DataGridViewComboBoxCell Class (System.Windows.Forms)

Examples

The following code example demonstrates the DataGridViewComboBoxColumn class, which makes use of the DataGridViewComboBoxCell class. You can set the cell DataSource , ValueMember , and DisplayMember properties in the same way that the corresponding column properties are set in this example. This example is part of a larger example available in the DataGridViewComboBoxColumn class overview topic.

   private:
    DataGridViewComboBoxColumn^ CreateComboBoxColumn()
        DataGridViewComboBoxColumn^ column =
            gcnew DataGridViewComboBoxColumn();
            column->DataPropertyName = ColumnName::TitleOfCourtesy.ToString();
            column->HeaderText = ColumnName::TitleOfCourtesy.ToString();
            column->DropDownWidth = 160;
            column->Width = 90;
            column->MaxDropDownItems = 3;
            column->FlatStyle = FlatStyle::Flat;
        return column;
private:
    void SetAlternateChoicesUsingDataSource(DataGridViewComboBoxColumn^ comboboxColumn)
            comboboxColumn->DataSource = RetrieveAlternativeTitles();
            comboboxColumn->ValueMember = ColumnName::TitleOfCourtesy.ToString();
            comboboxColumn->DisplayMember = comboboxColumn->ValueMember;
private:
    DataTable^ RetrieveAlternativeTitles()
        return Populate("SELECT distinct TitleOfCourtesy FROM Employees");
    String^ connectionString;
private:
    DataTable^ Populate(String^ sqlCommand)
        SqlConnection^ northwindConnection = gcnew SqlConnection(connectionString);
        northwindConnection->Open();
        SqlCommand^ command = gcnew SqlCommand(sqlCommand, northwindConnection);
        SqlDataAdapter^ adapter = gcnew SqlDataAdapter();
        adapter->SelectCommand = command;
        DataTable^ table = gcnew DataTable();
        adapter->Fill(table);
        return table;
    // Using an enum provides some abstraction between column index
    // and column name along with compile time checking, and gives
    // a handy place to store the column names.
    enum class ColumnName
        EmployeeID,
        LastName,
        FirstName,
        Title,
        TitleOfCourtesy,
        BirthDate,
        HireDate,
        Address,
        City,
        Region,
        PostalCode,
        Country,
        HomePhone,
        Extension,
        Photo,
        Notes,
        ReportsTo,
        PhotoPath,
        OutOfOffice
   
    private DataGridViewComboBoxColumn CreateComboBoxColumn()
    DataGridViewComboBoxColumn column =
        new DataGridViewComboBoxColumn();
        column.DataPropertyName = ColumnName.TitleOfCourtesy.ToString();
        column.HeaderText = ColumnName.TitleOfCourtesy.ToString();
        column.DropDownWidth = 160;
        column.Width = 90;
        column.MaxDropDownItems = 3;
        column.FlatStyle = FlatStyle.Flat;
    return column;
private void SetAlternateChoicesUsingDataSource(DataGridViewComboBoxColumn comboboxColumn)
        comboboxColumn.DataSource = RetrieveAlternativeTitles();
        comboboxColumn.ValueMember = ColumnName.TitleOfCourtesy.ToString();
        comboboxColumn.DisplayMember = comboboxColumn.ValueMember;
private DataTable RetrieveAlternativeTitles()
    return Populate("SELECT distinct TitleOfCourtesy FROM Employees");
string connectionString =
    "Integrated Security=SSPI;Persist Security Info=False;" +
    "Initial Catalog=Northwind;Data Source=localhost";
private DataTable Populate(string sqlCommand)
    SqlConnection northwindConnection = new SqlConnection(connectionString);
    northwindConnection.Open();
    SqlCommand command = new SqlCommand(sqlCommand, northwindConnection);
    SqlDataAdapter adapter = new SqlDataAdapter();
    adapter.SelectCommand = command;
    DataTable table = new DataTable();
    table.Locale = System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture;
    adapter.Fill(table);
    return table;
// Using an enum provides some abstraction between column index
// and column name along with compile time checking, and gives
// a handy place to store the column names.
enum ColumnName
    EmployeeId,
    LastName,
    FirstName,
    Title,
    TitleOfCourtesy,
    BirthDate,
    HireDate,
    Address,
    City,
    Region,
    PostalCode,
    Country,
    HomePhone,
    Extension,
    Photo,
    Notes,
    ReportsTo,
    PhotoPath,
    OutOfOffice
    
     Private Function CreateComboBoxColumn() _
    As DataGridViewComboBoxColumn
    Dim column As New DataGridViewComboBoxColumn()
    With column
        .DataPropertyName = ColumnName.TitleOfCourtesy.ToString()
        .HeaderText = ColumnName.TitleOfCourtesy.ToString()
        .DropDownWidth = 160
        .Width = 90
        .MaxDropDownItems = 3
        .FlatStyle = FlatStyle.Flat
    End With
    Return column
End Function
Private Sub SetAlternateChoicesUsingDataSource( _
    ByVal comboboxColumn As DataGridViewComboBoxColumn)
    With comboboxColumn
        .DataSource = RetrieveAlternativeTitles()
        .ValueMember = ColumnName.TitleOfCourtesy.ToString()
        .DisplayMember = .ValueMember
    End With
End Sub
Private Function RetrieveAlternativeTitles() As DataTable
    Return Populate( _
        "SELECT distinct TitleOfCourtesy FROM Employees")
End Function
Private connectionString As String = _
        "Integrated Security=SSPI;Persist Security Info=False;" _
        & "Initial Catalog=Northwind;Data Source=localhost"
Private Function Populate(ByVal sqlCommand As String) As DataTable
    Dim northwindConnection As New SqlConnection(connectionString)
    northwindConnection.Open()
    Dim command As New SqlCommand(sqlCommand, _
        northwindConnection)
    Dim adapter As New SqlDataAdapter()
    adapter.SelectCommand = command
    Dim table As New DataTable()
    table.Locale = System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture
    adapter.Fill(table)
    Return table
End Function
' Using an enum provides some abstraction between column index
' and column name along with compile time checking, and gives
' a handy place to store the column names.
Enum ColumnName
    EmployeeId
    LastName
    FirstName
    Title
    TitleOfCourtesy
    BirthDate
    HireDate
    Address
    Region
    PostalCode
    Country
    HomePhone
    Extension
    Photo
    Notes
    ReportsTo
    PhotoPath
    OutOfOffice
End Enum
     
      Remarks
     
     
      The
      
       DataGridViewComboBoxCell
      
      class is a specialized type of
      
       DataGridViewCell
      
      used to display a combo box control, which is an editing field combined with a list selection field. The currently selected
      
       DataGridViewComboBoxCell
      
      hosts a
      
       DataGridViewComboBoxEditingControl
      
      in which the user can change the cell's value, assuming the cell's
      
       ReadOnly
      
      property is set to
      
       false
      
      .
     
     
      Unlike the
      
       ComboBox
      
      control, the
      
       DataGridViewComboBoxCell
      
      does not have
      
       SelectedIndex
      
      and
      
       SelectedValue
      
      properties. Instead, selecting a value from a drop-down list sets the cell
      
       Value
      
      property.
     
     
      The
      
       DataGridViewComboBoxColumn
      
      is the column type specialized to hold cells of this type. By default, the
      
       DataGridViewComboBoxColumn.CellTemplate
      
      is initialized to a new
      
       DataGridViewComboBoxCell
      
      . To pattern the cells within a column after an existing
      
       DataGridViewComboBoxCell
      
      , set the column's
      
       CellTemplate
      
      property to the cell to use as a pattern.
     
     
      The cell-related properties of the column are wrappers for the similarly-named properties of the template cell. Changing the property values of the template cell will affect only cells based on the template that are added after the change. Changing the cell-related property values of the column, however, will update the template cell and all other cells in the column, and refresh the column display if necessary.
     
     
      You will typically work with the
      
       DataGridViewComboBoxColumn
      
      type unless you want to override column values for specific cells. The guidelines described in the
      
       DataGridViewComboBoxColumn
      
      class overview topic for populating the drop-down list applies to both cell and column instances.
     
     
      Notes to Inheritors
     
     
      When you derive from
      
       DataGridViewComboBoxCell
      
      and add new properties to the derived class, be sure to override the
      
       Clone()
      
      method to copy the new properties during cloning operations. You should also call the base class's
      
       Clone()
      
      method so that the properties of the base class are copied to the new cell.
     
     
      Gets the
      
       DataGridViewCell.DataGridViewCellAccessibleObject
      
      assigned to the
      
       DataGridViewCell
      
      .
     
     (Inherited from
     
      DataGridViewCell
     
     )
     
      Gets the current, formatted value of the cell, regardless of whether the cell is in edit mode and the value has not been committed.
     
     (Inherited from
     
      DataGridViewCell
     
     )
     
      Indicates whether the cell's row will be unshared when the cell's content is double-clicked.
     
     (Inherited from
     
      DataGridViewCell
     
     )
     
      Releases the unmanaged resources used by the
      
       DataGridViewCell
      
      and optionally releases the managed resources.
     
     (Inherited from
     
      DataGridViewCell
     
     )
     
      Returns the bounding rectangle that encloses the cell's content area using a default
      
       Graphics
      
      and cell style currently in effect for the cell.
     
     (Inherited from
     
      DataGridViewCell
     
     )
     
      Returns the current, formatted value of the cell, regardless of whether the cell is in edit mode and the value has not been committed.
     
     (Inherited from
     
      DataGridViewCell
     
     )
     
      Returns a value indicating the current state of the cell as inherited from the state of its row and column.
     
     (Inherited from
     
      DataGridViewCell
     
     )
     
      Indicates whether the parent row is unshared if the user presses a key while the focus is on the cell.
     
     (Inherited from
     
      DataGridViewCell
     
     )
     
      Indicates whether a row will be unshared if a key is pressed while a cell in the row has focus.
     
     (Inherited from
     
      DataGridViewCell
     
     )
     
      Indicates whether the parent row is unshared when the user releases a key while the focus is on the cell.
     
     (Inherited from
     
      DataGridViewCell
     
     )
     
      Indicates whether a row will be unshared if the user clicks a mouse button while the pointer is on a cell in the row.
     
     (Inherited from
     
      DataGridViewCell
     
     )
     
      Indicates whether a row will be unshared when the user holds down a mouse button while the pointer is on a cell in the row.
     
     (Inherited from
     
      DataGridViewCell
     
     )
     
      Indicates whether a row will be unshared when the mouse pointer moves over a cell in the row.
     
     (Inherited from
     
      DataGridViewCell
     
     )
     
      Indicates whether a row will be unshared when the mouse pointer moves over a cell in the row.
     
     (Inherited from
     
      DataGridViewCell
     
     )
     
      Indicates whether a row will be unshared when the user releases a mouse button while the pointer is on a cell in the row.
     
     (Inherited from
     
      DataGridViewCell
     
     )
     
      Paint(Graphics, Rectangle, Rectangle, Int32, DataGridViewElementStates,
 Object, Object, String, DataGridViewCellStyle, DataGridViewAdvancedBorderStyle,
 DataGridViewPaintParts)
     
     
      Paints the current
      
       DataGridViewComboBoxCell
      
      .
     
     
      Sets the location and size of the editing control hosted by a cell in the
      
       DataGridView
      
      control.
     
     (Inherited from
     
      DataGridViewCell
     
     )
     
      Sets the location and size of the editing panel hosted by the cell, and returns the normal bounds of the editing control within the editing panel.
     
     (Inherited from
     
      DataGridViewCell
     
     )