Binding a custom class to a DataGrid

[GingerNinja]

Hi Everybody, its about my 4th day on C# and all seems to be going
smoothly however I've started to get into Datagrids and in particular
binding data sources to them. In the documentation it says I can bind
all the usual Datasets etc but it also says I can bind the following:

Any component that implements the IListSource interface
Any component that implements the IList interface

Now I have a class that holds lots of repeating data, and to save me
having to create datasets and looping through adding the data manually
then binding to the datagrid. It would be great to implement the IList
or IListSource interface, trouble is I'm not really sure how to get
started.... I kind of figures it goes:

using System.Collections;

public class Myclass: IList

And I know I must now implement certain methods like:
System.Collections.ICollection.CopyTo(System.Array, int)

But I have no idea what to do with these methods, you could say I'm a
bit clueless with this and I could do with a push in the right
direction.

I really would appreciate some guidance on this as my searches in
various help files and websites hasnt helped.

Thanks

 

[Steve Willcock]

Hi,

one option is to create a Collection class based on CollectionBase - this
will bind to a datagrid and gives you lots of cool functionality like Add(),
Remove, indexing etc. etc. etc. Here's a walkthrough:
http://www.csharphelp.com/archives/archive256.html

Steve

 

[Graham Innes]

Steve,

Thanks for the response and the example, it was very informative. I've
followed the example and while it seems to work ok, it doesnt bind to a
datagrid. I guess thats because its not Implementing the IList interface
but rather the CollectionBase which a Datagrid doesnt support as a
datasource. Right?

So I would follow the example adapting it but instead of using the
CollectionBase I use the IList interface?

Regards
Graham

 

[Graham Innes]

Actually forget my Post above it DOES bind to a datagrid I'd just got my
syntax wrong, FYI I've also written a class Implementnig the IList
interface which also binds to a class.... Now decision, decision which
one do I use, the one in that article or my IList interface?

Opinions?

 

[Steve Willcock]

Well CollectionBase derives from IList so it should work straight off - I've
got loads of things derived from CollectionBase that display in a DataGrid -
you must be doing something wrong I think - here's a quick example I created
that should work for you:

http://www.willcockconsulting.com/Files/CollectionBaseWinFormTest.zip

Steve

 

[Steve Willcock]

As I pointed out in my previous post (I didn't see this post from you ),
CollectionBase derives from IList anyway, not sure if that influences your
decision?

Steve

 

[Graham Innes]

Steve,

DOH!! Of course it does, and because of that I dont need to Implement
IList because it already is implemented in CollectionBase.

It all seems very simple now, much appreciate for your help.

Regards
Graham