Unbound Mode - Gantt Control

• Jan 29, 2025
• 4 minutes to read

You can use a GanttControl if it is not bound to a data source. This mode requires that you create columns and nodes manually.

Tip

If you bind the control to a data source, it creates columns and nodes automatically based on the data source. See the following topic for more information: Bind to Data Source.

Add Columns and Nodes

You can create columns and nodes in the designer or in code. See the following topic for more information about the designer: Tree List Designer.

Use Add, AddRange, AddField and AddVisible methods to add columns to the Columns collection. To create nodes, use the AppendNode method.

Note

The DataSource property must be set to null (Nothing in VB.NET) to use the Gantt control in unbound mode.

C#

public Form1() {
    InitializeComponent();
    ganttControl1.ChartMappings.TextFieldName = "Name";

    var column = ganttControl1.Columns.AddField("ID");
    column.UnboundDataType = typeof(int);
    column = ganttControl1.Columns.AddVisible("StartDate");
    column.UnboundDataType = typeof(DateTime);
    column = ganttControl1.Columns.AddVisible("FinishDate");
    column.UnboundDataType = typeof(DateTime);
    column = ganttControl1.Columns.AddField("Predecessors");
    column.UnboundDataType = typeof(string);
    column = ganttControl1.Columns.AddField("Name");
    column.UnboundDataType = typeof(string);

    var startDate = new DateTime(2021, 2, 15, 8, 0, 0);
    var finishDate = new DateTime(2021, 2, 15, 17, 0, 0);

    var rootNode = ganttControl1.AppendNode(new object[] { 0, startDate, finishDate, string.Empty }, null);
    ganttControl1.AppendNode(new object[] { 1, startDate, finishDate, string.Empty, "Task 1" }, rootNode);
    ganttControl1.AppendNode(new object[] { 2, startDate, finishDate, "1", "Task 2" }, rootNode);
    ganttControl1.AppendNode(new object[] { 3, startDate, finishDate, "1, 2", "Task 3" }, rootNode);

    ganttControl1.ScheduleFromStartDate(startDate);
}

VB.NET

ganttControl1.ChartMappings.TextFieldName = "Name"

Dim column = ganttControl1.Columns.AddField("ID")
column.UnboundDataType = GetType(Int32)
column = ganttControl1.Columns.AddVisible("StartDate")
column.UnboundDataType = GetType(DateTime)
column = ganttControl1.Columns.AddVisible("FinishDate")
column.UnboundDataType = GetType(DateTime)
column = ganttControl1.Columns.AddField("Predecessors")
column.UnboundDataType = GetType(String)
column = ganttControl1.Columns.AddField("Name")
column.UnboundDataType = GetType(String)

Dim startDate = New DateTime(2021, 2, 15, 8, 0, 0)
Dim finishDate = New DateTime(2021, 2, 15, 17, 0, 0)

Dim rootNode = ganttControl1.AppendNode(New Object() {0, startDate, finishDate, String.Empty}, parentNode:=Nothing)
ganttControl1.AppendNode(New Object() {1, startDate, finishDate, String.Empty}, rootNode)
ganttControl1.AppendNode(New Object() {2, startDate, finishDate, "1"}, rootNode)
ganttControl1.AppendNode(New Object() {3, startDate, finishDate, "1, 2"}, rootNode)

ganttControl1.ScheduleFromStartDate(startDate)

Columns Specific to the Gantt Control

You can add any columns to a control but specific columns are required to display tasks in the chart area. For example, a task’s start and finish date are required to display the task on the timescale.

The table below contains columns (fields) that you can add to the control and their default names. You can either use default names or specify custom ones.

Column (Field)	Description	Default Column (Field) Name	Property that Specifies the Column (Field) Name
Start Date	A column that contains a task’s start date.	“StartDate”	StartDateFieldName
Finish Date	A column that contains a task’s finish date. You can use either Finish Date or Duration.	“FinishDate”	FinishDateFieldName
Duration	A column that contains a task’s duration. You can use either Duration or Finish Date.	Empty	DurationFieldName
Text	A caption displayed next to a task in the chart. Note that this column does not have a default name. You must specify it to display task captions in the chart.	Empty	TextFieldName
Tooltip Text	A column that contains a task’s caption in tooltips. Note that this column does not have a default name. You must specify it to display task captions in tooltips.	Empty	InteractionTooltipTextFieldName
Progress	A column that contains a task’s completion percentage.	“Progress”	ProgressFieldName
Baseline Start Date	A column that contains a baseline’s start date.	“BaselineStartDate”	BaselineStartDateFieldName
Baseline Finish Date	A column that contains a baseline’s finish date. You can use either Baseline Finish Date or Baseline Duration.	“BaselineFinishDate”	BaselineFinishDateFieldName
Baseline Duration	A column that contains a baseline’s duration. You can use either Baseline Duration or Baseline Finish Date.	Empty	BaselineDurationFieldName
Key	A column that contains a node’s unique identifier. Use this identifier to specify predecessors.	“ID”	KeyFieldName
Predecessors	A column that contains a task’s predecessors. The column should contain predecessor keys separated by space, comma, or semicolon (‘ ‘, ‘,’ ‘;’). This column allows you to specify finish-to-start dependencies only. Also, note that you cannot specify a time lag between dependent tasks.	“Predecessors”	PredecessorsFieldName