Add and Remove Rows

• Oct 29, 2020
• 7 minutes to read

• Common Requirements
• New Item Row
• Initialize New Rows
• Data Navigator
• External Control Navigator
• Add and Remove Rows in Code

Common Requirements

You and your end-users can add and remove Data Grid rows only if its underlying data source allows for such an action. For example, the ExcelDataSource is a read-only data source; thus, data editing in a grid bound to this source is not available. Similarly, if a Data Grid is bound to a data source that implements the IBindingList interface, the row operations’ availability depends on boolean AllowNew and AllowRemove settings. Note that Lists with simple type objects (e.g., List<string>) are not supported - instead, you need to create a class with one property of this required simple type. This class must have an empty default constructor.

New Item Row

The Data Grid can display an empty row that end-users utilize to add new records. This row is identified by an asterisk (*) displayed within a corresponding row indicator cell. To cancel adding a new row, press Esc.

Demos: Table View | Use New Item Row to add rows

Related API

• GridOptionsView.NewItemRowPosition - allows you to enable a new item row and select whether it should anchor to the View’s top or bottom edge.

• GridControl.NewItemRowHandle - a constant that specifies the row handle for the New Item Row.

Initialize New Rows

The ColumnView.InitNewRow event fires whenever a user adds a new record. Handle this event to facilitate user input and initialize new rows with required starting cell values.

In the Init newly added rows in a custom manner demo module, every new row automatically receieves starting values for cells under “Record Date”, “Name” and “Notes” columns.

C#

gridView.OptionsView.NewItemRowPosition = NewItemRowPosition.Top;

//Handle the InitNewRow event to initialize newly added rows. To initialize row cells use the SetRowCellValue method
gridView.InitNewRow += (s, e) => {
    GridView view = s as GridView;
    view.SetRowCellValue(e.RowHandle, view.Columns["RecordDate"], DateTime.Today);
    view.SetRowCellValue(e.RowHandle, view.Columns["Name"], "CustomName");
    view.SetRowCellValue(e.RowHandle, view.Columns["Notes"], "New Note");
};

VB.NET

gridView.OptionsView.NewItemRowPosition = NewItemRowPosition.Top

'Handle the InitNewRow event to initialize newly added rows. To initialize row cells use the SetRowCellValue method
AddHandler gridView.InitNewRow, Sub(s, e)
    Dim view As GridView = TryCast(s, GridView)
    view.SetRowCellValue(e.RowHandle, view.Columns("RecordDate"), Date.Today)
    view.SetRowCellValue(e.RowHandle, view.Columns("Name"), "CustomName")
    view.SetRowCellValue(e.RowHandle, view.Columns("Notes"), "New Note")
End Sub

Data Navigator

The Data Navigator is an embedded toolbar that allows users to navigate through Data Grid records and add/remove rows.

Related API

• GridControl.UseEmbeddedNavigator - specifies whether or not the Data Navigator is available.

• GridControl.EmbeddedNavigator.Buttons - buttons displayed in the Data Navigator.

External Control Navigator

The Data Navigator is a ControlNavigator object displayed directly within a Data Grid. If needed, you can create a standalone Control Navigator and position it anywhere outside your Grid. Utilize the navigator’s ControlNavigator.NavigatableControl property to bind the navigator to a Data Grid. The Control Navigator can also navigate through records of the Tree List and Vertical Grid controls.

Add and Remove Rows in Code

• Modifying the underlying data source

  If your data source supports adding and removing records, you can use a data source API to modify Grid rows. If a data source does not implement the IBindingList interface, it does not send add/remove notifications to a Data Grid. In this case, call the GridControl.RefreshDataSource (updates main Grid view) or BaseView.RefreshData (updates this particular view) method to update the Data Grid manually. The GridOptionsNavigation.AutoFocusNewRow property allows the Data Grid to automatically focus new records added to a data source.

  The code below adds a new record to a BindingList<T> object that serves as a data source for a Data Grid. Since this data source supports update notifications, you don’t need to refresh the Data Grid manually.

  C#

  private void barButtonItem1_ItemClick(object sender, DevExpress.XtraBars.ItemClickEventArgs e) {
      (gridControl1.DataSource as BindingList<SalesPerson>).AddNew();
  }
  

  VB.NET

  Private Sub barButtonItem1_ItemClick(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As DevExpress.XtraBars.ItemClickEventArgs)
      TryCast(gridControl1.DataSource, BindingList(Of SalesPerson)).AddNew()
  End Sub
  

• ColumnView.AddNewRow

  Adds a blank row to the Data Grid. If the New Item Row is enabled, this method moves focus to this element. Otherwise, the new record is temporarily placed below the existing records. After a user has entered cell values and the row has been accepted, the new row moves to its final location according to the current Data Group filtering, grouping and sorting settings. To accept a new row manually, call the ColumnView.UpdateCurrentRow method from code. The following code shows how to add a new row to a data group. It is assumed that data within a Grid View is grouped against one or more columns. The row is added to the same group as the currently focused row.

  C#

  private void AddNewRowInGroupMode(DevExpress.XtraGrid.Views.Grid.GridView View) {
      //Get the handle of the source data row 
      //The row provides group column values for a new row 
      int rowHandle = View.GetDataRowHandleByGroupRowHandle(View.FocusedRowHandle);
      //Store group column values 
      object [] groupValues = null;
      int groupColumnCount = View.GroupedColumns.Count;
      if(groupColumnCount > 0) {
          groupValues = new object[groupColumnCount];
          for(int i = 0; i < groupColumnCount; i++) {
              groupValues[i] = View.GetRowCellValue(rowHandle, View.GroupedColumns[i]);
          }
      }
      //Add a new row 
      View.AddNewRow();
      //Get the handle of the new row 
      int newRowHandle = View.FocusedRowHandle;
      object newRow = View.GetRow(newRowHandle);
      //Set cell values corresponding to group columns 
      if(groupColumnCount > 0) {                
          for(int i = 0; i < groupColumnCount; i++) {
              View.SetRowCellValue(newRowHandle, View.GroupedColumns[i], groupValues[i]);
          }
      }
      //Accept the new row 
      //The row moves to a new position according to the current group settings 
      View.UpdateCurrentRow();
      //Locate the new row 
      for(int n = 0; n < View.DataRowCount; n++) {
          if(View.GetRow(n).Equals(newRow)) {
              View.FocusedRowHandle = n;
              break;
          }
      }
  }
  

  VB.NET

  Private Sub AddNewRowInGroupMode(ByVal View As DevExpress.XtraGrid.Views.Grid.GridView)
      'Get the handle of the source data row 
      'The row provides group column values for a new row 
      Dim rowHandle As Integer = View.GetDataRowHandleByGroupRowHandle(View.FocusedRowHandle)
      'Store group column values 
      Dim groupValues() As Object = Nothing
      Dim groupColumnCount As Integer = View.GroupedColumns.Count
      If groupColumnCount > 0 Then
          groupValues = New Object(groupColumnCount - 1){}
          For i As Integer = 0 To groupColumnCount - 1
              groupValues(i) = View.GetRowCellValue(rowHandle, View.GroupedColumns(i))
          Next i
      End If
      'Add a new row 
      View.AddNewRow()
      'Get the handle of the new row 
      Dim newRowHandle As Integer = View.FocusedRowHandle
      Dim newRow As Object = View.GetRow(newRowHandle)
      'Set cell values corresponding to group columns 
      If groupColumnCount > 0 Then
          For i As Integer = 0 To groupColumnCount - 1
              View.SetRowCellValue(newRowHandle, View.GroupedColumns(i), groupValues(i))
          Next i
      End If
      'Accept the new row 
      'The row moves to a new position according to the current group settings 
      View.UpdateCurrentRow()
      'Locate the new row 
      For n As Integer = 0 To View.DataRowCount - 1
          If View.GetRow(n).Equals(newRow) Then
              View.FocusedRowHandle = n
              Exit For
          End If
      Next n
  End Sub
  

• ColumnView.DeleteRow

  Removes a data record or a group row from the View. If a data source contains multiple tables with master-detail relationships, this method removes a row together with its associated child rows. The code snippet below illustrates how to remove the focused row when a user presses the Ctrl+Del shortcut.

  C#

  private void gridView1_KeyDown(object sender, System.Windows.Forms.KeyEventArgs e) {
          if (e.KeyCode == Keys.Delete && e.Modifiers == Keys.Control) {
              if (MessageBox.Show("Delete row?", "Confirmation", MessageBoxButtons.YesNo) != 
                DialogResult.Yes)
                  return;
              GridView view = sender as GridView;                
              view.DeleteRow(view.FocusedRowHandle);
          }
      }
  

  VB.NET

  Private Sub GridView1_KeyDown(ByVal sender As Object, _
        ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.KeyEventArgs) Handles GridView1.KeyDown
          If (e.KeyCode = Keys.Delete And e.Modifiers = Keys.Control) Then
              If (MessageBox.Show("Delete row?", "Confirmation", _
                MessageBoxButtons.YesNo) <> DialogResult.Yes) Then Return
              Dim view As GridView = CType(sender, GridView)
              view.DeleteRow(view.FocusedRowHandle)
          End If
      End Sub
  

• ColumnView.DeleteSelectedRows

  If the ColumnViewOptionsSelection.MultiSelect property is enabled, users can select multiple Data Grid rows (or row cells, depending on the current GridOptionsSelection.MultiSelectMode setting). The DeleteSelectedRows() method removes all selected rows and all rows with selected cells if individual cell selection is enabled.

Demos: Remove rows with the Ctrl+Delete shortcut | Prevent a row from being deleted