ColumnCollection Interface

A collection of all columns in a worksheet.

Namespace: DevExpress.Spreadsheet

Assembly: DevExpress.Spreadsheet.v19.1.Core.dll

Declaration

C#

public interface ColumnCollection

VB.NET

Public Interface ColumnCollection

Related API Members

The following members return ColumnCollection objects:

• Worksheet.Columns

Remarks

Use ColumnCollection object members to access, add, hide, group, and remove columns.

Access Columns

Use the ColumnCollection.Item property to access an individual column in a worksheet.

Obtain the Column at the Specified Index

C#

using DevExpress.Spreadsheet;
// ...

// Access the column collection.
ColumnCollection columns = workbook.Worksheets[0].Columns;

// Access the first column in the collection.
Column firstColumn = columns[0];

VB.NET

Imports DevExpress.Spreadsheet
' ...

' Access the column collection.
Dim columns As ColumnCollection = workbook.Worksheets(0).Columns

' Access the first column in the collection.
Dim firstColumn As Column = columns(0)

A column index is zero-based. It specifies the column position in the collection.

Obtain the Column with a Given Heading

C#

using DevExpress.Spreadsheet;
// ...

// Access the column collection.
ColumnCollection columns = workbook.Worksheets[0].Columns;

// Access the first column by its heading.
Column firstColumn = columns["A"];

VB.NET

Imports DevExpress.Spreadsheet
' ...

' Access the column collection.
Dim columns As ColumnCollection = workbook.Worksheets(0).Columns

'  Access the first column by its heading.
Dim firstColumn As Column = columns("A")

Column headings (“A”, “B”, “C”, etc.) identify each column in a worksheet. Specify column headings in the A1 reference style.

Insert Columns

Use the following methods to insert columns into a worksheet:

Column.Insert

Inserts a column to the left of the current column.

ColumnCollection.Insert

Inserts columns at the specified position.

Note

The number of columns in a worksheet does not change — 16,384. When you add new columns, other columns in the worksheet are shifted to the right, and an equivalent number of columns at the end of the worksheet is removed.

Insert a Single Column

C#

// Insert column "B".
worksheet.Columns["B"].Insert();

// Insert column "D".
worksheet.Columns.Insert(3);

// Insert column "F".
worksheet.Columns.Insert("F");

VB.NET

' Insert column "B".
worksheet.Columns("B").Insert()

' Insert column "D".
worksheet.Columns.Insert(3)

' Insert column "F".
worksheet.Columns.Insert("F")

Insert Multiple Columns

C#

// Insert three columns (from column "B" to column "D").
worksheet.Columns.Insert(1, 3);

// Insert two columns starting with column "F".
worksheet.Columns.Insert("F", 2);

VB.NET

' Insert three columns (from column "B" to column "B").
worksheet.Columns.Insert(1, 3)

' Insert two columns starting with column "F".
worksheet.Columns.Insert("F", 2);

Insert Columns to the Left of a Specific Cell Range

Use the Worksheet.InsertCells method to insert empty columns to the left of the specified cells. The method inserts the same number of columns as the specified cell range.

C#

// Insert three columns to the left of the "B3:D5" cell range.
worksheet.InsertCells(worksheet.Range["B3:D5"], InsertCellsMode.EntireColumn);

VB.NET

' Insert three columns to the left of the "B3:D5" cell range.
worksheet.InsertCells(worksheet.Range("B3:D5"), InsertCellsMode.EntireColumn) 

Remove Columns

Use the following methods to delete columns from a worksheet:

Column.Delete

Deletes the current column.

ColumnCollection.Remove

Deletes columns at the specified position or deletes multiple columns at once.

Note

The number of columns in a worksheet does not change — 16,384. When you delete columns, other columns in the worksheet are shifted to the left and the equivalent number of new columns is automatically added to the end of the worksheet’s column collection.

Remove a Single Column

C#

// Delete column "C".
worksheet.Columns.Remove("C");

// Delete the third column.
worksheet.Columns[2].Delete();

// Delete the fifth column.
worksheet.Columns.Remove(4);

VB.NET

' Delete column "C".
worksheet.Columns.Remove("C")

' Delete the third column.
worksheet.Columns(2).Delete()

' Delete the fifth column.
worksheet.Columns.Remove(4)

Remove Multiple Columns

C#

// Delete three columns (from column "C" to column "E").
worksheet.Columns.Remove("C", "E");

VB.NET

' Delete three columns (from column "C" to column "E").
worksheet.Columns.Remove("C", "E")

Remove Columns That Meet a Specific Condition

C#

// Specify the condition to remove worksheet columns.
// If text in the first row is "Change in Price", remove the corresponding column. 
Func<int, bool> columnRemovalCondition = x => worksheet.Cells[0, x].Value.TextValue == "Change in Price";

// Delete columns that meet the specified condition.
// Check columns "A" through "H".
worksheet.Columns.Remove(0, 7, columnRemovalCondition);

VB.NET

' Specify the condition to remove worksheet columns.
' If text in the first row is "Change in Price", remove the corresponding column. 
Dim columnRemovalCondition As Func(Of Integer, Boolean) = Function(x) worksheet.Cells(0, x).Value.TextValue = "Change in Price"

' Delete columns that meet the specified condition.
' Check columns "A" through "H".
worksheet.Columns.Remove(0, 7, columnRemovalCondition)

Remove Columns That Contain Specific Cells

Use the Worksheet.DeleteCells method to delete columns that contain the specified cell range.

C#

// Delete a column that contains the "F3" cell.
worksheet.DeleteCells(worksheet.Cells["F3"], DeleteMode.EntireColumn);

VB.NET

' Delete a column that contains the "F3" cell.
worksheet.DeleteCells(worksheet.Cells("F3"), DeleteMode.EntireColumn)

Group and Ungroup Columns

Use the ColumnCollection.Group method to group columns.

C#

// Group columns "C" through "F" and expand the group.
worksheet.Columns.Group(2, 5, false);

// Group columns "C" and "D" and collapse the group.
worksheet.Columns.Group("C", "D", true);

VB.NET

' Group columns "C" through "F" and expand the group.
worksheet.Columns.Group(2, 5, False)

' Group columns "C" and "D" and collapse the group.
worksheet.Columns.Group("C", "D", True)

Use the ColumnCollection.UnGroup method to ungroup columns.

C#

// Ungroup columns "C" through "F".
worksheet.Columns.UnGroup(2, 5, false);

// Ungroup columns "C" and "D" and display collapsed data.
worksheet.Columns.UnGroup("C", "D", true);

VB.NET

' Ungroup columns "C" through "F".
worksheet.Columns.UnGroup(2, 5, False)

' Ungroup columns "C" and "D" and display collapsed data.
worksheet.Columns.UnGroup("C", "D", True)

Expand or Collapse Groups

Use the following methods to collapse or expand column groups in a worksheet:

ColumnCollection.CollapseAllGroups

Collapses all column groups.

ColumnCollection.CollapseGroups

Collapses column groups starting with the specified group level.

ColumnCollection.ExpandAllGroups

Expands all column groups.

C#

// Collapse all column groups except the first level group.
worksheet.Columns.CollapseGroups(2);

VB.NET

' Collapse all column groups except the first level group.
worksheet.Columns.CollapseGroups(2)

Hide Columns

Use the Column.Visible property or the ColumnCollection.Hide method to hide columns in a worksheet.

C#

// Hide column "A".
worksheet.Columns[0].Visible = false;

// Hide columns "C" through "D".
worksheet.Columns.Hide(2, 3);

// Hide columns "F" through "H".
worksheet.Columns.Hide("F", "H");

VB.NET

' Hide column "A".
worksheet.Columns(0).Visible = False

' Hide columns "C" through "D".
worksheet.Columns.Hide(2, 3)

' Hide columns "F" through "H".
worksheet.Columns.Hide("F", "H")

Set the Column.Visible property to true to display a column. Use the ColumnCollection.Unhide method to show multiple hidden columns.

C#

// Show column "A".
worksheet.Columns[0].Visible = true;

// Show columns "C" through "D".
worksheet.Columns.Unhide(2, 3);

// Show columns "F" through "H".
worksheet.Columns.Unhide("F", "H");

VB.NET

' Show column "A".
worksheet.Columns(0).Visible = True

' Show columns "C" through "D".
worksheet.Columns.Unhide(2, 3)

' Show columns "F" through "H".
worksheet.Columns.Unhide("F", "H")