Editing in Windows Forms DataGrid (SfDataGrid)

12 Oct 2020 / 7 minutes to read

SfDataGrid provides support for editing and it can be enabled or disabled by setting SfDataGrid.AllowEditing property.

c#

//Enable Editing for the whole grid. 
this.sfDataGrid.AllowEditing = true;

vb

'Enable Editing for the whole grid. 
Me.sfDataGrid.AllowEditing = True

The editing can be enabled only for the particular columns by setting the GridColumn.AllowEditing property to true.

c#

// Enable editing for particular column.
this.sfDataGrid.Columns[0].AllowEditing = true;

vb

' Enable editing for particular column.
Me.sfDataGrid.Columns(0).AllowEditing = True

Note:The GridColumn.AllowEditing has the high priority than the SfDataGrid.AllowEditing.

Entering into Edit Mode

The current cell can be enter into edit mode by pressing <kbd>F2</kbd> key or clicking (touch also supported) the cell. The edit mode of the cell can be changed to the single click or double click by setting the EditMode property.

c#

// Enters to the edit mode of the cell using double click
this.sfDataGrid.EditMode = EditMode.DoubleClick;

vb

' Enters to the edit mode of the cell using double click
Me.sfDataGrid.EditMode = EditMode.DoubleClick

Cursor Placement

When the cell enters into edit mode, cursor is placed based on EditorSelectionBehavior property.
The following types of EditorSelectionBehavior is available,

• Default – Moves the cursor to the clicked position on the text.
• SelectAll– selects the text of edit element loaded inside cell.
• MoveLast – places the cursor at the last of edit element loaded inside cell.

c#

// Select all the text while entering to the edit mode.
this.sfDataGrid.EditorSelectionBehavior = EditorSelectionBehavior.SelectAll;

vb

' Select all the text while entering to the edit mode.
Me.sfDataGrid.EditorSelectionBehavior = EditorSelectionBehavior.SelectAll

Customization Using Events

Cancel the Editing of the Current Cell

The current cell editing can be canceled by using the CurrentCellBeginEdit event. This event will be raised when the current cell enters to the edit mode.

c#

this.sfDataGrid.CurrentCellBeginEdit += sfDataGrid_CurrentCellBeginEdit;

void sfDataGrid_CurrentCellBeginEdit(object sender, CurrentCellBeginEditEventArgs e)
{
    //Cancel the editing of the particular column.
    if (e.DataColumn.GridColumn.MappingName == "ProductName")
        e.Cancel = true;
}

vb

Private Me.sfDataGrid.CurrentCellBeginEdit += AddressOf sfDataGrid_CurrentCellBeginEdit

Private Sub sfDataGrid_CurrentCellBeginEdit(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As CurrentCellBeginEditEventArgs)
	'Cancel the editing of the particular column.
	If e.DataColumn.GridColumn.MappingName = "ProductName" Then
		e.Cancel = True
	End If
End Sub

Display Message Box on Current Cell Editing Complete

The editing completion of the current cell can be notified by using the CurrentCellEndEdit event.

c#

this.sfDataGrid.CurrentCellEndEdit += sfDataGrid_CurrentCellEndEdit;

void sfDataGrid_CurrentCellEndEdit(object sender, CurrentCellEndEditEventArgs e)
{
    MessageBox.Show("The editing is completed for the cell (" + e.DataRow.RowIndex + "," + e.DataColumn.ColumnIndex + ")");
}

vb

AddHandler sfDataGrid.CurrentCellEndEdit, AddressOf sfDataGrid_CurrentCellEndEdit

Private Sub sfDataGrid_CurrentCellEndEdit(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As CurrentCellEndEditEventArgs)
	MessageBox.Show("The editing is completed for the cell (" & e.DataRow.RowIndex & "," & e.DataColumn.ColumnIndex & ")")
End Sub

Change style of editor control

The style of editor control which displaying while editing the current cell can be modified using the sfDataGrid.EditingControlShowing event. You can set the style by using Style property available in the DataGridEditingControlShowingEventArgs.

c#

sfDataGrid.EditingControlShowing += SfDataGrid_EditingControlShowing;

private void SfDataGrid_EditingControlShowing(object sender, DataGridEditingControlShowingEventArgs e)
{
    e.Style.BackColor = Color.LightBlue;
    e.Style.TextColor = Color.White;
}

vb

AddHandler sfDataGrid.EditingControlShowing, AddressOf SfDataGrid_EditingControlShowing

Private Sub SfDataGrid_EditingControlShowing(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As DataGridEditingControlShowingEventArgs)
	e.Style.BackColor = Color.LightBlue
	e.Style.TextColor = Color.White
End Sub

Programmatic Editing

The editing can be handled programmatically by using the CurrentCellManager which has the helper methods for handling the editing.

Begin Editing

The editing of the cell can be achieved by using the CurrentCellManager.BeginEdit method. Initially the CurrentCell need to set before calling the BeginEdit method

c#

private void button1_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
    RowColumnIndex rowColumnIndex = new RowColumnIndex(3, 2);
    this.sfDataGrid.MoveToCurrentCell(rowColumnIndex);
    this.sfDataGrid.CurrentCell.BeginEdit();
}

vb

Private Sub button1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
	Dim rowColumnIndex As New RowColumnIndex(3, 2)
	Me.sfDataGrid.MoveToCurrentCell(rowColumnIndex)
	Me.sfDataGrid.CurrentCell.BeginEdit()
End Sub

End Editing

The editing can be end programmatically by using the EndEdit method.

c#

// End the editing of the current cell
this.sfDataGrid.CurrentCell.EndEdit();

vb

' End the editing of the current cell
Me.sfDataGrid.CurrentCell.EndEdit()

Cancel Editing

The editing can be canceled by calling the CancelEdit method. This will end the editing of the current cell by replacing the old value before entering to the edit mode.

c#

// Cancel the editing of the current cell.
this.sfDataGrid.CurrentCell.CancelEdit();

vb

' Cancel the editing of the current cell.
Me.sfDataGrid.CurrentCell.CancelEdit()

See also

How to show on screen keyboard in tablet device while editing a cell in WinForms DataGrid