Creating Custom Context Menus

• Nov 17, 2018
• 3 minutes to read

The Grid Control allows you to create custom context menus for any grid element (row indicator panel, data cells, etc.). This topic shows how this can be done.

For general information on popup menus, see Popup Menus Overview.

Example: Creating Custom Context Menus

This example creates a custom context menu for the header panel button. This menu has two items: Columns and Runtime Column Customization. The first item is a sub menu that allows you to show/hide available grid columns. The second item invokes the Customization Form.

The following code defines the custom menu specified by the GridViewColumnButtonMenu class. Elements in this menu are encapsulated by DXMenuItem objects (and their descendants).

C#

using DevExpress.Utils;
using DevExpress.Utils.Menu;
using DevExpress.XtraGrid.Menu;
using DevExpress.XtraGrid.Columns;
using DevExpress.XtraGrid.Views.Grid;

public class GridViewColumnButtonMenu : GridViewMenu {
   public GridViewColumnButtonMenu(DevExpress.XtraGrid.Views.Grid.GridView view) : base(view) { }
   // Create menu items.
   // This method is automatically called by the menu's public Init method.
   protected override void CreateItems() {
      Items.Clear();
      DXSubMenuItem columnsItem = new DXSubMenuItem("Columns");
      Items.Add(columnsItem);
      Items.Add(CreateMenuItem("Runtime Column Customization", GridMenuImages.Column.Images[3], 
        "Customization", true));
      foreach(GridColumn column in View.Columns) {
         if(column.OptionsColumn.ShowInCustomizationForm)
            columnsItem.Items.Add(CreateMenuCheckItem(column.Caption, column.VisibleIndex >= 0, 
              null, column, true));
      }
   }
   protected override void OnMenuItemClick(object sender, EventArgs e) {
      if(RaiseClickEvent(sender, null)) return;
      DXMenuItem item = sender as DXMenuItem;
      if(item.Tag == null) return;
      if(item.Tag is GridColumn) {
         GridColumn column = item.Tag as GridColumn;
         column.VisibleIndex = column.VisibleIndex >= 0 ? -1 : View.VisibleColumns.Count;
      }
      else if(item.Tag.ToString() == "Customization") View.ShowCustomization(); 
   }
}

VB.NET

Imports DevExpress.Utils
Imports DevExpress.Utils.Menu
Imports DevExpress.XtraGrid.Menu
Imports DevExpress.XtraGrid.Columns
Imports DevExpress.XtraGrid.Views.Grid

Public Class GridViewColumnButtonMenu
    Inherits GridViewMenu
    Public Sub New(ByVal View As DevExpress.XtraGrid.Views.Grid.GridView)
        MyBase.New(view)
    End Sub
' Create menu items.
' This method is automatically called by the menu's public Init method.
Protected Overrides Sub CreateItems()
        Items.Clear()
        Dim columnsItem As New DXSubMenuItem("Columns")
        Items.Add(columnsItem)
        Items.Add(CreateMenuItem("Runtime Column Customization", _
          GridMenuImages.Column.Images(3), "Customization", True))
        Dim column As GridColumn
        For Each column In View.Columns
            If (column.OptionsColumn.ShowInCustomizationForm) Then
                columnsItem.Items.Add(CreateMenuCheckItem(column.Caption, _
                  column.VisibleIndex >= 0, Nothing, column, True))
            End If
        Next
    End Sub
    Protected Overrides Sub OnMenuItemClick(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
        If RaiseClickEvent(sender, Nothing) Then Return
        Dim item As DXMenuItem = CType(sender, DXMenuItem)
        If item.Tag Is Nothing Then Return
        If TypeOf item.Tag Is GridColumn Then
            Dim column As GridColumn = CType(item.Tag, GridColumn)
            column.VisibleIndex = IIf(column.VisibleIndex >= 0, -1, View.VisibleColumns.Count)
        ElseIf item.Tag.ToString() = "Customization" Then
            View.ShowCustomization()
        End If
    End Sub
End Class

The following code shows how to invoke the custom menu on right-clicking the Grid View.

C#

private void gridView1_MouseDown(object sender, MouseEventArgs e) {
    GridView view = sender as GridView;
    // Check if the right mouse button has been pressed
    if (e.Button == MouseButtons.Right)
        DoShowMenu(view.CalcHitInfo(new Point(e.X, e.Y)));
}


void DoShowMenu(DevExpress.XtraGrid.Views.Grid.ViewInfo.GridHitInfo hi) {
   // Create the menu.
   DevExpress.XtraGrid.Menu.GridViewMenu menu = null;
   // Check whether the header panel button has been clicked.
   if(hi.HitTest == DevExpress.XtraGrid.Views.Grid.ViewInfo.GridHitTest.ColumnButton) {
      menu = new GridViewColumnButtonMenu(hi.View);
      menu.Init(hi);
      // Display the menu.
      menu.Show(hi.HitPoint);
   }
}

VB.NET

Private Sub gridView1_MouseDown(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As MouseEventArgs) Handles gridView1.MouseDown
   Dim view as GridView = sender
   ' Check if the right mouse button has been pressed
   If e.Button = MouseButtons.Right Then
      DoShowMenu(view.CalcHitInfo(New Point(e.X, e.Y)))
   End If
End Sub

Sub DoShowMenu(ByVal hi As DevExpress.XtraGrid.Views.Grid.ViewInfo.GridHitInfo)
   ' Create the menu.
   Dim menu As DevExpress.XtraGrid.Menu.GridViewMenu = Nothing
   ' Check whether the header panel button has been clicked.
   If hi.HitTest = DevExpress.XtraGrid.Views.Grid.ViewInfo.GridHitTest.ColumnButton Then
      menu = New GridViewColumnButtonMenu(hi.View)
      menu.Init(hi)
      ' Display the menu.
      menu.Show(hi.HitPoint)
   End If
End Sub

The image below shows the result.