How to: Bind a Dashboard to a List Object

• Mar 31, 2018
• 4 minutes to read

To learn how to bind a dashboard to the Object data source using the Dashboard Designer, see Binding to Object Data Sources.

The following example demonstrates how to bind a dashboard to a List object.

In this example, information about the sold units quantity is provided at runtime. The dashboard data source is added to the Dashboard.DataSources collection on the first load.

To update the displayed data, the DashboardViewer.ReloadData method is called. This raises the DashboardViewer.DataLoading event and allows supplying the dashboard with updated data.

Note

A complete sample project is available at https://github.com/DevExpress-Examples/how-to-bind-a-dashboard-to-a-list-object-e5171.

Data.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Threading;

namespace Dashboard_BindingToList {
    public class Data {
        public string SalesPerson { get; set; }
        public int Quantity { get; set; }

        public static List<Data> CreateData() {
            List<Data> data = new List<Data>();
            string[] salesPersons = { "Andrew Fuller", "Michael Suyama", "Robert King", "Nancy Davolio",
                "Margaret Peacock", "Laura Callahan", "Steven Buchanan", "Janet Leverling" };

            for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
                Data record = new Data();
                int seed = (int)DateTime.Now.Ticks & 0x0000FFFF;
                record.SalesPerson = salesPersons[new Random(seed).Next(0, salesPersons.Length)];
                record.Quantity = new Random(seed).Next(0, 100);
                data.Add(record);
                Thread.Sleep(3);
            }
            return data;
        }
    }
}

Form1.cs

using DevExpress.DashboardCommon;
using DevExpress.DataAccess;
using DevExpress.XtraEditors;

namespace Dashboard_BindingToList {
    public partial class Form1 : XtraForm {
        public Form1() {
            InitializeComponent();
            dashboardViewer1.DataSourceOptions.ObjectDataSourceLoadingBehavior = DocumentLoadingBehavior.LoadAsIs;
        }

        private void Form1_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e) {
            Dashboard dashboard = new Dashboard();
            DashboardObjectDataSource objectDataSource = new DashboardObjectDataSource("Data Source 1");
            objectDataSource.DataSource = typeof(Data);
            objectDataSource.DataMember = "CreateData";
            dashboard.DataSources.Add(objectDataSource);

            // Creates a Pie dashboard item that displays share of sold units quantity per sales person.
            PieDashboardItem pies = new PieDashboardItem();
            pies.DataSource = dashboard.DataSources[0];
            Dimension salesPersonArgument = new Dimension("SalesPerson");
            Measure quantity = new Measure("Quantity");
            pies.Arguments.Add(salesPersonArgument);
            salesPersonArgument.TopNOptions.Enabled = true; salesPersonArgument.TopNOptions.Count = 3;
            salesPersonArgument.TopNOptions.Measure = quantity;
            pies.Values.Add(quantity);

            // Creates a Grid dashboard item that displays sales persons and corresponding quantities.
            GridDashboardItem grid = new GridDashboardItem();
            grid.DataSource = dashboard.DataSources[0];
            grid.Columns.Add(new GridDimensionColumn(new Dimension("SalesPerson")));
            grid.Columns.Add(new GridMeasureColumn(new Measure("Quantity")));

            dashboard.Items.AddRange(pies, grid);
            dashboardViewer1.Dashboard = dashboard;
        }

        // Handles the DashboardViewer.DataLoading event to provide the dashboard with new data.
        private void dashboardViewer1_DataLoading(object sender, DataLoadingEventArgs e) {
            if (e.DataSourceName == "Data Source 1")
                e.Data = Data.CreateData();
        }

        private void button1_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e) {
            // Reloads data in data sources.
            dashboardViewer1.ReloadData();
        }
    }
}

Form1.vb

Imports DevExpress.DashboardCommon
Imports DevExpress.DataAccess
Imports DevExpress.XtraEditors

Namespace Dashboard_BindingToList
    Partial Public Class Form1
        Inherits XtraForm

        Public Sub New()
            InitializeComponent()
            dashboardViewer1.DataSourceOptions.ObjectDataSourceLoadingBehavior = DocumentLoadingBehavior.LoadAsIs
        End Sub

        Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
            Dim dashboard As New Dashboard()
            Dim objectDataSource As New DashboardObjectDataSource("Data Source 1")
            objectDataSource.DataSource = GetType(Data)
            objectDataSource.DataMember = "CreateData"
            dashboard.DataSources.Add(objectDataSource)

            ' Creates a Pie dashboard item that displays share of sold units quantity per sales person.
            Dim pies As New PieDashboardItem()
            pies.DataSource = dashboard.DataSources(0)
            Dim salesPersonArgument As New Dimension("SalesPerson")
            Dim quantity As New Measure("Quantity")
            pies.Arguments.Add(salesPersonArgument)
            salesPersonArgument.TopNOptions.Enabled = True
            salesPersonArgument.TopNOptions.Count = 3
            salesPersonArgument.TopNOptions.Measure = quantity
            pies.Values.Add(quantity)

            ' Creates a Grid dashboard item that displays sales persons and corresponding quantities.
            Dim grid As New GridDashboardItem()
            grid.DataSource = dashboard.DataSources(0)
            grid.Columns.Add(New GridDimensionColumn(New Dimension("SalesPerson")))
            grid.Columns.Add(New GridMeasureColumn(New Measure("Quantity")))

            dashboard.Items.AddRange(pies, grid)
            dashboardViewer1.Dashboard = dashboard
        End Sub

        ' Handles the DashboardViewer.DataLoading event to provide the dashboard with new data.
        Private Sub dashboardViewer1_DataLoading(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As DataLoadingEventArgs) _
            Handles dashboardViewer1.DataLoading
            If e.DataSourceName = "Data Source 1" Then
                e.Data = Data.CreateData()
            End If
        End Sub

        Private Sub button1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles button1.Click
            ' Reloads data in data sources.
            dashboardViewer1.ReloadData()
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

Data.vb

Imports System
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Threading

Namespace Dashboard_BindingToList
    Public Class Data
        Public Property SalesPerson() As String
        Public Property Quantity() As Integer

        Public Shared Function CreateData() As List(Of Data)

            Dim data_Renamed As New List(Of Data)()
            Dim salesPersons() As String = {"Andrew Fuller", "Michael Suyama",
                                            "Robert King", "Nancy Davolio",
                                            "Margaret Peacock", "Laura Callahan",
                                            "Steven Buchanan", "Janet Leverling"}

            For i As Integer = 0 To 99
                Dim record As New Data()
                Dim seed As Long = CLng(Date.Now.Ticks) And &HFFFF
                record.SalesPerson = salesPersons((New Random(seed)).Next(0, salesPersons.Length))
                record.Quantity = (New Random(seed)).Next(0, 100)
                data_Renamed.Add(record)
                Thread.Sleep(3)
            Next i
            Return data_Renamed
        End Function
    End Class
End Namespace