How to: Apply a Data Bar Format to a Column

• 2 minutes to read

This example applies a data bar format to the Unit Price column in a GridControl at design time and in code.

Data bars fill column cells proportionally based on cell values relative to other cells. A longer bar corresponds to a higher value, and a shorter bar corresponds to a lower value.

To create a new formatting rule at design time, do the following:

1. Open the Format Rule Collection Editor from the Grid Designer or by clicking the ellipsis button for the ColumnView.FormatRules property. Switch to the Style Format Rules page (in the Appearance category).

   

2. Click the Add button to create a new format rule (format rules in a GridControl are GridFormatRule objects).

3. Select the Format using Data bar rule type. The format rule’s FormatRuleBase.Rule property will be set to a new FormatConditionRuleDataBar object.

   

4. Set the GridFormatRule.Column property to the Unit Price column. This column provides values to test against the formatting rule.

   

   The format is applied to the Unit Price column. To apply this format to another column, you can set the GridFormatRule.ColumnApplyTo property.

5. Choose one of the predefined bars styles using the FormatConditionRuleDataBar.PredefinedName property. You can do this in the Properties tab or the Rule tab. Additionally, the Rule tab allows you to preview the selected style. In this example, the Blue Data Bar Gradient style is selected.

   

6. Run the application. The image below illustrates the result.

   

The following code is equivalent to the design-time actions shown above:

C#

using DevExpress.XtraEditors;
using DevExpress.XtraGrid;

GridFormatRule gridFormatRule = new GridFormatRule();
FormatConditionRuleDataBar formatConditionRuleDataBar = new FormatConditionRuleDataBar();
gridFormatRule.Column = this.colUnitPrice;
formatConditionRuleDataBar.PredefinedName = "Blue Gradient";
gridFormatRule.Rule = formatConditionRuleDataBar;
this.gridView.FormatRules.Add(gridFormatRule);

VB.NET

Imports DevExpress.XtraEditors
Imports DevExpress.XtraGrid

Dim gridFormatRule As New GridFormatRule()
Dim formatConditionRuleDataBar As New FormatConditionRuleDataBar()
gridFormatRule.Column = Me.colUnitPrice
formatConditionRuleDataBar.PredefinedName = "Blue Gradient"
gridFormatRule.Rule = formatConditionRuleDataBar
Me.gridView.FormatRules.Add(gridFormatRule)

Tip

• To specify a custom bar style, use FormatConditionRuleDataBar.Appearance and FormatConditionRuleDataBar.AppearanceNegative properties.
• You can specify custom minimum and maximum values. Set FormatConditionRuleMinMaxBase.MinimumType and FormatConditionRuleMinMaxBase.MaximumType properties to Number or Percent and use FormatConditionRuleMinMaxBase.Minimum and FormatConditionRuleMinMaxBase.Maximum properties to specify required min and max values.