BindingList vs. List

[jwilson128]

I am trying to decide whether to use a
system.ComponentModel.BindingList(of T) or a
Sytem.Collections.Generic.List(of T) for a custom collection. In
testing a simple, read-only data binding to a data grid view - they
both work. Are there aspects of databinding that the regular list will
not support and vice-versa, is there any reason to choose a regular
list over the bindinglist? -Jeff

 

[RobinS]

The bindinglist implements the IBindingList interface, so it has a bunch of
properties, methods, events, etc., that you can use. If you don't need
them, a generic list(Of T) will work fine.

For example, I use business objects, and I create BindingList(Of Customer)
to bind to a datagridview so I can capture the update events.

Robin S.
Ts'i mahnu uterna ot twan ot geifur hingts uto.

 

[jwilson128]

The bindinglist implements the IBindingList interface, so it has a bunch of
properties, methods, events, etc., that you can use. If you don't need
them, a generic list(Of T) will work fine.

For example, I use business objects, and I create BindingList(Of Customer)
to bind to a datagridview so I can capture the update events.

Robin S.
Ts'i mahnu uterna ot twan ot geifur hingts uto.





- Show quoted text -

So I'm not giving anything up by using the bindinglist as opposed to
the regular list?

 

[RobinS]

So I'm not giving anything up by using the bindinglist as opposed to
the regular list?

I think a BindingList is kind of like a regular list on steroids. ;-)

The performance might not be as good, but I doubt it would be noticeable.

Robin S.

 

[Cor Ligthert [MVP]]

jWilson,

Are we not talking about apples and pears.

A generic list is a collection class.
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/6sh2ey19.aspx

The Bindinglist a more generic way of using databinding
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms132679.aspx

In other words a generic list can be bind to da bindingsource, however as
well using the generic bindinglist (I never did the latter by the way).

Cor

 

[jwilson128]

I'm not sure I understand - please let me attempt to clarify:

I have a custom business object call Loan. I then want to implement a
custom collection of Loan objects where i can further define business
logic that relates to the collection. Knowing that i will want to bind
the collection of Loans to a form datagrid, should I implement my
custom collection (and relating business logic) using a BindingList as
opposed to a generic List? If this line of thinking is off, I'd love
to understand why? Thanks. -Jeff

 

[RobinS]

Yes, you should use a BindingList(Of Loan). Define your class like this:

Public Class LoanList
Inherits BindingList(Of Loan)

End Class

If you want to figure out how to do upgrades to a DataGridView bound to
your LoanList, check out Brian Noyes' Data Binding book. You can post
back, and if I can figure out how to condense it, I'll post it.

Robin S.