ASPxGridBase.KeyFieldName Property

Gets or sets the name of the data source key field.

Namespace: DevExpress.Web

Assembly: DevExpress.Web.v23.2.dll

NuGet Package: DevExpress.Web

Declaration

C#

[DefaultValue("")]
public string KeyFieldName { get; set; }

VB.NET

<DefaultValue("")>
Public Property KeyFieldName As String

Property Value

Type	Default	Description
String	String.Empty	A String value that specifies the name of the data source key field.

Remarks

The KeyFieldName property should be specified when using the following grid features:

• data editing;
• adding new and deleting an existing data item (row, card or record);
• selecting a data item (row, card or record);
• master-detail view (for ASPxGridView);
• endless paging.

The KeyFieldName property supports a composite value. You can use semicolon-separated values to specify multi-field keys, for example:

ASPX

<dx:ASPxGridView ... KeyFieldName="FirstName;LastName;Phone;BirthDate">
     ...
</dx:ASPxGridView>

Limitations

• The values contained in the key field must be unique.
• It is not recommended that you use the DateTime column names in the KeyFieldName property value.
• Negative key values are not supported in Batch Edit Mode. Instead, use a composite value.
• A key field cannot contain values of a reference type (for instance, arrays).
• Complex type key values are not allowed. Refer to the following topic for more information: The control cannot serialize complex primary key field values.

The following code snippet illustrates how to select a row when a composite key is used.

C#

ASPxGridView1.Selection.SelectRowByKey("Key1|Key2|...|KeyN");

Example

Note

For a full example, see the ASPxGridView - LargeDatabase (Server Mode) demo.

ASPX

<dx:ASPxGridView ID="grid" ClientInstanceName="grid" runat="server" KeyFieldName="ID"
    Width="100%" AutoGenerateColumns="False">
    <Columns>
        <dx:GridViewDataTextColumn FieldName="From" Width="200px" />
        <dx:GridViewDataTextColumn FieldName="Subject" />
        <dx:GridViewDataDateColumn FieldName="Sent" Width="100px" />
        <dx:GridViewDataCheckColumn Caption="Attachment?" FieldName="HasAttachment" Width="100px" />
        <dx:GridViewDataTextColumn FieldName="Size" Width="80px">
            <Settings AllowAutoFilter="false" />
        </dx:GridViewDataTextColumn>
    </Columns>
    ...
</dx:ASPxGridView>

Related GitHub Examples

The following code snippets (auto-collected from DevExpress Examples) contain references to the KeyFieldName property.

Note

The algorithm used to collect these code examples remains a work in progress. Accordingly, the links and snippets below may produce inaccurate results. If you encounter an issue with code examples below, please use the feedback form on this page to report the issue.

C#

asp-net-web-forms-grid-create-master-detail-grid-at-runtime/CS/MasterDetailGrids/Default.aspx.cs#L34

masterGrid.SettingsDetail.ShowDetailRow = true;
masterGrid.KeyFieldName = "CategoryID";
masterGrid.DataSource = GetMasterDataSource();

aspxgridview-edit-in-memory-dataset/CS/WebApp/Default.aspx.cs#L74

protected void MasterGridView_RowDeleting(object sender, DevExpress.Web.Data.ASPxDataDeletingEventArgs e) {
    int i = MasterGridView.FindVisibleIndexByKeyValue(e.Keys[MasterGridView.KeyFieldName]);
    Control c = MasterGridView.FindDetailRowTemplateControl(i, "ASPxGridView2");

asp-net-web-forms-grid-editable-unbound-columns/CS/UnboundColumnForCommenting/Default.aspx.cs#L40

if(e.IsGetData && e.Column.FieldName == "Comment") {
    object key = e.GetListSourceFieldValue(e.ListSourceRowIndex, ASPxGridView1.KeyFieldName);
    e.Value = MyComments.GetComment(key);

asp-net-web-forms-grid-create-hyperlink-column-at-runtime/CS/Default.aspx.cs#L18

protected void Page_Init(object sender, EventArgs e) {
    ASPxGridView1.KeyFieldName = "ID";
    ASPxGridView1.DataSource = GetData();

aspxgridview-dataitemtemplate-runtime/CS/HyperlinkColumn/Default.aspx.cs#L22

protected void ASPxGridView1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {
    ASPxGridView1.KeyFieldName = "ID";
    ASPxGridView1.DataSource = GetData();

VB.NET

asp-net-web-forms-grid-create-master-detail-grid-at-runtime/VB/MasterDetailGrids/Default.aspx.vb#L36

masterGrid.SettingsDetail.ShowDetailRow = True
masterGrid.KeyFieldName = "CategoryID"
masterGrid.DataSource = GetMasterDataSource()

aspxgridview-edit-in-memory-dataset/VB/WebApp/Default.aspx.vb#L86

Protected Sub MasterGridView_RowDeleting(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As DevExpress.Web.Data.ASPxDataDeletingEventArgs)
    Dim i As Integer = MasterGridView.FindVisibleIndexByKeyValue(e.Keys(MasterGridView.KeyFieldName))
    Dim c As Control = MasterGridView.FindDetailRowTemplateControl(i, "ASPxGridView2")

asp-net-web-forms-grid-editable-unbound-columns/VB/UnboundColumnForCommenting/Default.aspx.vb#L42

If e.IsGetData AndAlso e.Column.FieldName = "Comment" Then
    Dim key As Object = e.GetListSourceFieldValue(e.ListSourceRowIndex, ASPxGridView1.KeyFieldName)
    e.Value = MyComments.GetComment(key)

asp-net-web-forms-grid-create-hyperlink-column-at-runtime/VB/Default.aspx.vb#L20

Protected Sub Page_Init(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
    ASPxGridView1.KeyFieldName = "ID"
    ASPxGridView1.DataSource = GetData()

aspxgridview-dataitemtemplate-runtime/VB/HyperlinkColumn/Default.aspx.vb#L18

Protected Sub ASPxGridView1_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
    ASPxGridView1.KeyFieldName = "ID"
    ASPxGridView1.DataSource = GetData()