleSolid(Color.FromArgb(255, 254, 122, 1));
    orangestyle.Font = new Font(this.Font.FontFamily, 10.0f, FontStyle.Bold);
    orangestyle.TextColor = Color.White;

    grid.CellsArea.SetCellTextAlignment(rowItem1, columnItem1, ContentAlignment.MiddleCenter);
    // set the cell span to 1 row and 5 columns.
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellSpan(rowItem1, columnItem1, 1, 5);
    // set the merged cell value and style.
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellDrawStyle(rowItem1, columnItem1, style);
    // set the cell span to 1 row and 2 columns.
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellSpan(grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[1], columnItem1, 1, 3);
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellDrawStyle(grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[1], columnItem1, orangestyle);
    // set the merged cell value.
    // set the cell span to 1 row and 2 columns.
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellSpan(grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[1], this.grid.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[3], 1, 2);
    // set the merged cell value.
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellDrawStyle(grid.RowsHierarchy.Items[1], this.grid.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[3], orangestyle);
}

VB .NET

Private Sub MergeCells()
    Dim rowItem1 As HierarchyItem = grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(0)
    Dim columnItem1 As HierarchyItem = grid.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(0)

    ' create a custom cell style.
    Dim style As New GridCellStyle()
    style.FillStyle = New FillStyleSolid(Color.FromArgb(255, 0, 175, 240))
    style.Font = New Font(Me.Font.FontFamily, 11.0f, FontStyle.Bold)
    style.TextColor = Color.White

    Dim orangestyle As New GridCellStyle()
    orangestyle.FillStyle = New FillStyleSolid(Color.FromArgb(255, 254, 122, 1))
    orangestyle.Font = New Font(Me.Font.FontFamily, 10.0f, FontStyle.Bold)
    orangestyle.TextColor = Color.White

    grid.CellsArea.SetCellTextAlignment(rowItem1, columnItem1, ContentAlignment.MiddleCenter)
    ' set the cell span to 1 row and 5 columns.
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellSpan(rowItem1, columnItem1, 1, 5)
    ' set the merged cell value and style.
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellDrawStyle(rowItem1, columnItem1, style)
    ' set the cell span to 1 row and 2 columns.
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellSpan(grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(1), columnItem1, 1, 3)
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellDrawStyle(grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(1), columnItem1, orangestyle)
    ' set the merged cell value.
    ' set the cell span to 1 row and 2 columns.
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellSpan(grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(1), Me.grid.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(3), 1, 2)
    ' set the merged cell value.
    grid.CellsArea.SetCellDrawStyle(grid.RowsHierarchy.Items(1), Me.grid.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(3), orangestyle)
End Sub

CodeProject

VIBlend WinForms DataGridView has a built-in feature which allows you to set a custom Sort comparer. In this post, we will show you how to sort the DataGridView rows or columns by label.
At first, we will create a Comparer which compares HierarchyItem objects by the HierarchyItem.Caption property.

C#

private class ItemLabelComparer : IComparer<HierarchyItem>
{
    public int Compare(HierarchyItem item1, HierarchyItem item2)
    {
        return string.Compare(item1.Caption, item2.Caption);
    }
}

VB .NET

Private Class ItemLabelComparer
    Implements IComparer(Of HierarchyItem)
    Public Function Compare(ByVal item1 As HierarchyItem, ByVal item2 As HierarchyItem) As Integer
        Return String.Compare(item1.Caption, item2.Caption)
    End Function
End Class

Create an instance of the ItemLabelComparer object and pass it to the RowsHierarchy.SortBy method. If you want to sort the ColumnsHierarchy, call the ColumnsHierarchy.SortBy method.

C#

ItemLabelComparer Comparer = new ItemLabelComparer();
 this.vDataGridView1.RowsHierarchy.SortBy(this.vDataGridView1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items[0], sorting, Comparer);
this.Refresh();

VB .NET

Dim Comparer As New ItemLabelComparer()
 Me.vDataGridView1.RowsHierarchy.SortBy(Me.vDataGridView1.ColumnsHierarchy.Items(0), sorting, Comparer)
Me.Refresh()

CodeProject

The new version of VIBlend Controls for WinForms is coming in a few weeks and will deliver an upgrade to the DataGridView control with new features, better UI and styling capabilities.

-  Extended filtering options

The DataGridView filtering window will be extended by providing an easier and user-friendly experience. The new filtering window will show a checked list, allowing for single and/or multiple selections. The previous filtering mechanism will still be available and you will be able to switch to it by clicking a single button. The filtering improvements will also include new case-sensitive filtering options.

-    Improved support for Totals

The Pivot-Table totals support will be extended by adding a capability that will allow you to display Sub-Totals, Grand-Totals or a combination of Sub-Totals and Grand-Totals

-    New Cell Editors

The new version will include several new cell editors – Currency, Percentage, Number, Mask and Fixed-Point Editors

-    New Pivot-Table Filtering and enhanced Pivot-Design panel

The DataGridView will expose a new BoundFieldsFilters collection that will allow you to filter data in the Pivot-Table and display only a subset of data that meet the filtering criteria (criteria: Conditions you specify to limit which records are included in the result set of a filter.) that you specify and hides data that you do not want displayed. The Pivot-Design panel will feature a new Filter Area box that will enable you to manipulate the BoundFieldsFilters collection by drag and drop. Another addition to the Pivot-Design panel will be the Localization support.

One of the most common data binding scenarios is to bind a DataGrid to a SQL Server Database and to load records from a specified data table. In this post, we will explain you how to set up basic data binding in VIBlend WPF DataGrid to the Customer table of the AdventureWorksLT Database.

So the first step would be to create a new WPF Application Project and then create a new instance of the DataGrid via drag and drop from the toolbox or create it programmatically. The DataGrid fields that will represent data source fields are created in XAML markup. Below you will see that we have very simple XAML for our WPF application which adds a DataGrid to the window

       <viblendDataGrid:DataGrid ItemsSource="{Binding Customer}" Name="dataGrid1" Margin="10">
            <viblendDataGrid:DataGrid.BoundFields>
                <viblendDataGrid:BoundField Text="First Name" DataField="FirstName" Width="70"/>
                <viblendDataGrid:BoundField Text="Last Name" DataField="LastName" Width="70"/>
                <viblendDataGrid:BoundField Text="Company Name" DataField="CompanyName" Width="150"/>
                <viblendDataGrid:BoundField Text="Phone" DataField="Phone" Width="100"/>
                <viblendDataGrid:BoundField Text="Email Address" DataField="EmailAddress" Width="100"/>
            </viblendDataGrid:DataGrid.BoundFields>
        </viblendDataGrid:DataGrid>

 Next, create a new AdventureWorksLTDataSet. In order to create it, do the following: Select Data->Add New DataSource->DataBase->DataSet. Add a connection to the AdventureWorksLT Database and Click the 'Next' button. Then expand the 'Tables' tree node, select Customer and click the 'Finish' button.

Note: The AdventureWorksLT Database is installed with the installation of the SQL Server. However, you can also download and install it from http://sqlserversamples.codeplex.com 
Once the Data Source is configured, create new instances of the AdventureWorksLTDataSet data set. and CustomerTableAdapter , then fill the Customer table with data. Finally, bind the VIBlend DataGrid for WPF to the Customer table.

C#

   public partial class MainWindow : Window
    {
        AdventureWorksLTDataSet dataSet = new AdventureWorksLTDataSet();
        AdventureWorksLTDataSetTableAdapters.CustomerTableAdapter adapter = new AdventureWorksLTDataSetTableAdapters.CustomerTableAdapter();
   
        public MainWindow()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
            adapter.Fill(dataSet.Customer);
            this.dataGrid1.DataContext = this;
        }

        public WpfApplication2.AdventureWorksLTDataSet.CustomerDataTable Customer
        {
            get
            {
                return this.dataSet.Customer;
            }
        }
    }

VB .NET

   Partial Public Class MainWindow
       Inherits Window
        Private dataSet As New AdventureWorksLTDataSet()
        Private adapter As New AdventureWorksLTDataSetTableAdapters.CustomerTableAdapter()

        Public Sub New()
            InitializeComponent()
            adapter.Fill(dataSet.Customer)
            Me.dataGrid1.DataContext = Me
        End Sub

        Public ReadOnly Property Customer() As WpfApplication2.AdventureWorksLTDataSet.CustomerDataTable
            Get
                Return Me.dataSet.Customer
            End Get
        End Property
   End Class

 

One of the key features that you can expect in the new release is the Pivot Design Panel.  The Pivot Design panel integrates with VIBlend DataGrid for Windows Forms. It provides an intuitive and easy to use drag and drop interface for defining pivot table views. You can choose the pivot rows, pivot colums, data fields and data aggregation functions.  This solution is ideal for building a wide range of in-house OLAP and BI applications.

Another improvement will be the DataGrid’s Localization Provider that enables you to localize the ContextMenu and FilteringWindow strings.

For more information regarding the new release, feel free to contact us at support@viblend.com

We are proud to announce the release of the latest version of VIBlend Silverlight Controls.

The new edition includes many improvements in VIBlend’s OLAP Grid for Silverlight:

• Significantly better performance
• Lower memory use
• Data binding improvements and LINQ support
• Layout enhancements with variable height columns
• Pivot table sorting by label
• Better design time support in Visual Studio 2010 Beta

The release of version 1.3 brings a new Silverlight TreeView control loaded with advanced features, stylish animations and offering easy to use and flexible programming model.

See our Silverlight Controls Live Demo and Download a free trial today.

In a typical data grid, the data is flat and consists of many rows and columns. The data may contain cells with same values and working with the raw data may not be the best way to spot patterns and analyze trends. Many data grid controls provide rows grouping functionality which allows you to group multiple rows by columns where the corresponding grid cells have the same value.
Pivot tables go one step further and enable powerful data analysis. A Pivot table consists of rows, columns and data (value/fact) fields.
VIBlend DataGrid for Silverlight features a built-in data aggregation engine which is capable of turning any tabular data source into a wide variety of cross tab views. This is similar to the Pivot tables functionality in Excel. Creating a Pivot table with VIBlend DataGrid for Silverlight is very easy. In fact, the data binding to the data source is no different than data binding any other control to a collection. Assume that you have a table with five columns: Country, Region, City, ShipperCompany and ExtendedPrice. You need to choose the columns from the data source and add them to the BoundFields collection:

  CSharp:

pivotGrid1.BoundFields.Add(new BoundField("Country", "Country"));
pivotGrid1.BoundFields.Add(new BoundField("Region", "Region"));
pivotGrid1.BoundFields.Add(new BoundField("City", "City"));
pivotGrid1.BoundFields.Add(new BoundField(
"Shipper Company ", "ShipperCompany"));
pivotGrid1.BoundFields.Add(new BoundField(
"ExtendedPrice", "ExtendedPrice"));

Using this code, once you data bind to the data source, the grid will display all table rows and the five columns: Country, Region, City, Carrier, Extended Price.
However, let’s look at a scenario where we want to show count of sales, amount of sales, and average sale amount grouped by Country, by Region and by City, and do that for each Shipper Company.
This requires only a few extra lines of code:

1. Assign the Country, Region and City fields to form the Rows hierarchy:

CSharp:

pivotGrid1.BoundPivotRows.Add(new BoundField("Country", "Country"));
pivotGrid1.BoundPivotRows.Add(new BoundField("Region", "Region"));
pivotGrid1.BoundPivotRows.Add(new BoundField("City", "City"));

2. Assign the ShipperCompany field to form the Columns hierarchy:

CSharp:

pivotGrid1.BoundPivotColumns.Add(new BoundField(
"Shipper Company", "ShipperCompany"));

3. Assign the ExtendedPrice field to form the facts/values for count of sales, sales amount, and average sale amount:

CSharp:

pivotGrid1.BoundPivotValues.Add(new BoundValueField("Count of Sales", "ExtendedPrice", PivotFieldFunction.Count));
pivotGrid1.BoundPivotValues.Add(new BoundValueField("Amount of Sales", "ExtendedPrice", PivotFieldFunction.Sum));
pivotGrid1.BoundPivotValues.Add(new BoundValueField("Avg Sale Amount", "ExtendedPrice", PivotFieldFunction.Average));

4. Specify if the value/fact columns appear attached to the rows or to the columns:

CSharp:

pivotGrid1.PivotValuesOnRows = false;

During the data binding process, the OLAP engine in VIBlend DataGrid for Silverlight will parse the table content, build the rows and columns hierarchies, and compute the pivot table cell values. The result will be the following pivot table view:

You can learn more and see a Live demo at: http://www.viblend.com