Edit Form

• Jan 30, 2024
• 7 minutes to read

The GridControl includes multiple modes that allow users to edit data. Users can interact with data in individual in-place editors or edit all cells in a row at once in the Edit Entire Row and Edit Form modes. This topic describes the Edit Form capabilities.

The Edit Form contains data editors and the Update and Cancel buttons.

Run Demo: Inline Edit Form

To enable the Edit Form mode in the GridControl and specify how the form invokes, set the TableView.EditFormShowMode / TreeListView.EditFormShowMode property to one of the following values:

Value	Description
Dialog	The View displays the Edit Form in a pop-up dialog window.
Inline	The View displays the Edit Form below the row that a user edits.
InlineHideRow	The Edit Form replaces the row that a user edits.
None	The Edit Form is disabled.

You can use the following properties to specify the action that opens the Edit Form:

• TableView.ShowEditFormOnDoubleClick / TreeListView.ShowEditFormOnDoubleClick
• TableView.ShowEditFormOnEnterKey / TreeListView.ShowEditFormOnEnterKey
• TableView.ShowEditFormOnF2Key / TreeListView.ShowEditFormOnF2Key

The following methods allow you to show and hide the Edit Form:

• TableView.ShowEditForm/ TreeListView.ShowEditForm
• TableView.ShowInlineEditForm / TreeListView.ShowInlineEditForm
• TableView.ShowDialogEditForm / TreeListView.ShowDialogEditForm
• TableView.CloseEditForm / TreeListView.CloseEditForm
• TableView.HideEditForm / TreeListView.HideEditForm

Specify Edit Form Appearance

The Edit Form contains editors for all visible GridControl columns. The View arranges editors in rows from left to right in the same order as their corresponding GridControl columns. The column’s name is displayed to the left of the editor. You can use the following properties to customize the form:

Property	Description
TableView.EditFormColumnCount / TreeListView.EditFormColumnCount	Specify the number of editors in a row. The default value is 3.
ColumnBase.EditFormVisibleIndex	Specifies the order of editors in the Edit Form. The default index value for each column is 0.
ColumnBase.EditFormStartNewRow	Set to true to place the associated editor in a new row.
ColumnBase.EditFormVisible	Set to false to exclude the associated editor from the Edit Form.
ColumnBase.EditFormCaption	Specifies a custom editor’s caption.
ColumnBase.EditFormColumnSpan / ColumnBase.EditFormRowSpan	Resize the associated editor.
TableView.EditFormCaptionBinding / TreeListView.EditFormCaptionBinding	Specify a custom window’s title in the Dialog display mode.

In the code sample below, the Edit Form contains two editors in a row, does not display the IsOccupied editor, and defines the custom caption for Name:

XAML

<dxg:GridControl ItemsSource="{Binding Data}">
    <dxg:GridControl.View>
        <dxg:TableView EditFormColumnCount="2" EditFormShowMode="Inline" />
    </dxg:GridControl.View>
    <dxg:GridColumn FieldName="Name" EditFormCaption="Full Name:" EditFormColumnSpan="2" />
    <dxg:GridColumn FieldName="Birthday" />
    <dxg:GridColumn FieldName="City" />
    <dxg:GridColumn FieldName="IsOccupied" EditFormVisible="False" />
    <dxg:GridColumn FieldName="Visits" />
</dxg:GridControl>

The following code sample displays editors in a custom order. The first row contains the Name and Birthday editors that have the default ColumnBase.EditFormVisibleIndex value, and the second contains the City, Visits, and IsOccupied editors that have indexes from 1 to 3, respectively:

XAML

<dxg:GridControl ItemsSource="{Binding Data}">
    <dxg:GridControl.View>
        <dxg:TableView EditFormShowMode="Inline" />
    </dxg:GridControl.View>
    <dxg:GridColumn FieldName="Name" />
    <dxg:GridColumn FieldName="City" EditFormVisibleIndex="1" EditFormStartNewRow="True" />
    <dxg:GridColumn FieldName="IsOccupied" EditFormVisibleIndex="3"/>
    <dxg:GridColumn FieldName="Visits" EditFormVisibleIndex="2" />
    <dxg:GridColumn FieldName="Birthday" />
</dxg:GridControl>

Define Edit Form Template

Define a template and attach it to the TableView.EditFormTemplate / TreeListView.EditFormTemplate property to specify the Edit Form appearance. You can also use the ColumnBase.EditFormTemplate property to customize an editor associated with the column.

The GridControl does not raise the TableView.RowEditStarted event (and does not execute the corresponding TableView.RowEditStartedCommand) when you define a custom Edit Form template. To prevent this behavior, attach the following EventToCommand to the root element of the template:

XAML

<dxg:TableView.EditFormTemplate>
    <DataTemplate>
        <GroupBox>
            <dxmvvm:Interaction.Behaviors>
                <dxmvvm:EventToCommand EventName="Loaded" Command="{Binding EditFormLoadedCommand}"/>
            </dxmvvm:Interaction.Behaviors>
        <!-- ... -->

Process Edit Operations

Allow or Suppress Edit Operations

Set the DataViewBase.AllowEditing property to false to suppress edit operations in the Edit Form. You can also specify the ColumnBase.AllowEditing property to allow or suppress edit operations in a certain column. If this property contains the Default value, the edit operations depend on the View‘s settings.

Configure Post Operation Settings

If you want to instantly post changes to the data source, set the TableView.EditFormPostMode / TreeListView.EditFormPostMode property to Immediate. Set this property to Cached to apply changes only after a user clicks Update or presses Ctrl+Enter.

Users need to click Cancel or press Esc to discard unsaved changes. If the Edit Form contains unsaved changes and loses focus, you can display a confirmation dialog. Use the TableView.EditFormPostConfirmation / TreeListView.EditFormPostConfirmation property to specify the dialog window.

Edit Form Opens

You can suppress the Edit Form or specify an editor’s settings (for example, make an editor read-only or initialize a cell value). Handle the following events:

• TableView.RowEditStarting
• TreeListView.NodeEditStarting

If you want to maintain a clean MVVM pattern and process the start of the edit operation in a View Model, create a command and bind it to one of the properties below:

• TableView.RowEditStartingCommand
• TreeListView.NodeEditStartingCommand

The following code sample specifies settings for the row that contains information about employees. For example, you can initialize the ID editor (CellEditors[0] in code) and make the Department editor (CellEditors[4]) read-only for new rows.

C#

private void OnRowEditStarting(object sender, RowEditStartingEventArgs e) {
    if(Equals(e.RowHandle, DataControlBase.NewItemRowHandle)) {
        e.CellEditors[0].Value = grid.VisibleRowCount + 1;
        e.CellEditors[4].ReadOnly = true;

    } else {
        e.CellEditors[0].ReadOnly = true;
        e.CellEditors[4].ReadOnly = false;
    }
}

VB.NET

Private Sub OnRowEditStarting(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RowEditStartingEventArgs)
    If Equals(e.RowHandle, DataControlBase.NewItemRowHandle) Then
        e.CellEditors(0).Value = Me.grid.VisibleRowCount + 1
        e.CellEditors(4).ReadOnly = True
    Else
        e.CellEditors(0).ReadOnly = True
        e.CellEditors(4).ReadOnly = False
    End If
End Sub

View Example: Data Grid for WPF - How to Specify Edit Form Settings

Edit Form Opened

You can specify custom logic that is executed when a user edits the row. To do that, handle the following events:

• TableView.RowEditStarted
• TreeListView.NodeEditStarted

If you want to maintain a clean MVVM pattern and process the edit operation in a View Model, create a command and bind it to one of the properties below:

• TableView.RowEditStartedCommand
• TreeListView.NodeEditStartedCommand

Edit Form Closed

You can specify custom logic that is executed after a user has closed the Edit Form. To do that, handle the following events:

• TableView.RowEditFinished
• TreeListView.NodeEditFinished

If you want to maintain a clean MVVM pattern and process the edit operation in a View Model, create a command and bind it to one of the properties below:

• TableView.RowEditFinishedCommand
• TreeListView.NodeEditFinishedCommand

The following example uses the RowEditStarted and RowEditFinished events to pause data updates in the Edit Form:

View Example: Data Grid for WPF - How to Pause Data Updates in the Edit Form

Process Editor Value Changes

Handle the following events to instantly respond to cell value changes within an Edit Form editor:

• GridViewBase.CellValueChanging
• TreeListView.CellValueChanging

If you want to maintain a clean MVVM pattern and process cell value edits in a View Model, create a command and bind it to one of the properties below:

• TableView.CellValueChangingCommand
• TreeListView.CellValueChangingCommand

The following code sample makes the Price editor read-only depending on the CanEdit value and assigns the result of Price and Amount multiplication to the PositionValue editor.

C#

void OnEditFormCellValueChanging(object sender, CellValueChangedEventArgs e) {
// ...
    if(e.Cell.Property == nameof(DataItem.CanEdit)) {
        var priceData = editFormArgs.CellEditors.FirstOrDefault(x => x.FieldName == nameof(DataItem.Price));
        priceData.ReadOnly = !bool.Parse(e.Cell.Value.ToString());
        return;
    }

    if(e.Cell.Property == nameof(DataItem.Price)) {
        var positionValueData = editFormArgs.CellEditors.First(d => d.FieldName == nameof(DataItem.PositionValue));
        var amountData = editFormArgs.CellEditors.First(d => d.FieldName == nameof(DataItem.Amount));

        int price = 0;

        int.TryParse((string)e.Value, out price);
        positionValueData.Value = (int)amountData.Value * price;
    }
}

VB.NET

Private Sub OnEditFormCellValueChanging(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As CellValueChangedEventArgs)
' ...
    If Equals(e.Cell.[Property], NameOf(DataItem.CanEdit)) Then
        Dim priceData = editFormArgs.CellEditors.FirstOrDefault(Function(x) Equals(x.FieldName, NameOf(DataItem.Price)))
        priceData.[ReadOnly] = Not Boolean.Parse(e.Cell.Value.ToString())
        Return
    End If

    If Equals(e.Cell.[Property], NameOf(DataItem.Price)) Then
        Dim positionValueData = editFormArgs.CellEditors.First(Function(d) Equals(d.FieldName, NameOf(DataItem.PositionValue)))
        Dim amountData = editFormArgs.CellEditors.First(Function(d) Equals(d.FieldName, NameOf(DataItem.Amount)))
        Dim price As Integer = 0
        Call Integer.TryParse(CStr(e.Value), price)
        positionValueData.Value = CInt(amountData.Value) * price
    End If
End Sub

View Example: Data Grid for WPF - How to Process Related Cells in the Edit Form

Limitations

You cannot use the following events to process edit operations in the Edit Form:

• GridViewBase.ShowingEditor / TreeListView.ShowingEditor
• GridViewBase.ShownEditor / TreeListView.ShownEditor
• GridViewBase.HiddenEditor / TreeListView.HiddenEditor
• GridViewBase.RowCanceled / TreeListView.NodeCanceled
• GridViewBase.CellValueChanged / TreeListView.CellValueChanged

The Edit Form is available in optimized mode only.

Edit Data in Server Mode and Instant Feedback Sources

Server Mode and Instant Feedback sources do not support edit operations out-of-the-box. You need to use a DialogEditFormBehavior that allows users to invoke the Edit Form where they can modify row values.