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.NET Framework 3.5

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

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.NET Framework Class Library
ITypedList Interface

Provides functionality to discover the schema for a bindable list, where the properties available for binding differ from the public properties of the object to bind to.

Namespace:  System.ComponentModel
Assembly:  System (in System.dll)
Visual Basic (Declaration)
Public Interface ITypedList
Visual Basic (Usage)
Dim instance As ITypedList
C#
public interface ITypedList
Visual C++
public interface class ITypedList
JScript
public interface ITypedList

Use this interface if, for instance, you are using a DataView object that represents a customer table, you want to bind to the properties on the customer object that the DataView represents, not the properties of the DataView.

This interface is not required for design-time support of a bindable list.

Binding to data can occur either at run time or in a designer, but there are rules for both. At run time, you can bind to data in any of the following:

  • Array

  • Implementer of IList, provided the implementer has a strongly typed Item property (that is, the Type is anything but Object). You can accomplish this by making the default implementation of Item private. If you want to create an IList that follows the rules of a strongly typed collection, you should derive from CollectionBase.

  • Implementer of ITypedList.

In a designer, you can initialize binding to Component objects by following the same rules.

For more information on binding to a data source, see the System.Windows.Forms..::.Binding class.

The following code example demonstrates how to implement the ITypedList interface. A generic type named SortableBindingList derives from the BindingList<(Of <(T>)>) class and implements the ITypedList interface. For a full code listing, see How to: Implement the ITypedList Interface.

Visual Basic
Imports System.ComponentModel
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Windows.Forms

<Serializable()> _
Public Class SortableBindingList(Of Tkey)
    Inherits BindingList(Of Tkey)
    Implements ITypedList

    <NonSerialized()> _
    Private properties As PropertyDescriptorCollection

    Public Sub New()
        MyBase.New()

        ' Get the 'shape' of the list. 
        ' Only get the public properties marked with Browsable = true.
        Dim pdc As PropertyDescriptorCollection = TypeDescriptor.GetProperties(GetType(Tkey), New Attribute() {New BrowsableAttribute(True)})

        ' Sort the properties.
        properties = pdc.Sort()

    End Sub

#Region "ITypedList Implementation"

    Public Function GetItemProperties(ByVal listAccessors() As System.ComponentModel.PropertyDescriptor) As System.ComponentModel.PropertyDescriptorCollection Implements System.ComponentModel.ITypedList.GetItemProperties

        Dim pdc As PropertyDescriptorCollection = Nothing

        If listAccessors Is Nothing Then
            ' Return properties in sort order
            pdc = properties
        Else
            ' Return child list shape
            pdc = ListBindingHelper.GetListItemProperties(listAccessors(0).PropertyType)
        End If
        Return pdc

    End Function

    ' This method is only used in the design-time framework 
    ' and by the obsolete DataGrid control.
    Public Function GetListName( _
    ByVal listAccessors() As PropertyDescriptor) As String _
    Implements System.ComponentModel.ITypedList.GetListName

        Return GetType(Tkey).Name

    End Function

#End Region

End Class

C#
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Collections;
using System.Reflection;

namespace ITypedListCS
{
    [Serializable()]
    public class SortableBindingList<T> : BindingList<T>, ITypedList
    {
        [NonSerialized()]
        private PropertyDescriptorCollection properties;

        public SortableBindingList() : base()
        {
            // Get the 'shape' of the list. 
            // Only get the public properties marked with Browsable = true.
            PropertyDescriptorCollection pdc = TypeDescriptor.GetProperties(
                typeof(T), 
                new Attribute[] { new BrowsableAttribute(true) });

            // Sort the properties.
            properties = pdc.Sort();
        }

        #region ITypedList Implementation

        public PropertyDescriptorCollection GetItemProperties(PropertyDescriptor[] listAccessors)
        {
            PropertyDescriptorCollection pdc = null;

            if (null == listAccessors)
            {
                // Return properties in sort order.
                pdc = properties;
            }
            else
            {
                // Return child list shape.
                pdc = ListBindingHelper.GetListItemProperties(listAccessors[0].PropertyType);
            }

            return pdc;
        }

        // This method is only used in the design-time framework 
        // and by the obsolete DataGrid control.
        public string GetListName(PropertyDescriptor[] listAccessors)
        {   
            return typeof(T).Name;
        }

        #endregion
    }
}

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The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.1, 1.0

.NET Compact Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 2.0, 1.0

XNA Framework

Supported in: 3.0, 2.0, 1.0
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Obtaining Child List Shape      Quality Software Construction   |   Edit   |   Show History

If you need to support multiple levels of child lists (or sub-properties) nesting it is neccesary to replace the line:

pdc = ListBindingHelper.GetListItemProperties(listAccessors[0].PropertyType);

with

pdc = ListBindingHelper.GetListItemProperties(listAccessors[listAccessors.Length - 1].PropertyType);
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