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DataGridView.Columns Property

Definition

Gets a collection that contains all the columns in the control.

public System.Windows.Forms.DataGridViewColumnCollection Columns { get; }

Property Value

The DataGridViewColumnCollection that contains all the columns in the DataGridView control.

Examples

The following code example demonstrates how to create an unbound DataGridView; set the ColumnHeadersVisible, ColumnHeadersDefaultCellStyle, and ColumnCount properties; and use the Rows and Columns properties. It also demonstrates how to use a version of the AutoResizeColumnHeadersHeight and AutoResizeRows methods to properly size the column headers and the rows. To run this example, paste the following code into a form that contains a DataGridView named dataGridView1 and a button named Button1, and then call the InitializeDataGridView method from the form's constructor or Load event handler. Ensure all events are connected with their event handlers.

private void InitializeDataGridView()
{
    // Create an unbound DataGridView by declaring a column count.
    dataGridView1.ColumnCount = 4;
    dataGridView1.ColumnHeadersVisible = true;

    // Set the column header style.
    DataGridViewCellStyle columnHeaderStyle = new DataGridViewCellStyle();

    columnHeaderStyle.BackColor = Color.Beige;
    columnHeaderStyle.Font = new Font("Verdana", 10, FontStyle.Bold);
    dataGridView1.ColumnHeadersDefaultCellStyle = columnHeaderStyle;

    // Set the column header names.
    dataGridView1.Columns[0].Name = "Recipe";
    dataGridView1.Columns[1].Name = "Category";
    dataGridView1.Columns[2].Name = "Main Ingredients";
    dataGridView1.Columns[3].Name = "Rating";

    // Populate the rows.
    string[] row1 = new string[] { "Meatloaf", "Main Dish", "ground beef",
        "**" };
    string[] row2 = new string[] { "Key Lime Pie", "Dessert", 
        "lime juice, evaporated milk", "****" };
    string[] row3 = new string[] { "Orange-Salsa Pork Chops", "Main Dish", 
        "pork chops, salsa, orange juice", "****" };
    string[] row4 = new string[] { "Black Bean and Rice Salad", "Salad", 
        "black beans, brown rice", "****" };
    string[] row5 = new string[] { "Chocolate Cheesecake", "Dessert", 
        "cream cheese", "***" };
    string[] row6 = new string[] { "Black Bean Dip", "Appetizer", 
        "black beans, sour cream", "***" };
    object[] rows = new object[] { row1, row2, row3, row4, row5, row6 };

    foreach (string[] rowArray in rows)
    {
        dataGridView1.Rows.Add(rowArray);
    }
}

private void button1_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
    // Resize the height of the column headers. 
    dataGridView1.AutoResizeColumnHeadersHeight();

    // Resize all the row heights to fit the contents of all non-header cells.
    dataGridView1.AutoResizeRows(
        DataGridViewAutoSizeRowsMode.AllCellsExceptHeaders);
}

private void InitializeContextMenu()
{
    // Create the menu item.
    ToolStripMenuItem getRecipe = new ToolStripMenuItem("Search for recipe", null,
        new System.EventHandler(ShortcutMenuClick));

    // Add the menu item to the shortcut menu.
    ContextMenuStrip recipeMenu = new ContextMenuStrip();
    recipeMenu.Items.Add(getRecipe); 

    // Set the shortcut menu for the first column.
    dataGridView1.Columns[0].ContextMenuStrip = recipeMenu;
    dataGridView1.MouseDown += new MouseEventHandler(dataGridView1_MouseDown);
}

private DataGridViewCell clickedCell;

private void dataGridView1_MouseDown(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
// If the user right-clicks a cell, store it for use by the shortcut menu.
    if (e.Button == MouseButtons.Right)
    {
        DataGridView.HitTestInfo hit = dataGridView1.HitTest(e.X, e.Y);
        if (hit.Type == DataGridViewHitTestType.Cell)
        {
            clickedCell =
                dataGridView1.Rows[hit.RowIndex].Cells[hit.ColumnIndex];
        }
    }
}

private void ShortcutMenuClick(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
    if (clickedCell != null)
    {
        //Retrieve the recipe name.
        string recipeName = (string)clickedCell.Value;

        //Search for the recipe.
        System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(
            "http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=" + recipeName);
            //null);
    }
}

Remarks

By using the DataGridViewColumnCollection returned by this property, you can add columns, remove columns, and obtain a count of the columns contained in the DataGridView control. For more information, see DataGridViewColumnCollection.

Applies to

Product Versions
.NET Framework 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
Windows Desktop 3.0, 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

See also