datagrid bound to IBindingList problem

[Matthew Woods]

Hi, is there any way to format and order the columns displayed in a datagrid
bound to a class that inherits from IBindingList? i have used
DataGridTableStyle and added DataGridTextBoxColumns to it in the correct
order which works fine if the dataGrid.dataSource = "ArrayList", but it
doesn't work for my IBindingList wrapper.
If i bind the datasource to the arraylist method then the
ListChangedEventHandler is never invoked and my grid only updates if i
refresh the currencymanager or the grid itself but obviously this does not
satisfy the requirement of displying "live" data.

to summarise, i can update my grid live when bound to my IBindingList class
that wraps round my data class but i can't set the order of the columns at
runtime using DataGridTableStyle. Any hints (with examples) would be much
appreciated.

Thanks

Matt

 

[John Richardson]

If the style isn't being applied, then the style isn't being mapped
correctly to your datasource. You can have several styles bound to a grid,
but the one that gets used is when the MappingName of the style matches the
Name (ie: DataTable.Name) of the DataSource. I'm not an expert, but this is
where I would look at solving your problem. I think there is a
"DefaultStyle" property on the grid you could look at. Or does the
IBindingList interface supply a "Name" property? This must match the
mapping name of the style you have.

An excellent article on the innerworkings of the DataGrid and how it binds
to a datasource, is by Chris Sano.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/smartclie...n-us/dnwinforms/html/datagridcolumnstyle1.asp

 

[John Richardson]

if you want to read up on DataGrids, I really suggest you find that article.
It is really well written, and will give you a strong foundation for using
the grid, which I think is a pretty complicated UI tool. Google Chris Sano
and " Styling with the DataGridColumnStyle".

As for your style not being applied, I checked your source, and although you
are changing your datasource, you are not telling the Table Style to be
applied to the new datasource... it will only be applied to a datasource
named "ArrayList". If you change this to "clsGridRows", it will style as
expected. This is because, for example with a DataSet, you can have several
tables viewable through a DataGrid, and each table can have its own style,
so when the grid displays a table, it looks for a style that matches the
table, or provides a default style if it isn't found. So, you switched the
datasource, but the style was still looking for the arraylist.

 

[Matthew Woods]

Fantastic! Thank you so much. "If you change this to 'clsGridRows'" was
exactly the sentence i have been scouring the internet for 3 days to read. I
have made the appropriate changes to my code and the writers block has
passed.
Thanks,
Matt

PS. i read with interest the article you advised and i will be using some of
the techniques at a later stage in my project.