How to: Use DXGrid in Server Mode with Entity Framework 4.0+

• Aug 01, 2019
• 2 minutes to read

This is an example of using the GridControl in Server Mode, bound to Entity Framework 4.0+ classes. It uses the EntityServerModeSource data source. The example fetches data from the Northwind database on a local SQL Server. You can also use the corresponding demo code to generate a large data set, if currently, you don’t have a large database for testing.

Note

A complete sample project is available at https://github.com/DevExpress-Examples/how-to-use-dxgrid-in-server-mode-with-entity-framework-40-e2425.

MainWindow.xaml

<Window x:Class="DXGrid_EF4_ServerMode.MainWindow"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        xmlns:dxg="http://schemas.devexpress.com/winfx/2008/xaml/grid"
        Height="350"
        Width="525"
        Title="MainWindow">

    <dxg:GridControl AutoGenerateColumns="AddNew" Name="grid">
        <dxg:GridControl.View>
            <dxg:TableView ShowTotalSummary="True" />
        </dxg:GridControl.View>
    </dxg:GridControl>

</Window>

MainWindow.xaml.cs

using DevExpress.Data.Linq;
using System;
using System.Windows;

namespace DXGrid_EF4_ServerMode {
    public partial class MainWindow : Window {
        public MainWindow() {
            InitializeComponent();
            //You can use this demo code to generate a large data set, if currently, you don't have a large database for testing.
            NorthwindEntities dataContext = new NorthwindEntities();
            try {
                for (int i = 0; i < 100000; i++) {
                    Product product = new Product {
                        ProductName = string.Format("Product({0})", i),
                        UnitPrice = new Random().Next(1000),
                    };
                    dataContext.Products.AddObject(product);
                }
                dataContext.SaveChanges();
            }
            catch (Exception e) {
                MessageBox.Show(e.ToString());
            }
            grid.ItemsSource = new EntityServerModeSource() {
                ElementType = typeof(Product),
                KeyExpression = "ProductID",
                QueryableSource = dataContext.Products
            };
        }
    }
}

MainWindow.xaml.vb

Imports DevExpress.Data.Linq
Imports System
Imports System.Windows

Namespace DXGrid_EF4_ServerMode
    Partial Public Class MainWindow
        Inherits Window

        Public Sub New()
            InitializeComponent()
            'You can use this demo code to generate a large data set, if currently, you don't have a large database for testing.

            Dim dataContext_Renamed As New NorthwindEntities()
            Try
                For i As Integer = 0 To 99999

                    Dim product_Renamed As Product = New Product With {.ProductName = String.Format("Product({0})", i), .UnitPrice = (New Random()).Next(1000)}
                    dataContext_Renamed.Products.AddObject(product_Renamed)
                Next i
                dataContext_Renamed.SaveChanges()
            Catch e As Exception
                MessageBox.Show(e.ToString())
            End Try
            grid.ItemsSource = New EntityServerModeSource() With {.ElementType = GetType(Product), .KeyExpression = "ProductID", .QueryableSource = dataContext_Renamed.Products}
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

Application.xaml

<Application x:Class="DXGrid_EF4_ServerMode.App"
             xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
             xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
             StartupUri="MainWindow.xaml">
    <Application.Resources>

    </Application.Resources>
</Application>

Application.xaml.vb

Imports System
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Configuration
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Linq
Imports System.Windows

Namespace DXGrid_EF4_ServerMode
    ''' <summary>
    ''' Interaction logic for App.xaml
    ''' </summary>
    Partial Public Class App
        Inherits Application

    End Class
End Namespace