TreeList.ParentFieldName Property

Gets or sets the data source field that identifies each record’s parent.

Namespace: DevExpress.XtraTreeList

Assembly: DevExpress.XtraTreeList.v18.2.dll

Declaration

C#

[DefaultValue("ParentID")]
[XtraSerializableProperty]
public string ParentFieldName { get; set; }

VB.NET

<DefaultValue("ParentID")>
<XtraSerializableProperty>
Public Property ParentFieldName As String

Property Value

Type	Default	Description
String	"ParentID"	The parent identifier field name.

Remarks

The TreeList.KeyFieldName and ParentFieldName properties specify Key and Parent fields in the bound data source that are used to set up a tree-like structure in a Tree List control. See Tree Generation Algorithm in the Tree List to learn more.

The Tree List control does not automatically create columns specified in the TreeList.KeyFieldName and ParentFieldName fields. You need to activate the TreeListOptionsBehavior.PopulateServiceColumns option to create these columns.

A record is recognized as a root record if its ParentFieldName field satisfies any of the following conditions:

• equals TreeList.RootValue (the default is 0)
• equals null or DBNull.Value
• doesn’t match any of the nodes’ key field values, and is not equal to the RootValue

The code sample below illustrates how to add a child record to a tree list when users right-click on a node.

C#

System.Data.DataSet xmlDataSet = new System.Data.DataSet("XML DataSet");

xmlDataSet.ReadXml(@"D:\Tmp\employees.xml");
treeList1.DataSource = xmlDataSet.Tables["employee"];
treeList1.KeyFieldName = "id";
treeList1.ParentFieldName = "reportsTo";
treeList1.RowClick += TreeList1_RowClick;

private void TreeList1_RowClick(object sender, DevExpress.XtraTreeList.RowClickEventArgs e)
{
    if(e.Button == MouseButtons.Right)
    {
        DataRow row = xmlDataSet.Tables["employee"].NewRow();
        row["id"] = xmlDataSet.Tables["employee"].Rows.Count + 1;
        row["reportsTo"] = e.HitInfo.Node.GetValue("id");
        xmlDataSet.Tables["employee"].Rows.Add(row);
        e.HitInfo.Node.Expand();
    }
}

VB.NET

Private xmlDataSet As New System.Data.DataSet("XML DataSet")

xmlDataSet.ReadXml("D:\Tmp\employees.xml")
treeList1.DataSource = xmlDataSet.Tables("employee")
treeList1.KeyFieldName = "id"
treeList1.ParentFieldName = "reportsTo"
AddHandler treeList1.RowClick, AddressOf TreeList1_RowClick

private void TreeList1_RowClick(Object sender, DevExpress.XtraTreeList.RowClickEventArgs e)
    If e.Button = MouseButtons.Right Then
        Dim row As DataRow = xmlDataSet.Tables("employee").NewRow()
        row("id") = xmlDataSet.Tables("employee").Rows.Count + 1
        row("reportsTo") = e.HitInfo.Node.GetValue("id")
        xmlDataSet.Tables("employee").Rows.Add(row)
        e.HitInfo.Node.Expand()
    End If

Related GitHub Examples

The following code snippets (auto-collected from DevExpress Examples) contain references to the ParentFieldName property.

Note

The algorithm used to collect these code examples remains a work in progress. Accordingly, the links and snippets below may produce inaccurate results. If you encounter an issue with code examples below, please use the feedback form on this page to report the issue.

C#

how-to-save-checkstate-for-treelistnode-in-a-bound-mode-e3376/CS/SaveCheckStateTreeListNode/frmMain.cs#L22

treeList1.KeyFieldName = "ID";
treeList1.ParentFieldName = "ParentID";
if (treeList1.DataSource != null)

Reporting_how-to-embed-treelist-control-to-a-report-at-runtime-e3239/CS/Reports/TreeReport.cs#L40

treeList.KeyFieldName = "uniqueID";
treeList.ParentFieldName = "parentID";
treeList.DataSource = dt;

how-to-find-a-node-in-a-treelist-in-a-background-thread-e4531/CS/AsynchronousFindInTreeList/AsyncSearchHelper.cs#L28

    KeyFieldName = _treeList.KeyFieldName,
    ParentFieldName = _treeList.ParentFieldName
};

Reporting_how-to-embed-the-xtratreelist-into-a-report-via-scripts-e1339/CS/XtraReport1.cs#L27

tree.KeyFieldName = "Oid";
tree.ParentFieldName = "Parent!Key";
tree.DataSource = this.DataSource;

XPO_how-to-implement-self-referenced-persistent-objects-and-display-them-within-the-e744/CS/CS/Form1.cs#L75

treeList1.KeyFieldName = "This";
treeList1.ParentFieldName = "Manager!";
treeList1.RootValue = null;

VB.NET

how-to-save-checkstate-for-treelistnode-in-a-bound-mode-e3376/VB/SaveCheckStateTreeListNode/frmMain.vb#L21

treeList1.KeyFieldName = "ID"
treeList1.ParentFieldName = "ParentID"
If treeList1.DataSource IsNot Nothing Then

Reporting_how-to-embed-treelist-control-to-a-report-at-runtime-e3239/VB/Reports/TreeReport.vb#L42

treeList.KeyFieldName = "uniqueID"
treeList.ParentFieldName = "parentID"
treeList.DataSource = dt

how-to-find-a-node-in-a-treelist-in-a-background-thread-e4531/VB/AsynchronousFindInTreeList/AsyncSearchHelper.vb#L25

Public Sub AsyncSearch(ByVal table As DataTable, ByVal text As String)
    Dim h As New SearchHelper() With {.Table = table, .FindText = text, .KeyFieldName = _treeList.KeyFieldName, .ParentFieldName = _treeList.ParentFieldName}
    _treeList.Enabled = False

Reporting_how-to-embed-the-xtratreelist-into-a-report-via-scripts-e1339/VB/XtraReport1.vb#L29

tree.KeyFieldName = "Oid"
tree.ParentFieldName = "Parent!Key"
tree.DataSource = Me.DataSource

XPO_how-to-implement-self-referenced-persistent-objects-and-display-them-within-the-e744/VB/CS/Form1.vb#L79

treeList1.KeyFieldName = "This"
treeList1.ParentFieldName = "Manager!"
treeList1.RootValue = Nothing