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WPF Datagrid formatting (part 2, advanced)

Datagrid2

We stick to the previous DataGrid example and enhance it now.

The improvements/additions are:

  • Cells are vertically centered now.
  • Copy/paste includes the header text.
    ClipboardCopyMode="IncludeHeader"
    
  • Templates cannot be copied/pasted. The DataGrid does not know what property it has to read. Therefore a ClipboardContentBinding was added.
    ClipboardContentBinding="{Binding Birthday}
    
  • A yellow smiley is drawn on a Canvas with ellipses and a Bézier curve.
  • The birthday string is formatted.
  • The DataGrid rows use alternating colors.
  • CheckBoxes are centered in the cells.
  • A bit closer to hardcore: DatePicker
    The method to remove all borders requires slightly more know-how. The required information was taken from my earlier post WPF Control Templates (part 1). Also the background color of the DatePickerTextBox is made transparent. This is done without defining a new template for the DatePicker.

    The XAML definition

    <DatePicker SelectedDate="{Binding Birthday, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged, Mode=TwoWay}"  BorderThickness="0" Loaded="DataGrid_DatePicker_Loaded" />
    

    calls:

        private void DataGrid_DatePicker_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) {...}
    

    which in turn calls:

            private static void RemoveBorders(DependencyObject xDependencyObject) {...}
    
  • RowHeaders were added. On the internet you can find a lot of ToggleButton examples. You face the same code roots over and over again. To avoid coming up with a similar example I used a button with a +/- sign instead. This way you can easily change the code and replace the text by custom images.
  • My advice here is: Play with the FrozenColumnCount property. I am sure you will need it someday.
  • This example uses more templates than the last one.
  • RowDetailsTemplate was added. This enables expanding DataGrid rows to eg. show or enter additional information.
  • UpdateSourceTrigger makes sure you can see DataGridCell changes immediately on the RowDetailsTemplate.
    To achieve this, the class Person needs to inherit INotifyPropertyChanged.
<Window x:Class="WpfDatagrid.MainWindow"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"        
        Language="en-GB"
        Loaded="Window_Loaded"
        Closed="Window_Closed"
        Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">

    <Window.Resources>

        <!-- DataGrid: header style -->
        <Style TargetType="{x:Type DataGridColumnHeader}">
            <Setter Property="VerticalContentAlignment" Value="Center" />
            <Setter Property="SeparatorBrush" Value="WhiteSmoke" />
            <Setter Property="FontWeight" Value="Bold" />
        </Style>

        <!--DataGrid: vertical/horizontal text alignment -->
        <Style x:Key="AlignRight" TargetType="{x:Type TextBlock}">
            <Setter Property="HorizontalAlignment" Value="Right" />
            <Setter	Property="VerticalAlignment" Value="Center" />
        </Style>
        <Style x:Key="AlignLeft" TargetType="{x:Type TextBlock}">
            <Setter Property="HorizontalAlignment" Value="Left" />
            <Setter	Property="VerticalAlignment" Value="Center" />
        </Style>

        <!--DataGrid: center the CheckBox -->
        <Style x:Key="AlignCheckBox" TargetType="{x:Type DataGridCell}">
            <Setter Property="Template">
                <Setter.Value>
                    <ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type DataGridCell}">
                        <Grid Background="{TemplateBinding Background}">
                            <ContentPresenter VerticalAlignment="Center" HorizontalAlignment="Center" />
                        </Grid>
                    </ControlTemplate>
                </Setter.Value>
            </Setter>
        </Style>

        <!-- DataGrid: template for expandable area -->
        <DataTemplate x:Key="TemplateRowDetails">
            <DockPanel>
                <Canvas DockPanel.Dock="Left" Width="60">
                    <Canvas.Background>
                        <LinearGradientBrush EndPoint="0.5,1" StartPoint="0.5,0">
                            <GradientStop Color="#FF061246" Offset="0.497"/>
                            <GradientStop Color="#FF7F7FC9" Offset="1"/>
                        </LinearGradientBrush>
                    </Canvas.Background>
                    <Ellipse Fill="Yellow" Height="50" Width="50" StrokeThickness="2" Stroke="Black" Canvas.Left="5" Canvas.Top="5" />
                    <Ellipse Fill="Black" Height="12" Width="8" Canvas.Left="17" Canvas.Top="20" />
                    <Ellipse Fill="Black" Height="12" Width="8" Canvas.Left="37" Canvas.Top="20" />
                    <Path Stroke="Black" StrokeThickness="3">
                        <Path.Data>
                            <PathGeometry>
                                <PathGeometry.Figures>
                                    <PathFigureCollection>
                                        <PathFigure StartPoint="15,37">
                                            <PathFigure.Segments>
                                                <PathSegmentCollection>
                                                    <QuadraticBezierSegment Point1="30,52" Point2="45,37" />
                                                </PathSegmentCollection>
                                            </PathFigure.Segments>
                                        </PathFigure>
                                    </PathFigureCollection>
                                </PathGeometry.Figures>
                            </PathGeometry>
                        </Path.Data>
                    </Path>
                </Canvas>
                <TextBlock DockPanel.Dock="Top" FontSize="12" FontWeight="Bold"	Text="{Binding FirstName}" />
                <TextBlock DockPanel.Dock="Top" FontSize="12" FontWeight="Bold"	Text="{Binding LastName}" />
                <TextBlock DockPanel.Dock="Top" FontSize="12" FontWeight="Bold"	Text="{Binding Birthday, StringFormat={}{0:dd MMMM yyyy}}" />
                <TextBlock DockPanel.Dock="Top" FontSize="12" FontWeight="Bold"	Text="{Binding Homepage}" />
            </DockPanel>
        </DataTemplate>
    </Window.Resources>

    <Grid>
        <!-- advice: play with the property FrozenColumnCount -->
        <DataGrid AlternatingRowBackground="PeachPuff" 
                  AutoGenerateColumns="False" 
                  ItemsSource="{Binding}" 
                  CanUserAddRows="False" 
                  CanUserReorderColumns="True" 
                  CanUserResizeColumns="True" 
                  CanUserResizeRows="False" 
                  SelectionUnit="Cell" 
                  SelectionMode="Extended"
                  ClipboardCopyMode="IncludeHeader"
                  RowDetailsTemplate="{StaticResource TemplateRowDetails}"
                  ColumnHeaderHeight="{Binding RowHeight, RelativeSource={RelativeSource Self}}">


            <DataGrid.RowStyle>
                <Style TargetType="DataGridRow">
                    <Setter Property="DetailsVisibility" Value="Collapsed" />
                </Style>
            </DataGrid.RowStyle>

            <!-- DataGrid: RowHeader -->
            <DataGrid.RowHeaderTemplate>
                <DataTemplate>
                    <Button Click="DataGridRowHeader_Button_Click" Cursor="Hand" HorizontalAlignment="Center" >
                        <Button.Style>
                            <Style TargetType="Button">
                                <Style.Setters>
                                    <Setter Property="VerticalAlignment" Value="Top" />
                                    <Setter Property="Content" Value="+" />
                                    <Setter Property="FontStretch" Value="UltraExpanded" />
                                    <Setter Property="FontWeight" Value="Bold" />
                                    <Setter Property="Height" Value="20" />
                                    <Setter Property= "Width" Value="20" />
                                    <!-- <Setter Property="Width" Value="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Self}, Path=ActualHeight}" /> -->
                                </Style.Setters>
                                <Style.Triggers>
                                    <DataTrigger Binding="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Mode=FindAncestor,AncestorType={x:Type DataGridRow}},Path=DetailsVisibility}" Value="Visible">
                                        <Setter Property="Background" Value="Salmon" />
                                        <Setter Property="Content" Value="-" />
                                        <Setter Property="Height" Value="86" />
                                    </DataTrigger>
                                </Style.Triggers>
                            </Style>
                        </Button.Style>
                    </Button>
                </DataTemplate>
            </DataGrid.RowHeaderTemplate>

            <!-- DataGrid: Row color when selected -->
            <DataGrid.CellStyle>
                <Style>
                    <Style.Setters>
                        <Setter Property="DataGridCell.VerticalContentAlignment" Value="Center" />
                    </Style.Setters>
                    <Style.Triggers>
                        <Trigger Property="DataGridCell.IsSelected" Value="True">
                            <Setter Property="DataGridCell.Background" Value="SteelBlue" />
                        </Trigger>
                    </Style.Triggers>
                </Style>
            </DataGrid.CellStyle>

            <DataGrid.Columns>
                <!-- Column: Alive -->
                <DataGridCheckBoxColumn Header="Alive" Binding="{Binding Alive, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged, Mode=TwoWay}" CellStyle="{StaticResource AlignCheckBox}" />

                <!-- Column: Name -->
                <DataGridTextColumn Header="Name" Binding="{Binding FirstName, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged, Mode=TwoWay}" ElementStyle="{StaticResource AlignLeft}" />

                <!-- Column: LastName -->
                <DataGridTextColumn Header="LastName" Binding="{Binding LastName, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged, Mode=TwoWay}" ElementStyle="{StaticResource AlignLeft}" />

                <!-- Column: Birthday -->
                <DataGridTemplateColumn Header="Birthday" SortMemberPath="Birthday.Day" ClipboardContentBinding="{Binding Birthday}">
                    <DataGridTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
                        <DataTemplate>
                            <DatePicker SelectedDate="{Binding Birthday, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged, Mode=TwoWay}"  BorderThickness="0" Loaded="DataGrid_DatePicker_Loaded" />
                        </DataTemplate>
                    </DataGridTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
                </DataGridTemplateColumn>

                <!-- Column: Age -->
                <DataGridTextColumn Header="Age" Binding="{Binding Age, StringFormat=N2}" ElementStyle="{StaticResource AlignRight}" IsReadOnly="True" />

                <!-- Column: Homepage -->
                <DataGridHyperlinkColumn Header="Homepage" Binding="{Binding Homepage}" IsReadOnly="True">
                    <DataGridHyperlinkColumn.ElementStyle>
                        <Style>
                            <EventSetter Event="Hyperlink.Click" Handler="Hyperlink_Clicked"/>
                            <Setter Property="TextBlock.HorizontalAlignment" Value="Left" />
                            <Setter Property="TextBlock.VerticalAlignment" Value="Center" />
                        </Style>
                    </DataGridHyperlinkColumn.ElementStyle>
                </DataGridHyperlinkColumn>

            </DataGrid.Columns>
        </DataGrid>
    </Grid>

</Window>
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.Windows.Controls.Primitives;
using System.Windows.Documents;
using System.Windows.Media;

namespace WpfDatagrid {

  public partial class MainWindow : Window {

    public class Person : INotifyPropertyChanged {
      public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
      protected void OnPropertyChanged(string xName) {
        PropertyChangedEventHandler h = PropertyChanged;
        if (h == null) return;
        h(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(xName));
      } //

      private bool _Alive;
      public bool Alive { get { return _Alive; } set { _Alive = value; OnPropertyChanged("Alive"); } }

      private string _FirstName;
      public string FirstName { get { return _FirstName; } set { _FirstName = value; OnPropertyChanged("FirstName"); } }

      private string _LastName;
      public string LastName { get { return _LastName; } set { _LastName = value; OnPropertyChanged("LastName"); } }

      public double Age { get { return DateTime.Now.Subtract(Birthday).TotalDays / 365; } }
      
      public string Homepage { get; set; }

      private DateTime _Birthday;
      public DateTime Birthday { get { return _Birthday; } set { _Birthday = value; OnPropertyChanged("Birthday"); } }

      
    } // class


    public MainWindow() {
      InitializeComponent();
    } //

    // set the window DataContext
    private void Window_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) {
      List<Person> lPersons = new List<Person>();
      lPersons.Add(new Person() { FirstName = "Liza", LastName = "Minnelli", Birthday = new DateTime(1946, 03, 12), Alive = true, Homepage = "www.officiallizaminnelli.com" });
      lPersons.Add(new Person() { FirstName = "Bastian", LastName = "Ohta", Birthday = new DateTime(1975, 03, 13), Alive = true, Homepage = "www.ohta.de" });
      lPersons.Add(new Person() { FirstName = "Albert", LastName = "Einstein", Birthday = new DateTime(1879, 03, 14), Alive = false, Homepage = "www.alberteinsteinsite.com" });
      lPersons.Add(new Person() { FirstName = "Coenraad", LastName = "van Houten", Birthday = new DateTime(1801, 03, 15), Alive = false, Homepage = "www.vanhoutendrinks.com" });
      lPersons.Add(new Person() { FirstName = "Andrew", LastName = "Miller-Jones", Birthday = new DateTime(1910, 03, 16), Alive = false, Homepage = "dead as a Dodo" });
      lPersons.Add(new Person() { FirstName = "Gottlieb", LastName = "Daimler", Birthday = new DateTime(1834, 03, 17), Alive = false, Homepage = "www.daimler.com" });
      lPersons.Add(new Person() { FirstName = "Rudolf", LastName = "Diesel", Birthday = new DateTime(1858, 03, 18), Alive = false, Homepage = "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Diesel" });
      DataContext = lPersons;
    } //

    // exit the application
    private void Window_Closed(object sender, EventArgs e) {
      Application.Current.Shutdown(0);
    } //

    // open the hyperlink in a browser
    private void Hyperlink_Clicked(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) {
      try {
        Hyperlink lHyperlink = e.OriginalSource as Hyperlink;
        string lUri = lHyperlink.NavigateUri.OriginalString;
        Process.Start(lUri);
      }
      catch (Exception ex) { MessageBox.Show(ex.Message); }
    } //

    // find the correct DataGridRow and set the DetailsVisibility
    private void DataGridRowHeader_Button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) {
      DependencyObject lDependencyObject = e.OriginalSource as DependencyObject;
      //Button lButton = lDependencyObject as Button;      
      //if (lButton == null) return;            
      while (!(lDependencyObject is DataGridRow) && lDependencyObject != null) lDependencyObject = VisualTreeHelper.GetParent(lDependencyObject);
      DataGridRow lRow = lDependencyObject as DataGridRow;
      if (lRow == null) return;
      //lRow.IsSelected = (lRow.DetailsVisibility != Visibility.Visible);            
      lRow.DetailsVisibility = lRow.DetailsVisibility == System.Windows.Visibility.Collapsed ? Visibility.Visible : Visibility.Collapsed;
      Console.WriteLine(lRow.ActualHeight);
    } //

    private void DataGrid_DatePicker_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) {
      // get the DatePicker control
      DatePicker lDatePicker = sender as DatePicker;
      lDatePicker.VerticalContentAlignment = System.Windows.VerticalAlignment.Center;

      // find the inner textbox and adjust the Background colour
      DatePickerTextBox lInnerTextBox = lDatePicker.Template.FindName("PART_TextBox", lDatePicker) as DatePickerTextBox;
      lInnerTextBox.Background = Brushes.Transparent;
      lInnerTextBox.VerticalContentAlignment = System.Windows.VerticalAlignment.Center;
      lInnerTextBox.Height = lDatePicker.ActualHeight - 2;

      // remove watermark
      ContentControl lWatermark = lInnerTextBox.Template.FindName("PART_Watermark", lInnerTextBox) as ContentControl;
      lWatermark.IsHitTestVisible = false;
      lWatermark.Focusable = false;
      lWatermark.Visibility = System.Windows.Visibility.Collapsed;
      lWatermark.Opacity = 0;

      // just as demo
      ContentControl lContentHost = lInnerTextBox.Template.FindName("PART_ContentHost", lInnerTextBox) as ContentControl;

      // remove ugly borders
      RemoveBorders(lInnerTextBox);  // hardcore 🙂      
    } //

    private static void RemoveBorders(DependencyObject xDependencyObject) {
      for (int i = 0, n = VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(xDependencyObject); i < n; i++) {
        DependencyObject lDependencyObject = VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(xDependencyObject, i);
        RemoveBorders(lDependencyObject);
        Border lBorder = lDependencyObject as Border;
        if (lBorder == null) continue;
        lBorder.BorderBrush = Brushes.Transparent;
      }
    } //

  } // class
} // namespace

WPF Datagrid formatting (part 1)

WpfDataGrid1

This source code demonstrates the use of a simple DataGrid. You can sort the rows by any column. The Age column is horizontally aligned to the right. The column headers are using a bold font.

The DataGrid element itself is very flexible. You can add all kinds of columns. The most interesting one is DataGridTemplateColumn, which allows you to add any template. The example template only uses a DatePicker, but you could add far more complexity to it.

Set the SortMemberPath to enable sorting, otherwise the DataGrid sorting algorithm cannot know what data to look at. Remember, we are using a template and not a clearly identifiable data type. In today’s example SortMemberPath is set to “Birthday.Day”, which sorts by the day of the month. In case you prefer to sort by date in general, use SortMemberPath=”Birthday” instead.

I changed the selection color, because the dark blue had a low contrast compared to the web-links. This is dealt with by style triggers. The advantage of triggers is that they only override properties temporarily. As soon as the trigger becomes invalid the control element returns to its previous formatting.

<Window x:Class="WpfDatagrid.MainWindow"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        Language="en-GB"
        Loaded="Window_Loaded"
        Closed="Window_Closed"
        Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">

    <Window.Resources>
        <Style TargetType="{x:Type DataGridColumnHeader}">
            <Setter Property="VerticalContentAlignment" Value="Center" />
            <Setter Property="SeparatorBrush" Value="WhiteSmoke" />
            <Setter Property="FontWeight" Value="Bold" />
            <Setter Property="Height" Value="30" />
        </Style>
        <Style x:Key="AlignRight" TargetType="{x:Type TextBlock}">
            <Setter Property="HorizontalAlignment" Value="Right" />
        </Style>
    </Window.Resources>

    <Grid>
        <DataGrid AutoGenerateColumns="False" ItemsSource="{Binding}" CanUserAddRows="False" CanUserReorderColumns="True" CanUserResizeColumns="True" CanUserResizeRows="False" SelectionUnit="Cell" SelectionMode="Extended">
            <DataGrid.CellStyle>
                <Style>
                    <Style.Triggers>
                        <Trigger Property="DataGridCell.IsSelected" Value="True">
                            <Setter Property="DataGridCell.Background" Value="SteelBlue" />
                            <Setter Property="DataGridCell.BorderBrush" Value="GreenYellow" />
                        </Trigger>
                    </Style.Triggers>
                </Style>
            </DataGrid.CellStyle>

            <DataGrid.Columns>
                <DataGridCheckBoxColumn Header="Alive" Binding="{Binding Alive}" />
                <DataGridTextColumn Header="Name" Binding="{Binding FirstName}" />
                <DataGridTextColumn Header="LastName" Binding="{Binding LastName}" />

                <!--<DataGridTemplateColumn Header="Birthday" SortMemberPath="Birthday">-->
                <DataGridTemplateColumn Header="Birthday" SortMemberPath="Birthday.Day">
                    <DataGridTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
                        <DataTemplate>
                            <DatePicker SelectedDate="{Binding Birthday}" BorderThickness="0" />
                        </DataTemplate>
                    </DataGridTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
                </DataGridTemplateColumn>

                <DataGridTextColumn Header="Age" Binding="{Binding Age, StringFormat=N2}" ElementStyle="{StaticResource AlignRight}" IsReadOnly="True" />

                <DataGridHyperlinkColumn Header="Homepage" Binding="{Binding Homepage}" IsReadOnly="True">
                    <DataGridHyperlinkColumn.ElementStyle>
                        <Style>
                            <EventSetter Event="Hyperlink.Click" Handler="Hyperlink_Clicked"/>
                        </Style>
                    </DataGridHyperlinkColumn.ElementStyle>
                </DataGridHyperlinkColumn>



            </DataGrid.Columns>
        </DataGrid>
    </Grid>

</Window>
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Documents;

namespace WpfDatagrid {

  public partial class MainWindow : Window {

    public class Person {
      public bool Alive { get; set; }
      public string FirstName { get; set; }
      public string LastName { get; set; }
      public DateTime Birthday { get; set; }
      public double Age { get { return DateTime.Now.Subtract(Birthday).TotalDays / 365; } }
      public string Homepage { get; set; }
    } //

    public MainWindow() {
      InitializeComponent();
    } //

    private void Window_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) {
      List<Person> lPersons = new List<Person>();
      lPersons.Add(new Person() { FirstName = "Liza", LastName = "Minnelli", Birthday = new DateTime(1946, 03, 12), Alive = true, Homepage = "www.officiallizaminnelli.com" });
      lPersons.Add(new Person() { FirstName = "Bastian", LastName = "Ohta", Birthday = new DateTime(1975, 03, 13), Alive = true, Homepage = "www.ohta.de" });
      lPersons.Add(new Person() { FirstName = "Albert", LastName = "Einstein", Birthday = new DateTime(1879, 03, 14), Alive = false, Homepage = "www.alberteinsteinsite.com" });
      lPersons.Add(new Person() { FirstName = "Coenraad", LastName = "van Houten", Birthday = new DateTime(1801, 03, 15), Alive = false, Homepage = "www.vanhoutendrinks.com" });
      lPersons.Add(new Person() { FirstName = "Andrew", LastName = "Miller-Jones", Birthday = new DateTime(1910, 03, 16), Alive = false, Homepage = "dead as a Dodo" });
      lPersons.Add(new Person() { FirstName = "Gottlieb", LastName = "Daimler", Birthday = new DateTime(1834, 03, 17), Alive = false, Homepage = "www.daimler.com" });
      lPersons.Add(new Person() { FirstName = "Rudolf", LastName = "Diesel", Birthday = new DateTime(1858, 03, 18), Alive = false, Homepage = "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Diesel" });
      DataContext = lPersons;
    } //

    private void Window_Closed(object sender, EventArgs e) {
      Application.Current.Shutdown(0);      
    } //

    private void Hyperlink_Clicked(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) {
      try {
        Hyperlink lHyperlink = e.OriginalSource as Hyperlink;
        string lUri = lHyperlink.NavigateUri.OriginalString;
        Process.Start(lUri);
      }
      catch (Exception ex) { MessageBox.Show(ex.Message); }
    } //

  } // class
} // namespace