Tutorial: Working with Columns in Code

• Feb 17, 2025
• 3 minutes to read

This tutorial addresses the following tasks:

• Disable automatic column generation
• Create a column in code
• Change formatting and appearance
• Assign a column editor

Watch Video: Working with Columns in Code

Starting Point

The application initially contains a Data Grid bound to the sample Northwind database. Refer to the following help topic for information on data binding: Bind the Grid to ADO.NET Data.

Populate Columns

The Data Grid generates columns for all data source fields automatically (if the View does not contain any columns). Set the ColumnViewOptionsBehavior.AutoPopulateColumns property to false to disable this behavior.

Note

If you assign a data source in the Data Source Wizard, generated columns persist in the ColumnView.Columns collection. Clear the column collection before you add columns manually.

The following code snippet disables automatic column generation:

C#

public Form1() {
  InitializeComponent();
  gridView1.OptionsBehavior.AutoPopulateColumns = false;
  gridControl1.DataSource = dimProductBindingSource;
}

VB.NET

Public Sub New()
  InitializeComponent()
  gridView1.OptionsBehavior.AutoPopulateColumns = False
  gridControl1.DataSource = dimProductBindingSource
End Sub

Tip

You can use the ColumnView.PopulateColumns method to clear the column collection and generate columns for all data source fields.

Create Columns in Code

Create a GridColumn instance and add it to the ColumnView.Columns collection. Specify the FieldName property to bind the column to a data source field and enable the Visible property to display the column in the view.

C#

public Form1() {
  GridColumn colPrice = new GridColumn() {
    FieldName = "UnitPrice",
    Visible = true,
    Caption = "Prices"
    };
  gridView1.Columns.Add(colPrice);
  // Or
  // gridView1.Columns.AddVisible("UnitPrice", "Prices");
}

VB.NET

Public Sub New()
  Dim colPrice As New GridColumn() With {
    .FieldName = "UnitPrice",
    .Visible = True,
    .Caption = "Prices"
    }
  gridView1.Columns.Add(colPrice)
  ' Or
  ' gridView1.Columns.AddVisible("UnitPrice", "Prices")
End Sub

Tip

The Data Grid allows you to create unbound columns with custom data. See the following help topic for more information: Unbound Columns.

Access Columns

Use the ColumnView.Columns collection to manipulate columns. You can access a column by its index in the collection or data field name.

The following code snippet formats values in the Prices column as currency:

C#

GridColumn colPrice = gridView1.Columns["UnitPrice"];
colPrice.DisplayFormat.FormatType = DevExpress.Utils.FormatType.Numeric;
colPrice.DisplayFormat.FormatString = "c2";

VB.NET

Dim colPrice As GridColumn = gridView1.Columns("UnitPrice")
colPrice.DisplayFormat.FormatType = DevExpress.Utils.FormatType.Numeric
colPrice.DisplayFormat.FormatString = "c2"

Change Column Appearance

To change the column appearance, use the appearance settings of GridColumn.AppearanceCell and GridColumn.AppearanceHeader properties.

C#

colPrice.AppearanceHeader.ForeColor = Color.Crimson;
colPrice.AppearanceCell.BackColor = Color.LightGoldenrodYellow;

VB.NET

colPrice.AppearanceHeader.ForeColor = Color.Crimson
colPrice.AppearanceCell.BackColor = Color.LightGoldenrodYellow

Assign an Editor

Create a RepositoryItemSpinEdit instance, add it to the GridControl.RepositoryItems collection, and assign the repository item to the GridColumn.ColumnEdit property.

C#

RepositoryItemSpinEdit spinEdit = new RepositoryItemSpinEdit();
gridControl1.RepositoryItems.Add(spinEdit);
colPrice.ColumnEdit = spinEdit;

VB.NET

Dim spinEdit As New RepositoryItemSpinEdit()
gridControl1.RepositoryItems.Add(spinEdit)
colPrice.ColumnEdit = spinEdit

Tip

Refer to the following help topic for information on cell editors: Edit Data. Create Cell Editors. Validate User Input.

Related Topics

Grid Columns

Describes more column features with related code snippets.

Column Header

Lists API to customize column header content.