Clipboard Operations in Windows Forms GridGrouping

21 Jan 202511 minutes to read

The GridGroupingControls provides the default support for clipboard operations such as Cut, Copy and Paste. The TableModel.CutPaste property is used to handle the programmatic clipboard operations of the grid.

Copy

The selected records can be copied to the clipboard by using Ctrl+C keyboard combination. It will paste the selected records into the clipboard.

The CutPaste.Copy method is used to programmatically copy the selected range of records into the clipboard.

//Copy the selection to the clipboard
this.gridGroupingControl1.TableModel.CutPaste.Copy();
'Copy the selection to the clipboard
Me.gridGroupingControl1.TableModel.CutPaste.Copy()

NOTE

When the current cell is in edit mode, it will copy only the text of the current cell.

Copy Range of Cells to Clipboard

The range of cells can be copied to the clipboard by using the CutPaste.CopyRange method. It will copy the given range of cells to the clipboard.

GridRangeInfo range = GridRangeInfo.Cells(3, 3, 4, 4);

//Copy the range of cells to the clipboard
this.gridGroupingControl1.TableModel.CutPaste.CopyRange(range);
Dim range As GridRangeInfo = GridRangeInfo.Cells(3, 3, 4, 4)

'Copy the range of cells to the clipboard
Me.gridGroupingControl1.TableModel.CutPaste.CopyRange(range)

Copy the Formatted Text of the Cell

The formatted text of the cells can be copied to the clipboard by using the CopyTextToClipboard method.

GridCurrentCell cc = this.gridGroupingControl1.TableControl.CurrentCell;
GridRangeInfoList rangeList = new GridRangeInfoList();
rangeList.Add(GridRangeInfo.Cells(3, 3, 4, 4));
rangeList.Add(GridRangeInfo.Cell(cc.RowIndex, cc.ColIndex));   

//Copy the formatted text of the given range
this.gridGroupingControl1.TableModel.CutPaste.CopyTextToClipboard(rangeList);
Dim cc As GridCurrentCell = Me.gridGroupingControl1.TableControl.CurrentCell
Dim rangeList As New GridRangeInfoList()
rangeList.Add(GridRangeInfo.Cells(3, 3, 4, 4))
rangeList.Add(GridRangeInfo.Cell(cc.RowIndex, cc.ColIndex))

'Copy the formatted text of the given range
Me.gridGroupingControl1.TableModel.CutPaste.CopyTextToClipboard(rangeList)

Copy the Records of a Given Group

The records of the given group can be copied to the clipboard by using the Clipboard.SetText method. It will paste the given text to the clipboard data. The following code snippet is used to copy the current group of the GridGroupingControl to the clipboard.

//Get the Current Cell of the GridGroupingControl
GridCurrentCell cc =  this.gridGroupingControl1.TableControl.CurrentCell;
GridTableCellStyleInfo style = this.gridGroupingControl1.TableControl.GetTableViewStyleInfo(cc.RowIndex, cc.ColIndex);
Element el = style.TableCellIdentity.DisplayElement;
//Copy the records of the given group into the clipboard
Clipboard.SetText(this.CopyGroup(el.ParentGroup));

String str;
public String CopyGroup(Group g)
{

    if (g.Records != null && g.Records.Count > 0)
    {

        //Iterate through the each records in the given group

        foreach (Record r in g.Records)
        {

            foreach (FieldDescriptor descriptor in this.gridGroupingControl1.TableDescriptor.Fields)
                str += r.GetValue(descriptor).ToString() + "\t";
            str += "\n";                    
        }
    }
    return str;
}
'Get the Current Cell of the GridGroupingControl
Dim cc As GridCurrentCell = Me.gridGroupingControl1.TableControl.CurrentCell
Dim style As GridTableCellStyleInfo = Me.gridGroupingControl1.TableControl.GetTableViewStyleInfo(cc.RowIndex, cc.ColIndex)
Dim el As Element = style.TableCellIdentity.DisplayElement

'Copy the records of the given group into the clipboard
Clipboard.SetText(Me.CopyGroup(el.ParentGroup))

Private str As String

Public Function CopyGroup(ByVal g As Group) As String

    If g.Records IsNot Nothing AndAlso g.Records.Count > 0 Then

        'Iterate through the each records in the given group

        For Each r As Record In g.Records

            For Each descriptor As FieldDescriptor In Me.gridGroupingControl1.TableDescriptor.Fields
                str &= r.GetValue(descriptor).ToString() & Constants.vbTab
            Next descriptor
            str &= Constants.vbLf
        Next r
    End If
    Return str
End Function

Paste

The clipboard content can be pasted into the grid cells by using the Ctrl+V keyboard combination.

The CutPaste.Paste method is used to programmatically paste the clipboard contents into the grid cells.

//Paste the contents of clipboard to the specific location.
this.gridGroupingControl1.TableModel.CutPaste.Paste();
'Paste the contents of clipboard to the specific location.
Me.gridGroupingControl1.TableModel.CutPaste.Paste()

Pasting a Record

A record can be copied to from the grid and pasted to the particular record index. The following code snippet is used to copy and paste the records in GridGroupingControl.

int index = 3;
string str = null;

foreach (FieldDescriptor descriptor in this.gridGroupingControl1.TableDescriptor.Fields)
{

    //Add the record value to the string
    str += this.gridGroupingControl1.Table.Records[index].GetValue(descriptor).ToString() + "\t";
}

//Set the record value as the clipboard data
Clipboard.SetText(str);         

//Get the current row index of the grid
int rowIndex = this.gridGroupingControl1.Table.CurrentRecord.GetRowIndex();
int colIndex = this.gridGroupingControl1.TableDescriptor.FieldToColIndex(0);

//Move the current cell to the first column of the current record
this.gridGroupingControl1.TableControl.CurrentCell.MoveTo(rowIndex, colIndex);     

//Paste the clipboard content to the current record
this.gridGroupingControl1.TableModel.CutPaste.Paste();
Dim index As Integer = 3
Dim str As String = Nothing
For Each descriptor As FieldDescriptor In Me.gridGroupingControl1.TableDescriptor.Fields

    'Add the record value to the string
    str &= Me.gridGroupingControl1.Table.Records(index).GetValue(descriptor).ToString() & Constants.vbTab
Next descriptor

'Set the record value as the clipboard data
Clipboard.SetText(str)

'Get the current row index of the grid
Dim rowIndex As Integer = Me.gridGroupingControl1.Table.CurrentRecord.GetRowIndex()
Dim colIndex As Integer = Me.gridGroupingControl1.TableDescriptor.FieldToColIndex(0)

'Move the current cell to the first column of the current record
Me.gridGroupingControl1.TableControl.CurrentCell.MoveTo(rowIndex, colIndex)

'Paste the clipboard content to the current record
Me.gridGroupingControl1.TableModel.CutPaste.Paste()

Cut

The selected cell contents can be cut and buffered into the clipboard by using the CutPaste.Cut method.

//Cut the selected range of cells to the clipboard
this.gridGroupingControl1.TableModel.CutPaste.Cut();
'Cut the selected range of cells to the clipboard
Me.gridGroupingControl1.TableModel.CutPaste.Cut()

Cut a Range of Cells to Clipboard

The range of cells can be cut and stored into the clipboard by using the Clipboard.CutRange method.

//Cut the range of cells to the Clipboard
this.gridGroupingControl1.TableModel.CutPaste.CutRange(GridRangeInfo.Cells(3, 3, 4, 4), true);
'Cut the range of cells to the Clipboard
Me.gridGroupingControl1.TableModel.CutPaste.CutRange(GridRangeInfo.Cells(3, 3, 4, 4), True)

Events

The clipboard operations can be handled by using the following events,

  • ClipboardCanCopy - This event is to be handled when the CanCopy method of grid is called.
  • ClipboardCanPaste - This event is to be handled when the CanPaste method of grid is called.
  • ClipboardCanCut - This event is to be handled when the CanCut method of grid is called.
  • ClipboardCopy - This event is to be handled when the Copy method of grid is called.
  • ClipboardCut - This event is to be handled when the Cut method of grid is called.
  • ClipboardPaste - This event is to be handled when the Paste method of grid is called.
  • ClipboardPasted - This event is to be handled after a paste operation.

Restrict the Copy of Current Cell

The cell value of the current cell can be restricted from the copying to the clipboard by handling the ClipboardCanCopy event.

this.gridGroupingControl1.TableModel.ClipboardCanCopy += new GridCutPasteEventHandler(TableModel_ClipboardCanCopy);

void TableModel_ClipboardCanCopy(object sender, GridCutPasteEventArgs e)
{

    // Ignore the current cell from copy to clipboard
    e.IgnoreCurrentCell = true;            
}
AddHandler gridGroupingControl1.TableModel.ClipboardCanCopy, AddressOf TableModel_ClipboardCanCopy

Private Sub TableModel_ClipboardCanCopy(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As GridCutPasteEventArgs)

    ' Ignore the current cell from copy to clipboard
    e.IgnoreCurrentCell = True
End Sub