Access and Identify Columns

• Aug 12, 2021
• 2 minutes to read

Identify Columns

The table below lists properties and XAML attributes that allow you to identify grid columns (or card fields in a Card View).

Identifiers	Description
x:Name	Uniquely identifies a column so that it can be accessed from code-behind or general code. XAML <dxg:GridColumn x:Name="colProduct" FieldName="ProductName"/>
ColumnBase.FieldName	Specifies the name of a data source field to which a column is bound. Note that the grid can display multiple columns bound to the same data field.
GridControl.Columns	Returns a collection of the GridControl‘s columns.
DataControlBase.CurrentColumn	Returns the focused column.
GridViewBase.VisibleColumns	Returns a list of columns displayed in the GridControl.

Access Columns

If a column is created at design time, you can specify its unique name using the x:Name attribute. In this instance, a column can be accessed by its name from code-behind:

XAML

<dxg:GridControl.Columns>
    <dxg:GridColumn x:Name="colProduct" FieldName="ProductName"/>
    <dxg:GridColumn x:Name="colUnitPrice" FieldName="UnitPrice"/>
</dxg:GridControl.Columns>

C#

colUnitPrice.AllowMoving = DevExpress.Utils.DefaultBoolean.False;

VB.NET

colUnitPrice.AllowMoving = DevExpress.Utils.DefaultBoolean.False

Since columns are contained within the grid’s GridControl.Columns collection, individual columns can be accessed by field name or using indexed notation:

XAML

<dxg:GridControl.Columns>
    <dxg:GridColumn FieldName="ProductName"/>
    <dxg:GridColumn FieldName="UnitPrice"/>
</dxg:GridControl.Columns>

C#

GridColumn colProduct = grid.Columns["ProductName"];
GridColumn colPrice = grid.Columns[1];

VB.NET

Dim colProduct As GridColumn = grid.Columns("ProductName")
Dim colPrice As GridColumn = grid.Columns(1)

The focused column can be accessed using the DataControlBase.CurrentColumn property.