Cell Customization in WPF Spreadsheet (SfSpreadsheet)

27 Feb 20255 minutes to read

SfSpreadsheet provides support to customize the cell with Data template. It allows to load any WPF control or custom control into the cell.

In order to customize the cell, please follow the below steps

• Create a DataTemplate
• Override the SpreadsheetColumn class
• Create the Custom Cell Renderer
• Associating the Custom Cell Renderer to SpreadsheetGrid

Create a DataTemplate

Create a custom DataTemplate (For ex: Button Template) in the Main window.xaml file,

XAML

<DataTemplate x:Key="ButtonTemplate" >
<Expander x:Name="Button" ExpandDirection="Right" IsExpanded="True" 
   Expanded="Button_Expanded" Collapsed="Button_Collapsed"/>
</DataTemplate>

Override the SpreadsheetColumn class

Create an extension class SpreadsheetColumnExt by overriding the SpreadsheetColumn Class which holds all the operations related with cells.

Now override the function OnUpdateColumn which updates the column properties (cell types, renderer, cell element, etc.) and get the data template which is used for displaying in the particular cell.

C#

public class SpreadsheetColumnExt : SpreadsheetColumn
{

    public SpreadsheetColumnExt(SpreadsheetGrid grid) : base(grid)
    {

    }

// Gets or sets the DataTemplate for the cell

public DataTemplate CellItemTemplate
{
  get;
  set;
}

// Gets or sets the DataTemplate for the cell
public DataTemplate CellEditTemplate
{
  get;
  set;
}

//Update the cell with the defined template

protected override void OnUpdateColumn(out FrameworkElement oldElement)
{

   if (RowIndex == 3 && ColumnIndex == 6)
   {
    this.CellItemTemplate = Application.Current.MainWindow.Resources["ButtonTemplate"] as DataTemplate;
    this.CellEditTemplate = Application.Current.MainWindow.Resources["ButtonTemplate"] as DataTemplate;
   }
base.OnUpdateColumn(out oldElement);
}
}

Create the Custom Cell Renderer

Create a SpreadsheetTemplateCellRenderer class by overriding the SpreadsheetVirtualizingCellRendererBase class to display the defined custom renderer element.

For initializing the display element, set the content template in OnInitializeDisplayElement method and for editing, set the content template in OnInitializeEditElement method otherwise it will load the default display and edit element in the cells

C#

public class SpreadsheetTemplateCellRenderer : SpreadsheetVirtualizingCellRendererBase<ContentControl, ContentControl>
{

    public SpreadsheetTemplateCellRenderer()
    {
        SupportDrawingOptimization = false;
    }

//Update the cell style for display element

protected override void OnUpdateCellStyle(RowColumnIndex cellRowColumnIndex, ContentControl uiElement, SpreadsheetColumn column)
{
	
    if (uiElement.ContentTemplate == null)
    {
      uiElement.ContentTemplate = (column as SpreadsheetColumnExt).CellItemTemplate;
    }
    base.OnUpdateCellStyle(cellRowColumnIndex, uiElement, column);
}

//Update the cell style for edit element

protected override void OnUpdateEditCellStyle (RowColumnIndex cellRowColumnIndex, ContentControl uiElement, SpreadsheetColumn column)
{

    if (uiElement.ContentTemplate == null)
    {
      uiElement.ContentTemplate = (column as SpreadsheetColumnExt).CellEditTemplate;
    }
    base.OnUpdateEditCellStyle (cellRowColumnIndex, uiElement, column);
}

//To initialize the display element on the cell

protected override void OnInitializeDisplayElement(RowColumnIndex rowColumnIndex, ContentControl uiElement, SpreadsheetColumn column) 
{
    uiElement.ContentTemplate = (column as SpreadsheetColumnExt).CellItemTemplate;
}

//To initialize the edit element on the cell

protected override void OnInitializeEditElement(RowColumnIndex rowColumnIndex, ContentControl uiElement, SpreadsheetColumn column)
{      
    uiElement.ContentTemplate = (column as SpreadsheetColumnExt).CellEditTemplate;
}
}

NOTE

If you want to load the default edit element, then no need to override the OnInitializeEditElement method.

Associating the Custom Cell Renderer to SpreadsheetGrid

To associate the custom cell renderer in SpreadsheetGrid, invoke the WorkbookLoaded Event of SfSpreadsheet and initialize the SpreadsheetTemplateCellRenderer and add it to the renderer collection.

Invoke the QueryRange Event of SpreadsheetGrid and set the CellType of particular range to be “DataTemplate” to load the user defined template.

C#

void spreadsheet_WorkbookLoaded(object sender, WorkbookLoadedEventArgs args)
{
   var grid = spreadsheet.ActiveGrid;
   grid.CreateGridColumn = CreateSpreadsheetColumnExt;
   var renderer = new SpreadsheetTemplateCellRenderer();
   grid.CellRenderers.Add("DataTemplate", renderer);
   grid.QueryRange += grid_QueryRange;
}

//To access the SpreadsheetColumnExt

public GridColumn CreateSpreadsheetColumnExt(SfCellGrid grid)
{
   return new SpreadsheetColumnExt(grid as SpreadsheetGrid);
}

//To update the cell type
void grid_QueryRange(object sender, SpreadsheetQueryRangeEventArgs e)
{
 
  if (e.Cell.ColumnIndex == 6)
  {
    e.CellType = "DataTemplate";
    e.CellValue = "0";
    e.Handled = true;
  }
}

For more reference, please find the customization sample.

NOTE

You can refer to our WPF Spreadsheet feature tour page for its groundbreaking feature representations. You can also explore our WPF Spreadsheet example to know how to render and configure the spreadsheet.