DataGridView.AutoGenerateColumns Property

public:
 property bool AutoGenerateColumns { bool get(); void set(bool value); };

[System.ComponentModel.Browsable(false)]
public bool AutoGenerateColumns { get; set; }

[<System.ComponentModel.Browsable(false)>]
member this.AutoGenerateColumns : bool with get, set

Public Property AutoGenerateColumns As Boolean

Property Value

true if the columns should be created automatically; otherwise, false. The default is true.

Attributes

BrowsableAttribute

Examples

The following code example demonstrates how to add columns manually and bind them to a data source when you set AutoGenerateColumns to false. In this example, a DataGridView control is bound to a list of Task business objects. Then, columns are added and are bound to Task properties through the DataGridViewColumn.DataPropertyName property. This example is part of a larger example available in How to: Access Objects in a Windows Forms DataGridViewComboBoxCell Drop-Down List.

public class Form1 : Form
{
    private List<Employee> employees = new List<Employee>();
    private List<Task> tasks = new List<Task>();
    private Button reportButton = new Button();
    private DataGridView dataGridView1 = new DataGridView();

    [STAThread]
    public static void Main()
    {
        Application.Run(new Form1());
    }

    public Form1()
    {
        dataGridView1.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
        dataGridView1.AutoSizeColumnsMode = 
            DataGridViewAutoSizeColumnsMode.AllCells;
        reportButton.Text = "Generate Report";
        reportButton.Dock = DockStyle.Top;
        reportButton.Click += new EventHandler(reportButton_Click);

        Controls.Add(dataGridView1);
        Controls.Add(reportButton);
        Load += new EventHandler(Form1_Load);
        Text = "DataGridViewComboBoxColumn Demo";
    }

    // Initializes the data source and populates the DataGridView control.
    private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        PopulateLists();
        dataGridView1.AutoGenerateColumns = false;
        dataGridView1.DataSource = tasks;
        AddColumns();
    }

    // Populates the employees and tasks lists. 
    private void PopulateLists()
    {
        employees.Add(new Employee("Harry"));
        employees.Add(new Employee("Sally"));
        employees.Add(new Employee("Roy"));
        employees.Add(new Employee("Pris"));
        tasks.Add(new Task(1, employees[1]));
        tasks.Add(new Task(2));
        tasks.Add(new Task(3, employees[2]));
        tasks.Add(new Task(4));
    }

    // Configures columns for the DataGridView control.
    private void AddColumns()
    {
        DataGridViewTextBoxColumn idColumn = 
            new DataGridViewTextBoxColumn();
        idColumn.Name = "Task";
        idColumn.DataPropertyName = "Id";
        idColumn.ReadOnly = true;

        DataGridViewComboBoxColumn assignedToColumn = 
            new DataGridViewComboBoxColumn();

        // Populate the combo box drop-down list with Employee objects. 
        foreach (Employee e in employees) assignedToColumn.Items.Add(e);

        // Add "unassigned" to the drop-down list and display it for 
        // empty AssignedTo values or when the user presses CTRL+0. 
        assignedToColumn.Items.Add("unassigned");
        assignedToColumn.DefaultCellStyle.NullValue = "unassigned";

        assignedToColumn.Name = "Assigned To";
        assignedToColumn.DataPropertyName = "AssignedTo";
        assignedToColumn.AutoComplete = true;
        assignedToColumn.DisplayMember = "Name";
        assignedToColumn.ValueMember = "Self";

        // Add a button column. 
        DataGridViewButtonColumn buttonColumn = 
            new DataGridViewButtonColumn();
        buttonColumn.HeaderText = "";
        buttonColumn.Name = "Status Request";
        buttonColumn.Text = "Request Status";
        buttonColumn.UseColumnTextForButtonValue = true;

        dataGridView1.Columns.Add(idColumn);
        dataGridView1.Columns.Add(assignedToColumn);
        dataGridView1.Columns.Add(buttonColumn);

        // Add a CellClick handler to handle clicks in the button column.
        dataGridView1.CellClick +=
            new DataGridViewCellEventHandler(dataGridView1_CellClick);
    }

    // Reports on task assignments. 
    private void reportButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        StringBuilder report = new StringBuilder();
        foreach (Task t in tasks)
        {
            String assignment = 
                t.AssignedTo == null ? 
                "unassigned" : "assigned to " + t.AssignedTo.Name;
            report.AppendFormat("Task {0} is {1}.", t.Id, assignment);
            report.Append(Environment.NewLine);
        }
        MessageBox.Show(report.ToString(), "Task Assignments");
    }

    // Calls the Employee.RequestStatus method.
    void dataGridView1_CellClick(object sender, DataGridViewCellEventArgs e)
    {
        // Ignore clicks that are not on button cells. 
        if (e.RowIndex < 0 || e.ColumnIndex !=
            dataGridView1.Columns["Status Request"].Index) return;

        // Retrieve the task ID.
        Int32 taskID = (Int32)dataGridView1[0, e.RowIndex].Value;

        // Retrieve the Employee object from the "Assigned To" cell.
        Employee assignedTo = dataGridView1.Rows[e.RowIndex]
            .Cells["Assigned To"].Value as Employee;

        // Request status through the Employee object if present. 
        if (assignedTo != null)
        {
            assignedTo.RequestStatus(taskID);
        }
        else
        {
            MessageBox.Show(String.Format(
                "Task {0} is unassigned.", taskID), "Status Request");
        }
    }
}

Public Class Form1
    Inherits Form

    Private employees As New List(Of Employee)
    Private tasks As New List(Of Task)
    Private WithEvents reportButton As New Button
    Private WithEvents dataGridView1 As New DataGridView

    <STAThread()> _
    Public Sub Main()
        Application.Run(New Form1)
    End Sub

    Sub New()
        dataGridView1.Dock = DockStyle.Fill
        dataGridView1.AutoSizeColumnsMode = _
            DataGridViewAutoSizeColumnsMode.AllCells
        reportButton.Text = "Generate Report"
        reportButton.Dock = DockStyle.Top

        Controls.Add(dataGridView1)
        Controls.Add(reportButton)
        Text = "DataGridViewComboBoxColumn Demo"
    End Sub

    ' Initializes the data source and populates the DataGridView control.
    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As Object, _
        ByVal e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load

        PopulateLists()
        dataGridView1.AutoGenerateColumns = False
        dataGridView1.DataSource = tasks
        AddColumns()

    End Sub

    ' Populates the employees and tasks lists. 
    Private Sub PopulateLists()
        employees.Add(New Employee("Harry"))
        employees.Add(New Employee("Sally"))
        employees.Add(New Employee("Roy"))
        employees.Add(New Employee("Pris"))
        tasks.Add(New Task(1, employees(1)))
        tasks.Add(New Task(2))
        tasks.Add(New Task(3, employees(2)))
        tasks.Add(New Task(4))
    End Sub

    ' Configures columns for the DataGridView control.
    Private Sub AddColumns()

        Dim idColumn As New DataGridViewTextBoxColumn()
        idColumn.Name = "Task"
        idColumn.DataPropertyName = "Id"
        idColumn.ReadOnly = True

        Dim assignedToColumn As New DataGridViewComboBoxColumn()

        ' Populate the combo box drop-down list with Employee objects. 
        For Each e As Employee In employees
            assignedToColumn.Items.Add(e)
        Next

        ' Add "unassigned" to the drop-down list and display it for 
        ' empty AssignedTo values or when the user presses CTRL+0. 
        assignedToColumn.Items.Add("unassigned")
        assignedToColumn.DefaultCellStyle.NullValue = "unassigned"

        assignedToColumn.Name = "Assigned To"
        assignedToColumn.DataPropertyName = "AssignedTo"
        assignedToColumn.AutoComplete = True
        assignedToColumn.DisplayMember = "Name"
        assignedToColumn.ValueMember = "Self"

        ' Add a button column. 
        Dim buttonColumn As New DataGridViewButtonColumn()
        buttonColumn.HeaderText = ""
        buttonColumn.Name = "Status Request"
        buttonColumn.Text = "Request Status"
        buttonColumn.UseColumnTextForButtonValue = True

        dataGridView1.Columns.Add(idColumn)
        dataGridView1.Columns.Add(assignedToColumn)
        dataGridView1.Columns.Add(buttonColumn)

    End Sub

    ' Reports on task assignments. 
    Private Sub reportButton_Click(ByVal sender As Object, _
        ByVal e As EventArgs) Handles reportButton.Click

        Dim report As New StringBuilder()
        For Each t As Task In tasks
            Dim assignment As String
            If t.AssignedTo Is Nothing Then
                assignment = "unassigned"
            Else
                assignment = "assigned to " + t.AssignedTo.Name
            End If
            report.AppendFormat("Task {0} is {1}.", t.Id, assignment)
            report.Append(Environment.NewLine)
        Next
        MessageBox.Show(report.ToString(), "Task Assignments")

    End Sub

    ' Calls the Employee.RequestStatus method.
    Private Sub dataGridView1_CellClick(ByVal sender As Object, _
        ByVal e As DataGridViewCellEventArgs) _
        Handles dataGridView1.CellClick

        ' Ignore clicks that are not on button cells. 
        If e.RowIndex < 0 OrElse Not e.ColumnIndex = _
            dataGridView1.Columns("Status Request").Index Then Return

        ' Retrieve the task ID.
        Dim taskID As Int32 = CInt(dataGridView1(0, e.RowIndex).Value)

        ' Retrieve the Employee object from the "Assigned To" cell.
        Dim assignedTo As Employee = TryCast(dataGridView1.Rows(e.RowIndex) _
            .Cells("Assigned To").Value, Employee)

        ' Request status through the Employee object if present. 
        If assignedTo IsNot Nothing Then
            assignedTo.RequestStatus(taskID)
        Else
            MessageBox.Show(String.Format( _
                "Task {0} is unassigned.", taskID), "Status Request")
        End If

    End Sub

End Class

Remarks

Columns are automatically generated when this property is set to true and the DataSource or DataMember properties are set or changed. Columns can also be automatically generated when the AutoGenerateColumns property is changed from false to true. If this property is true and the DataSource changes so there are columns that do not match the columns of the previous DataSource value, data in the unmatched columns is discarded. This property is ignored if the DataSource or DataMember properties are not set.

When AutoGenerateColumns is set to true, the DataGridView control generates one column for each public property of the objects in the data source. If the bound objects implement the ICustomTypeDescriptor interface, the control generates one column for each property returned by the GetProperties method. Each column header will contain the value of the property name the column represents.

If you set the DataSource property but set AutoGenerateColumns to false, you must add columns manually. You can bind each added column to the data source by setting the DataGridViewColumn.DataPropertyName property to the name of a property exposed by the bound objects.

Applies to

See also

• DataSource
• DataMember
• GetProperties()
• DataPropertyName
• DataGridView Control (Windows Forms)