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DataGridViewComboBoxColumn Class

Represents a column of DataGridViewComboBoxCell objects.

Namespace:  System.Windows.Forms
Assembly:  System.Windows.Forms (in System.Windows.Forms.dll)

'Declaration
<ToolboxBitmapAttribute(GetType(DataGridViewComboBoxColumn), "DataGridViewComboBoxColumn.bmp")> _
Public Class DataGridViewComboBoxColumn _
	Inherits DataGridViewColumn
'Usage
Dim instance As DataGridViewComboBoxColumn

The DataGridViewComboBoxColumn class is a specialized type of DataGridViewColumn used to logically host cells that enable users to select values from a list of choices. A DataGridViewComboBoxColumn has an associated DataGridViewComboBoxCell in every DataGridViewRow that intersects it.

You can populate the cells manually by setting their Value properties. Alternatively, you can bind the column to the data source indicated by the DataGridView.DataSource property. If the DataGridView is bound to a database table, set the column DataPropertyName property to the name of a column in the table. If the DataGridView is bound to a collection of objects, set the DataPropertyName property to the name of an object property.

You can populate the column drop-down list manually by adding values to the Items collection. Alternatively, you can bind the drop-down list to its own data source by setting the column DataSource property. If the values are objects in a collection or records in a database table, you must also set the DisplayMember and ValueMember properties. The DisplayMember property indicates which object property or database column provides the values that are displayed in the drop-down list. The ValueMember property indicates which object property or database column is used to set the cell Value property.

One typical scenario is to bind the DataGridView control to a parent database table and bind the drop-down list to a related child table. For example, you might bind the DataGridView control to an Orders table that contains a ProductID column and set the column DataSource property to a Products table that contains ProductID and ProductName columns. In this case, you would set the column DataPropertyName property to "ProductID" to populate its cell values from the Orders.ProductID column. However, to display the actual product names in the cells and the drop-down list, you would map these values to the Products table by setting the ValueMember property to "ProductID" and the DisplayMember property to "ProductName".

The drop-down list values (or the values indicated by the ValueMember property) must include the actual cell values or the DataGridView control will throw an exception.

Setting the column DataSource, DisplayMember, and ValueMember properties automatically sets the corresponding properties of all cells in the column including the CellTemplate. To override these property values for specific cells, set the column property first, and then set the cell properties.

Unlike the ComboBox control, the DataGridViewComboBoxCell does not have SelectedIndex and SelectedValue properties. Instead, selecting a value from a drop-down list sets the cell Value property.

The default sort mode for this column type is NotSortable.

Notes to Inheritors:

When you derive from DataGridViewComboBoxColumn and add new properties to the derived class, be sure to override the Clone method to copy the new properties during cloning operations. You should also call the base class's Clone method so that the properties of the base class are copied to the new cell.

The following code example demonstrates how to use a DataGridViewComboBoxColumn to aid in entering data into the TitleOfCourtesy column.

Imports System
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
Imports System.Windows.Forms
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Drawing

Public Class Employees
    Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form

    Private WithEvents DataGridView1 As New DataGridView
    Private WithEvents DataGridView2 As New DataGridView

    <STAThreadAttribute()> _
    Public Shared Sub Main()
        Try
            Application.EnableVisualStyles()
            Application.Run(New Employees())
        Catch e As Exception
            MessageBox.Show(e.Message & e.StackTrace)
        End Try 
    End Sub 

    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
        ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load

        Try
            SetUpForm()
            SetUpDataGridView1()
            SetUpDataGridView2()
        Catch ex As SqlException
            MessageBox.Show("The connection string <" _
                & connectionString _
                & "> failed to connect.  Modify it to connect to " _
                & "a Northwind database accessible to your system.", _
                "ERROR", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Exclamation)
            Application.Exit()
        End Try 
    End Sub 

    Private Sub SetUpForm()
        Size = New Size(800, 600)
        Dim flowLayout As New FlowLayoutPanel()
        flowLayout.FlowDirection = FlowDirection.TopDown
        flowLayout.Dock = DockStyle.Fill
        Controls.Add(flowLayout)
        Text = "DataGridView columns demo"

        flowLayout.Controls.Add(DataGridView1)
        flowLayout.Controls.Add(DataGridView2)
    End Sub 

    Private Sub SetUpDataGridView2()
        DataGridView2.Dock = DockStyle.Bottom
        DataGridView2.TopLeftHeaderCell.Value = "Sales Details"
        DataGridView2.RowHeadersWidthSizeMode = _
        DataGridViewRowHeadersWidthSizeMode.AutoSizeToAllHeaders
    End Sub 

    Private Sub SetUpDataGridView1()
        ' Virtual mode is turned on so that the 
        ' unbound DataGridViewCheckBoxColumn will 
        ' keep its state when the bound columns are 
        ' sorted.
        DataGridView1.VirtualMode = True

        DataGridView1.AutoSize = True
        DataGridView1.DataSource = _
            Populate("SELECT * FROM Employees")
        DataGridView1.TopLeftHeaderCell.Value = "Employees"
        DataGridView1.RowHeadersWidthSizeMode = _
            DataGridViewRowHeadersWidthSizeMode.AutoSizeToAllHeaders
        DataGridView1.ColumnHeadersHeightSizeMode = _
            DataGridViewColumnHeadersHeightSizeMode.AutoSize
        DataGridView1.AutoSizeColumnsMode = _
            DataGridViewAutoSizeColumnsMode.AllCells
        DataGridView1.AllowUserToAddRows = False
        DataGridView1.AllowUserToDeleteRows = False 

        ' The below autogenerated column is removed so  
        ' a DataGridViewComboboxColumn could be used instead.
        DataGridView1.Columns.Remove( _
            ColumnName.TitleOfCourtesy.ToString())
        DataGridView1.Columns.Remove(ColumnName.ReportsTo.ToString())

        AddLinkColumn()
        AddComboBoxColumns()
        AddButtonColumn()
        AddOutOfOfficeColumn()
    End Sub 

    Private Sub AddComboBoxColumns()
        Dim comboboxColumn As DataGridViewComboBoxColumn
        comboboxColumn = CreateComboBoxColumn()
        SetAlternateChoicesUsingDataSource(comboboxColumn)
        comboboxColumn.HeaderText = _
            "TitleOfCourtesy (via DataSource property)"
        DataGridView1.Columns.Insert(0, comboboxColumn)

        comboboxColumn = CreateComboBoxColumn()
        SetAlternateChoicesUsingItems(comboboxColumn)
        comboboxColumn.HeaderText = _
            "TitleOfCourtesy (via Items property)" 
        ' Tack this example column onto the end.
        DataGridView1.Columns.Add(comboboxColumn)
    End Sub 

    Private Sub AddLinkColumn()

        Dim links As New DataGridViewLinkColumn()
        With links
            .UseColumnTextForLinkValue = True
            .HeaderText = ColumnName.ReportsTo.ToString()
            .DataPropertyName = ColumnName.ReportsTo.ToString()
            .ActiveLinkColor = Color.White
            .LinkBehavior = LinkBehavior.SystemDefault
            .LinkColor = Color.Blue
            .TrackVisitedState = True
            .VisitedLinkColor = Color.YellowGreen
        End With
        DataGridView1.Columns.Add(links)
    End Sub 

    Private Shared Sub SetAlternateChoicesUsingItems( _
        ByVal comboboxColumn As DataGridViewComboBoxColumn)

        comboboxColumn.Items.AddRange("Mr.", "Ms.", "Mrs.", "Dr.")

    End Sub 

    Private Function CreateComboBoxColumn() _
        As DataGridViewComboBoxColumn
        Dim column As New DataGridViewComboBoxColumn()

        With column
            .DataPropertyName = ColumnName.TitleOfCourtesy.ToString()
            .HeaderText = ColumnName.TitleOfCourtesy.ToString()
            .DropDownWidth = 160
            .Width = 90
            .MaxDropDownItems = 3
            .FlatStyle = FlatStyle.Flat
        End With 
        Return column
    End Function 

    Private Sub SetAlternateChoicesUsingDataSource( _
        ByVal comboboxColumn As DataGridViewComboBoxColumn)
        With comboboxColumn
            .DataSource = RetrieveAlternativeTitles()
            .ValueMember = ColumnName.TitleOfCourtesy.ToString()
            .DisplayMember = .ValueMember
        End With 
    End Sub 

    Private Function RetrieveAlternativeTitles() As DataTable
        Return Populate( _
            "SELECT distinct TitleOfCourtesy FROM Employees")
    End Function 

    Private connectionString As String = _
            "Integrated Security=SSPI;Persist Security Info=False;" _
            & "Initial Catalog=Northwind;Data Source=localhost" 

    Private Function Populate(ByVal sqlCommand As String) As DataTable
        Dim northwindConnection As New SqlConnection(connectionString)
        northwindConnection.Open()

        Dim command As New SqlCommand(sqlCommand, _
            northwindConnection)
        Dim adapter As New SqlDataAdapter()
        adapter.SelectCommand = command
        Dim table As New DataTable()
        table.Locale = System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture
        adapter.Fill(table)

        Return table
    End Function 

    ' Using an enum provides some abstraction between column index 
    ' and column name along with compile time checking, and gives 
    ' a handy place to store the column names. 
    Enum ColumnName
        EmployeeId
        LastName
        FirstName
        Title
        TitleOfCourtesy
        BirthDate
        HireDate
        Address
        City
        Region
        PostalCode
        Country
        HomePhone
        Extension
        Photo
        Notes
        ReportsTo
        PhotoPath
        OutOfOffice
    End Enum 

    Private Sub AddButtonColumn()
        Dim buttons As New DataGridViewButtonColumn()
        With buttons
            .HeaderText = "Sales"
            .Text = "Sales"
            .UseColumnTextForButtonValue = True
            .AutoSizeMode = DataGridViewAutoSizeColumnMode.DisplayedCells
            .FlatStyle = FlatStyle.Standard
            .CellTemplate.Style.BackColor = Color.Honeydew
            .DisplayIndex = 0
        End With

        DataGridView1.Columns.Add(buttons)

    End Sub 

    Private Sub AddOutOfOfficeColumn()
        Dim column As New DataGridViewCheckBoxColumn()
        With column
            .HeaderText = ColumnName.OutOfOffice.ToString()
            .Name = ColumnName.OutOfOffice.ToString()
            .AutoSizeMode = DataGridViewAutoSizeColumnMode.DisplayedCells
            .FlatStyle = FlatStyle.Standard
            .CellTemplate = New DataGridViewCheckBoxCell()
            .CellTemplate.Style.BackColor = Color.Beige
        End With

        DataGridView1.Columns.Insert(0, column)
    End Sub 

    Private Sub PopulateSales( _
        ByVal buttonClick As DataGridViewCellEventArgs)

        Dim employeeId As String = _
            DataGridView1.Rows(buttonClick.RowIndex). _
            Cells(ColumnName.EmployeeId.ToString()).Value().ToString()
        DataGridView2.DataSource = Populate( _
            "SELECT * FROM Orders WHERE EmployeeId = " & employeeId)
    End Sub

#Region "SQL Error handling" 
    Private Sub DataGridView1_DataError(ByVal sender As Object, _
    ByVal e As DataGridViewDataErrorEventArgs) _
    Handles DataGridView1.DataError

        MessageBox.Show("Error happened " _
            & e.Context.ToString())

        If (e.Context = DataGridViewDataErrorContexts.Commit) _
            Then
            MessageBox.Show("Commit error")
        End If 
        If (e.Context = DataGridViewDataErrorContexts _
            .CurrentCellChange) Then
            MessageBox.Show("Cell change")
        End If 
        If (e.Context = DataGridViewDataErrorContexts.Parsing) _
            Then
            MessageBox.Show("parsing error")
        End If 
        If (e.Context = _
            DataGridViewDataErrorContexts.LeaveControl) Then
            MessageBox.Show("leave control error")
        End If 

        If (TypeOf (e.Exception) Is ConstraintException) Then 
            Dim view As DataGridView = CType(sender, DataGridView)
            view.Rows(e.RowIndex).ErrorText = "an error"
            view.Rows(e.RowIndex).Cells(e.ColumnIndex) _
                .ErrorText = "an error"

            e.ThrowException = False 
        End If 
    End Sub
#End Region

    Private Sub DataGridView1_CellContentClick(ByVal sender As Object, _
        ByVal e As DataGridViewCellEventArgs) _
        Handles DataGridView1.CellContentClick

        If IsANonHeaderLinkCell(e) Then
            MoveToLinked(e)
        ElseIf IsANonHeaderButtonCell(e) Then
            PopulateSales(e)
        End If 
    End Sub 

    Private Sub MoveToLinked(ByVal e As DataGridViewCellEventArgs)
        Dim employeeId As String 
        Dim value As Object = DataGridView1.Rows(e.RowIndex). _
            Cells(e.ColumnIndex).Value
        If value.GetType Is GetType(DBNull) Then Return

        employeeId = CType(value, String)
        Dim boss As DataGridViewCell = _
            RetrieveSuperiorsLastNameCell(employeeId)
        If boss IsNot Nothing Then
            DataGridView1.CurrentCell = boss
        End If 
    End Sub 

    Private Function IsANonHeaderLinkCell(ByVal cellEvent As _
        DataGridViewCellEventArgs) As Boolean 

        If TypeOf DataGridView1.Columns(cellEvent.ColumnIndex) _
            Is DataGridViewLinkColumn _
            AndAlso Not cellEvent.RowIndex = -1 Then _
            Return True Else Return False 

    End Function 

    Private Function IsANonHeaderButtonCell(ByVal cellEvent As _
        DataGridViewCellEventArgs) As Boolean 

        If TypeOf DataGridView1.Columns(cellEvent.ColumnIndex) _
            Is DataGridViewButtonColumn _
            AndAlso Not cellEvent.RowIndex = -1 Then _
            Return True Else Return (False)

    End Function 

    Private Function RetrieveSuperiorsLastNameCell( _
        ByVal employeeId As String) As DataGridViewCell

        For Each row As DataGridViewRow In DataGridView1.Rows
            If row.IsNewRow Then Return Nothing 
            If row.Cells(ColumnName.EmployeeId.ToString()). _
                Value.ToString().Equals(employeeId) Then 
                Return row.Cells(ColumnName.LastName.ToString())
            End If 
        Next 
        Return Nothing 
    End Function

#Region "checkbox state" 
    Dim inOffice As New Dictionary(Of String, Boolean)
    Private Sub DataGridView1_CellValuePushed(ByVal sender As Object, _
     ByVal e As DataGridViewCellValueEventArgs) _
        Handles DataGridView1.CellValuePushed

        If IsCheckBoxColumn(e.ColumnIndex) Then 
            Dim employeeId As String = GetKey(e)
            If Not inOffice.ContainsKey(employeeId) Then
                inOffice.Add(employeeId, CType(e.Value, Boolean))
            Else
                inOffice.Item(employeeId) = CType(e.Value, Boolean)
            End If 
        End If 
    End Sub 

    Private Function GetKey(ByVal cell As DataGridViewCellValueEventArgs) As String 
        Return DataGridView1.Rows(cell.RowIndex).Cells( _
            ColumnName.EmployeeId.ToString()).Value().ToString()
    End Function 

    Private Sub DataGridView1_CellValueNeeded(ByVal sender As Object, _
     ByVal e As DataGridViewCellValueEventArgs) _
        Handles DataGridView1.CellValueNeeded

        If IsCheckBoxColumn(e.ColumnIndex) Then 
            Dim employeeId As String = GetKey(e)
            If Not inOffice.ContainsKey(employeeId) Then 
                Dim defaultValue As Boolean = False
                inOffice.Add(employeeId, defaultValue)
            End If

            e.Value = inOffice.Item(employeeId)
        End If 
    End Sub 

    Private Function IsCheckBoxColumn(ByVal columnIndex As Integer) As Boolean 

        Dim outOfOfficeColumn As DataGridViewColumn = _
            DataGridView1.Columns(ColumnName.OutOfOffice.ToString())
        Return (DataGridView1.Columns(columnIndex) Is outOfOfficeColumn)

    End Function
#End Region

End Class

Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98

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
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