Appearance and Conditional Formatting

• Apr 20, 2025
• 15 minutes to read

Tip

Each Appearance object has its own priority. Please see the following help topic for information on how to change the default priority of appearance settings: Application Appearance and Skin Colors.

Global Appearance Settings

The GridView.Appearance property gives access to property sections with appearance settings for Grid UI elements (even and odd rows, focused cells, column headers, buttons, grid lines, etc.).

Focused Cell Appearance

Use the View’s Appearance.FocusedCell property to customize the focused cell’s appearance settings:

C#

gridView1.Appearance.FocusedCell.BackColor = DXSkinColors.FillColors.Warning;
gridView1.Appearance.FocusedCell.ForeColor = DXSkinColors.ForeColors.WindowText;

VB.NET

gridView1.Appearance.FocusedCell.BackColor = DXSkinColors.FillColors.Warning
gridView1.Appearance.FocusedCell.ForeColor = DXSkinColors.ForeColors.WindowText

The following image shows the result:

Focused Row Appearance

Use the View’s Appearance.FocusedRow property to customize appearance settings of cells displayed in the focused row:

C#

gridView1.Appearance.FocusedRow.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.Green;
gridView1.Appearance.FocusedRow.ForeColor = System.Drawing.Color.White;

VB.NET

gridView1.Appearance.FocusedRow.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.Green
gridView1.Appearance.FocusedRow.ForeColor = System.Drawing.Color.White

Set the View’s OptionsSelection.EnableAppearanceFocusedCell property to false to turn off the focused cell’s appearance settings:

C#

gridView1.OptionsSelection.EnableAppearanceFocusedCell = false;

VB.NET

gridView1.OptionsSelection.EnableAppearanceFocusedCell = False

Selected Cell/Row Appearance (Multiple Cell/Row Selection)

Use the View’s Appearance.SelectedRow property to customize the appearance of selected rows/cells (when multiple row/cell selection is enabled):

C#

// Activate multiple cell selection.
gridView1.OptionsSelection.MultiSelect = true;
gridView1.OptionsSelection.MultiSelectMode = GridMultiSelectMode.CellSelect;
// Customize background and foreground colors of selected rows.
gridView1.Appearance.SelectedRow.BackColor = DXSkinColors.FillColors.Success;
gridView1.Appearance.SelectedRow.ForeColor = DXSkinColors.ForeColors.WindowText;

VB.NET

' Activate multiple cell selection.
gridView1.OptionsSelection.MultiSelect = True
gridView1.OptionsSelection.MultiSelectMode = GridMultiSelectMode.CellSelect
' Customize background and foreground colors of selected rows.
gridView1.Appearance.SelectedRow.BackColor = DXSkinColors.FillColors.Success
gridView1.Appearance.SelectedRow.ForeColor = DXSkinColors.ForeColors.WindowText

Highlight Cells that Belong to a Specific Column

A grid column’s GridColumn.AppearanceCell property specifies appearance and text format settings for cells that belong to this column. These settings override global appearance settings.

Run Demo: Appearance of column cells

The following example centers values in cells of the Name column:

C#

using DevExpress.Utils;

gridView1.Columns["Name"].AppearanceCell.TextOptions.HAlignment = HorzAlignment.Center;
gridView1.Columns["Name"].AppearanceCell.Options.UseTextOptions = true;

VB.NET

Imports DevExpress.Utils

Private gridView1.Columns("Name").AppearanceCell.TextOptions.HAlignment = HorzAlignment.Center
Private gridView1.Columns("Name").AppearanceCell.Options.UseTextOptions = True

Highlight an Active Editor

To highlight the currently active editor, handle the ColumnView.ShownEditor event and use the BaseView.ActiveEditor property to access the focused cell’s editor.

C#

gridView.ShownEditor += (s, e) => {
        GridView view = s as GridView;
        gridView.ActiveEditor.BackColor = Color.DodgerBlue;
    };

VB.NET

AddHandler gridView.ShownEditor, Sub(s, e)
        Dim view As GridView = TryCast(s, GridView)
        gridView.ActiveEditor.BackColor = Color.DodgerBlue
    End Sub

Run Demo: Change the Active Editor’s Background Color

Highlight Modified Cells (Edited by a User)

The following example highlights cells if a user changed/edited their values. The example handles GridView.CellValueChanged and GridView.RowCellStyle events.

C#

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;
using DevExpress.LookAndFeel;
using DevExpress.XtraEditors;
using DevExpress.XtraGrid.Views.Grid;

namespace DXApplication14 {
    public partial class Form1 : XtraForm {
        Dictionary<string, ModifiedCellInfo> modifiedRows;
        public Form1() {
            InitializeComponent();
            modifiedRows = new Dictionary<string, ModifiedCellInfo>();
            gridControl1.DataSource = DataItem.GetSampleData();
            gridView1.CellValueChanged += GridView1_CellValueChanged;
            gridView1.RowCellStyle += GridView1_RowCellStyle;
        }
        void GridView1_RowCellStyle(object sender, RowCellStyleEventArgs e) {
            GridView view = sender as GridView;
            string rowId = GetCellIdentifier(view, e.RowHandle, e.Column.FieldName);
            if (modifiedRows.ContainsKey(rowId) && modifiedRows[rowId].FieldName == e.Column.FieldName)
                e.Appearance.BackColor = DXSkinColors.FillColors.Warning;
        }
        void GridView1_CellValueChanged(object sender, DevExpress.XtraGrid.Views.Base.CellValueChangedEventArgs e) {
            GridView view = sender as GridView;
            string rowId = GetCellIdentifier(view, e.RowHandle, e.Column.FieldName);
            if (!modifiedRows.ContainsKey(rowId)) {
                modifiedRows.Add(rowId, new ModifiedCellInfo() { FieldName = e.Column.FieldName, InitialCellValue = e.OldValue });
                return;
            }
            if(modifiedRows.ContainsKey(rowId) && modifiedRows[rowId].InitialCellValue.Equals(e.Value))
                modifiedRows.Remove(rowId);
        }
        string GetCellIdentifier(GridView view, int rowHandle, string fieldName) {
            return view.GetRowCellValue(rowHandle, "ID").ToString() + fieldName;
        }
    }
    public class DataItem {
        public DataItem(string firstName, string lastName) {
            ID = Guid.NewGuid();
            FirstName = firstName;
            LastName = lastName;
        }
        public static List<DataItem> GetSampleData() {
            return new List<DataItem>() {
            new DataItem("Bart", "Arnaz"),
            new DataItem("Leah", "Simpson"),
            new DataItem("Arnold", "Schwartz"),
            new DataItem("William", "Zimmer"),
            new DataItem("Samantha", "Piper")
        };
        }
        [Display(Order = -1)]
        public Guid ID { get; private set; }
        public string FirstName { get; set; }
        public string LastName { get; set; }
    }
    class ModifiedCellInfo {
        public string FieldName { get; set; }
        public object InitialCellValue { get; set; }
    }
}

VB.NET

Imports System
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations
Imports DevExpress.LookAndFeel
Imports DevExpress.XtraEditors
Imports DevExpress.XtraGrid.Views.Grid

Namespace DXApplication14
    Partial Public Class Form1
        Inherits XtraForm

        Private modifiedRows As Dictionary(Of String, ModifiedCellInfo)
        Public Sub New()
            InitializeComponent()
            modifiedRows = New Dictionary(Of String, ModifiedCellInfo)()
            gridControl1.DataSource = DataItem.GetSampleData()
            AddHandler gridView1.CellValueChanged, AddressOf GridView1_CellValueChanged
            AddHandler gridView1.RowCellStyle, AddressOf GridView1_RowCellStyle
        End Sub
        Private Sub GridView1_RowCellStyle(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RowCellStyleEventArgs)
            Dim view As GridView = TryCast(sender, GridView)
            Dim rowId As String = GetCellIdentifier(view, e.RowHandle, e.Column.FieldName)
            If modifiedRows.ContainsKey(rowId) AndAlso modifiedRows(rowId).FieldName = e.Column.FieldName Then
                e.Appearance.BackColor = DXSkinColors.FillColors.Warning
            End If
        End Sub
        Private Sub GridView1_CellValueChanged(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As DevExpress.XtraGrid.Views.Base.CellValueChangedEventArgs)
            Dim view As GridView = TryCast(sender, GridView)
            Dim rowId As String = GetCellIdentifier(view, e.RowHandle, e.Column.FieldName)
            If Not modifiedRows.ContainsKey(rowId) Then
                modifiedRows.Add(rowId, New ModifiedCellInfo() With {
                    .FieldName = e.Column.FieldName,
                    .InitialCellValue = e.OldValue
                })
                Return
            End If
            If modifiedRows.ContainsKey(rowId) AndAlso modifiedRows(rowId).InitialCellValue.Equals(e.Value) Then
                modifiedRows.Remove(rowId)
            End If
        End Sub
        Private Function GetCellIdentifier(ByVal view As GridView, ByVal rowHandle As Integer, ByVal fieldName As String) As String
            Return view.GetRowCellValue(rowHandle, "ID").ToString() & fieldName
        End Function
    End Class
    Public Class DataItem
        Public Sub New(ByVal firstName As String, ByVal lastName As String)
            ID = Guid.NewGuid()
            Me.FirstName = firstName
            Me.LastName = lastName
        End Sub
        Public Shared Function GetSampleData() As List(Of DataItem)
            Return New List(Of DataItem)() From {
                New DataItem("Bart", "Arnaz"),
                New DataItem("Leah", "Simpson"),
                New DataItem("Arnold", "Schwartz"),
                New DataItem("William", "Zimmer"),
                New DataItem("Samantha", "Piper")
            }
        End Function
        Private privateID As Guid
        <Display(Order := -1)>
        Public Property ID() As Guid
            Get
                Return privateID
            End Get
            Private Set(ByVal value As Guid)
                privateID = value
            End Set
        End Property
        Public Property FirstName() As String
        Public Property LastName() As String
    End Class
    Friend Class ModifiedCellInfo
        Public Property FieldName() As String
        Public Property InitialCellValue() As Object
    End Class
End Namespace

Conditional Formatting

Conditional formatting allows you to customize cell appearance in Grid Views and Banded Grid Views based on cell values.

Run Demo: Conditional Formatting

Use Conditional Formatting to do the following:

• Analyze all column cell values and visualize data distribution.
• Highlight specific values and dates.
• Highlight cells with the smallest or largest values.
• Highlight values below or above an average.
• Highlight unique or duplicate values.
• Use a custom formula to apply a color to specific cells.
• Temporarily highlight cells when their values change, and more.

Show Conditional Formatting in Grid Menu

Enable the view’s OptionsMenu.ShowConditionalFormattingItem option to display the Conditional Formatting item in the column menu. A user can right-click a column header and select Conditional Formatting in the menu to add, modify, or clear formatting rules.

The Manage Rules… menu item allows users to create custom rules. Enable the ColumnViewOptionsFilter.FilterEditorAllowCustomExpressions property to display the Expression Editor button in the New Formatting Rule dialog.

To create a rule, do the following:

1. Click New Rule….

   

2. Select Use a formula to determine which cells to format and edit the rule.

   

   You can also click Expression Editor and use the invoked Expression Editor to edit the rule.

3. Click the Format button to customize appearance settings that should be applied to cells with matching values. Click OK to close the Format Cells dialog box.

   

4. Click OK to create and apply the rule.

Create a Conditional Formatting Rule at Design Time

1. Run the Grid Designer.
2. Switch to Format Rules.
3. Click “+”.

Create a Conditional Formatting Rule in Code

1. Create a style format condition (GridFormatRule).

2. Create a rule (a FormatConditionRuleBase descendant), customize its settings, and assign it to the GridFormatRule.Rule property of the style format condition.

   Predefined Rules

   • FormatConditionRuleIconSet
   • FormatConditionRuleMinMaxBase
   • FormatConditionRule2ColorScale
   • FormatConditionRule3ColorScale
   • FormatConditionRuleAboveBelowAverage
   • FormatConditionRuleContains
   • FormatConditionRuleDataBar
   • FormatConditionRuleDataUpdate
   • FormatConditionRuleDateOccuring
   • FormatConditionRuleExpression
   • FormatConditionRuleTopBottom
   • FormatConditionRuleUniqueDuplicate
   • FormatConditionRuleValue

3. Add the style format condition to the view’s FormatRules collection.

Tip

Use the style format condition’s GridFormatRule.Enabled property to enable or disable the rule.

You can use the FormatRuleBase.Description property to specify a text description for the created format rule.

The following code example creates a style format condition that highlights cells in the “CreateDate” column for orders created before the current year:

C#

using System;
using System.Data;
using DevExpress.XtraGrid;
using DevExpress.XtraEditors;

namespace DXApplication9 {
    public partial class Form1 : DevExpress.XtraEditors.XtraForm {
        public Form1() {
            InitializeComponent();
            gridControl1.DataSource = InitDataTable();
            Load += Form1_Load;
        }

        private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {
            // Creates and initializes the style format rule.
            FormatConditionRuleDateOccuring dateRule = new FormatConditionRuleDateOccuring();
            dateRule.Appearance.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.LightGreen;
            dateRule.DateType = FilterDateType.PriorThisYear;
            // Creates and initializes the style format condition.
            GridFormatRule formatRule = new GridFormatRule();
            formatRule.Rule = dateRule;
            formatRule.Column = gridView1.Columns["CreateDate"];
            formatRule.ColumnApplyTo = gridView1.Columns["CreateDate"];
            // Adds the style format condition to the view's FormatRules collections.
            gridView1.FormatRules.Add(formatRule);

            // This can also be done as follows:
            // GridFormatRule formatRule = gridView1.FormatRules.AddDateOccurringRule(gridView1.Columns["CreateDate"], FilterDateType.PriorThisYear, new DevExpress.Utils.AppearanceDefault(){ BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.LightGreen});
        }

        DataTable InitDataTable() {
            DataTable table = new DataTable("DataRecords");
            table.Columns.AddRange(new DataColumn[] {
                new DataColumn("ID", typeof(Guid)),
                new DataColumn("CreateDate", typeof(DateTime)),
                new DataColumn("CustomerName", typeof(string))
            });
            table.Rows.Add(new object[] { Guid.NewGuid(), new DateTime(2024, 1, 1, 9, 44, 12), "Silva" });
            table.Rows.Add(new object[] { Guid.NewGuid(), new DateTime(2023, 12, 31, 11, 15, 18), "Mike" });
            table.Rows.Add(new object[] { Guid.NewGuid(), new DateTime(2023, 12, 31, 10, 20, 10), "Nathan" });
            return table;
        }
    }
}

VB.NET

Imports System
Imports System.Data
Imports DevExpress.XtraGrid
Imports DevExpress.XtraEditors

Namespace DXApplication9
    Partial Public Class Form1
        Inherits DevExpress.XtraEditors.XtraForm

        Public Sub New()
            InitializeComponent()
            gridControl1.DataSource = InitDataTable()
            AddHandler Load, AddressOf Form1_Load
        End Sub

        Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
            ' Creates and initializes the style format rule.
            Dim dateRule As New FormatConditionRuleDateOccuring()
            dateRule.Appearance.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.LightGreen
            dateRule.DateType = FilterDateType.PriorThisYear
            ' Creates and initializes the style format condition.
            Dim formatRule As New GridFormatRule()
            formatRule.Rule = dateRule
            formatRule.Column = gridView1.Columns("CreateDate")
            formatRule.ColumnApplyTo = gridView1.Columns("CreateDate")
            ' Adds the style format condition to the view's FormatRules collections.
            gridView1.FormatRules.Add(formatRule)

            ' This can also be done as follows:
            'Dim formatRule As GridFormatRule = gridView1.FormatRules.AddDateOccurringRule(gridView1.Columns("CreateDate"), FilterDateType.PriorThisYear, New DevExpress.Utils.AppearanceDefault() With {.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.LightGreen})
        End Sub

        Private Function InitDataTable() As DataTable
            Dim table As New DataTable("DataRecords")
            table.Columns.AddRange(New DataColumn() {
                New DataColumn("ID", GetType(Guid)),
                New DataColumn("CreateDate", GetType(Date)),
                New DataColumn("CustomerName", GetType(String))
            })
            table.Rows.Add(New Object() { Guid.NewGuid(), New Date(2024, 1, 1, 9, 44, 12), "Silva" })
            table.Rows.Add(New Object() { Guid.NewGuid(), New Date(2023, 12, 31, 11, 15, 18), "Mike" })
            table.Rows.Add(New Object() { Guid.NewGuid(), New Date(2023, 12, 31, 10, 20, 10), "Nathan" })
            Return table
        End Function
    End Class
End Namespace

Duplicate Conditional Formatting Rule in Grid Menu

1. Select a rule to duplicate.

   

2. Click the Duplicate Rule dropdown and select the column to which you want to apply the duplicated rule.

   

   Alternatively, you can click Duplicate Rule to specify settings of the duplicated rule.

   

Duplicate Conditional Formatting Rule at Design Time

1. Run the Grid Designer.
2. Switch to Format Rules.
3. Click the icon.

Visual Effects and Animation

Color Scales

The Data Grid compares cell values and fills these cells with solid colors chosen from a palette. Based on your selection, the palette gradually shifts through two or three threshold colors.

Data Bars

Cells are partially filled with the selected color. The fill percentage depends on how small or large the cell value is compared to other values in this column. You can also draw a vertical axis at the zero value. In this instance, data bars for positive and negative values are displayed in opposite directions and are painted with different colors.

Icons

Icon sets allow you to label each value range with a corresponding icon.

Static Appearance Settings

Selected font settings, and background and foreground colors are applied to cells with values that meet specific criteria (for example, the top 10 column values).

Animation

Some format condition rules support animation effects. The animation effect is played when a cell value changes. Use the FormatConditionRuleBase.AllowAnimation property to enable animation.

The following animation temporarily highlights a cell with an icon or color when a cell value changes:

Examples: Conditional Formatting

• How to: Apply a Data Bar Format to a Column
• How to: Apply an Icon Set Format to a Column
• How to: Apply a Two-Color Scale Format to a Column
• How to: Apply a Three-Color Scale Format to a Column
• How to: Highlight Column Values that Match a Condition
• How to: Highlight the Top 20% Column Values
• How to: Apply a Format Based on an Expression
• How to: Temporarily Highlight Cells When Their Values Change

Tip

To customize row appearances in other Views, handle customization events of these views: CustomCardStyle, ItemCustomize, CustomDrawItem.

Change Cell and Row Appearances Dynamically

Handle the GridView.RowCellStyle event to change cell appearance dynamically. For example, you can highlight specific cells in response to events. The following code snippet changes the background color and content alignment for the Name column’s cells based on the Boolean value of the Mark column.

C#

gridView.RowCellStyle += (sender, e) => {
        GridView view = sender as GridView;
        bool _mark = (bool)view.GetRowCellValue(e.RowHandle, "Mark");
        if(e.Column.FieldName == "Name") {
            e.Appearance.BackColor = _mark ? Color.LightGreen : Color.LightSalmon;
            e.Appearance.TextOptions.HAlignment = _mark ? HorzAlignment.Far : HorzAlignment.Near;
        }
    };

VB.NET

AddHandler gridView.RowCellStyle, Sub(sender, e)
        Dim view As GridView = TryCast(sender, GridView)
        Dim _mark As Boolean = CBool(view.GetRowCellValue(e.RowHandle, "Mark"))
        If e.Column.FieldName = "Name" Then
            e.Appearance.BackColor = If(_mark, Color.LightGreen, Color.LightSalmon)
            e.Appearance.TextOptions.HAlignment = If(_mark, HorzAlignment.Far, HorzAlignment.Near)
        End If
    End Sub

You can also handle the GridView.RowStyle event to process and paint rows and group rows individually. For example, the following code snippet highlights focused rows.

C#

Color foreColor = Color.Brown;
    Color backColor = Color.LightGreen;

    // Change the appearance settings of row cells dynamically.
    gridView.RowStyle += (sender, e) => {
        GridView view = sender as GridView;
        //Change the foreground and background colors of selected rows.
        if(view.IsRowSelected(e.RowHandle)) {
            e.Appearance.ForeColor = foreColor;
            e.Appearance.BackColor = backColor;
            /* This property controls whether settings of the RowStyle event have a higher priority
               than the appearances specified by the GridViewAppearances.EvenRow 
               and GridViewAppearances.OddRow properties. */
            e.HighPriority = true;
        }
    };

VB.NET

Dim foreColor As Color = Color.Brown
    Dim backColor As Color = Color.LightGreen

    ' Change the appearance settings of row cells dynamically.
    AddHandler gridView.RowStyle, Sub(sender, e)
        Dim view As GridView = TryCast(sender, GridView)
        ' Change the foreground and background colors of selected rows.
        If view.IsRowSelected(e.RowHandle) Then
            e.Appearance.ForeColor = foreColor
            e.Appearance.BackColor = backColor
             ' This property controls whether settings of the RowStyle event have a higher priority
             ' than the appearances specified by the GridViewAppearances.EvenRow
             ' and GridViewAppearances.OddRow properties.
            e.HighPriority = True
        End If
    End Sub

The GridView.GroupLevelStyle event allows you to paint group rows dynamically and apply unique appearance settings for each group level. In the following example, different group row levels have different appearance settings.

C#

gridView.GroupLevelStyle += (s, e) => {
        if(e.Level == 0) {
            e.LevelAppearance.ForeColor = Color.WhiteSmoke;
            e.LevelAppearance.BackColor = Color.Salmon;
        } else {
            e.LevelAppearance.ForeColor = Color.FromArgb(50, 50, 50);
            e.LevelAppearance.BackColor = Color.LightSalmon;
        }
    };

VB.NET

AddHandler gridView.GroupLevelStyle, Sub(s, e)
        If e.Level = 0 Then
            e.LevelAppearance.ForeColor = Color.WhiteSmoke
            e.LevelAppearance.BackColor = Color.Salmon
        Else
            e.LevelAppearance.ForeColor = Color.FromArgb(50, 50, 50)
            e.LevelAppearance.BackColor = Color.LightSalmon
        End If
    End Sub

Run Demo

Tip

Use the RefreshRow method to force the view to redraw the specified row. The RefreshData() method redraws all rows.

Tip

You can also handle ~CustomDraw events to customize row and cell appearances dynamically: CustomDrawCell, CustomDrawGroupRow, CustomDrawGroupRowCell, CustomDrawFooterCell, etc. The following demo shows these events in action: Custom Painting Demos.

Override Custom Appearances for Selected Cells

Appearance settings of individual cells have lower priority than custom Column.AppearanceCell settings. If you allow a user to select individual cells (OptionsSelection.MultiSelectMode = CellSelect) with custom appearances, all cells (selected and unselected) look the same. To highlight selected cells, handle the GridView.RowCellStyle event.

C#

private void GridView1_RowCellStyle(object sender, RowCellStyleEventArgs e) {
    GridView view = sender as GridView;
    if(view.IsCellSelected(e.RowHandle, e.Column)) {
        e.Appearance.BackColor = view.PaintAppearance.SelectedRow.BackColor;
        e.Appearance.ForeColor = view.PaintAppearance.SelectedRow.ForeColor;
    }
}

VB.NET

Private Sub GridView1_RowCellStyle(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RowCellStyleEventArgs)
    Dim view As GridView = TryCast(sender, GridView)
    If view.IsCellSelected(e.RowHandle, e.Column) Then
        e.Appearance.BackColor = view.PaintAppearance.SelectedRow.BackColor
        e.Appearance.ForeColor = view.PaintAppearance.SelectedRow.ForeColor
    End If
End Sub

The GridView.PaintAppearance property allows you to obtain appearance settings used for GridView (for example, the background color of selected rows).

Disable Focused Row/Cell Appearance

To prevent the focused row from being highlighted in the GridView or its descendant, disable the GridOptionsSelection.EnableAppearanceFocusedRow option. The GridOptionsSelection.EnableAppearanceFocusedCell property allows you to disable the focused cell’s highlight color.

The following example disables focused cell appearance settings and keeps the focused row appearance when the grid control loses focus:

C#

private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {
    gridView1.OptionsSelection.EnableAppearanceHideSelection = false;
    gridView1.OptionsSelection.EnableAppearanceFocusedCell = false;
}

VB.NET

Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
    gridView1.OptionsSelection.EnableAppearanceHideSelection = False
    gridView1.OptionsSelection.EnableAppearanceFocusedCell = False
End Sub

Prevent Selected Rows from Graying Out when the Grid is Not in Focus

Disable the GridOptionsSelection.EnableAppearanceHideSelection option to prevent selected/focused rows from being highlighted in a specific manner when the grid control is not focused.

Disable Selected Row/Cell Appearance

You can use the following techniques to display selected rows and cells without highlight effects:

• Assign regular row appearance to the GridViewAppearances.SelectedRow property:

  C#

  private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {
      gridControl1.ForceInitialize();
      gridView1.Appearance.SelectedRow.Assign(gridView1.PaintAppearance.Row);
  }
  

  VB.NET

  Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
      gridControl1.ForceInitialize()
      gridView1.Appearance.SelectedRow.Assign(gridView1.PaintAppearance.Row)
  End Sub
  

• Handle the GridView.RowStyle, GridView.RowCellStyle, or GridView.CustomDrawCell event and modify selected row appearance:

  C#

  private void gridView1_RowStyle(object sender, DevExpress.XtraGrid.Views.Grid.RowStyleEventArgs e) {
      GridView view = sender as GridView;
      if (e.Appearance == view.PaintAppearance.SelectedRow)
          e.Appearance.Assign(view.PaintAppearance.Row);
      e.HighPriority = true;
  }
  

  VB.NET

  Private Sub gridView1_RowStyle(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As DevExpress.XtraGrid.Views.Grid.RowStyleEventArgs)
      Dim view As GridView = TryCast(sender, GridView)
      If e.Appearance = view.PaintAppearance.SelectedRow Then e.Appearance.Assign(view.PaintAppearance.Row)
      e.HighPriority = True
  End Sub
  

Disable Cells Based on a Condition

You can disable cells in rows that meet a specific condition. Disabled cells are grayed out according to skin settings. Users cannot edit disabled cells.

Refer to the following topic for detailed information and examples: Disabled Cell Behavior.

Word-Wrap Column Captions

Use the HeaderPanel property to access global settings that specify the appearance and text formatting of all column captions. To wrap column caption text, do the following:

• Set the HeaderPanel.TextOptions.WordWrap property to WordWrap.Wrap.
• Set the HeaderPanel.Options.UseTextOptions property to true.
• Enable the ColumnHeaderAutoHeight option to automatically fit column captions or use the ColumnPanelRowHeight property to specify the height of column headers manually.

To override global appearance settings for an individual column, use the column’s AppearanceHeader property.

The following example wraps the Name column’s caption text. Play the animation to see the result.

C#

using DevExpress.Utils;

gridView1.Columns["Name"].AppearanceCell.TextOptions.WordWrap = WordWrap.Wrap;
gridView1.Columns["Name"].AppearanceCell.Options.UseTextOptions = true;
gridView1.OptionsView.ColumnHeaderAutoHeight = DefaultBoolean.True;

VB.NET

Imports DevExpress.Utils

Private gridView1.Columns("Name").AppearanceCell.TextOptions.WordWrap = WordWrap.Wrap
Private gridView1.Columns("Name").AppearanceCell.Options.UseTextOptions = True
gridView1.OptionsView.ColumnHeaderAutoHeight = DefaultBoolean.True

Cheat Sheets & Troubleshooting

• Appearances and Skins - DevExpress WinForms Cheat Sheet
• Troubleshooting - Skins and Skin Editor