How to: Build a Table Programmatically

Article
11/03/2006

The following examples show how to programmatically create a Table and populate it with content. The contents of the table are apportioned into five rows (represented by TableRow objects contained in a RowGroups object) and six columns (represented by TableColumn objects). The rows are used for different presentation purposes, including a title row intended to title the entire table, a header row to describe the columns of data in the table, and a footer row with summary information. Note that the notion of "title", "header", and "footer" rows are not inherent to the table; these are simply rows with different characteristics. Table cells contain the actual content, which can be comprised of text, images, or nearly any other user interface (UI) element.

Note:
For a complete sample that demonstrates the example code shown below, see Displaying Tabular Data in a Table Sample.

Example

First, a FlowDocument is created to host the Table, and a new Table is created and added to the contents of the FlowDocument.

// Create the parent FlowDocument...
flowDoc = new FlowDocument();

// Create the Table...
table1 = new Table();
// ...and add it to the FlowDocument Blocks collection.
flowDoc.Blocks.Add(table1);


// Set some global formatting properties for the table.
table1.CellSpacing = 10;
table1.Background = Brushes.White;

' Create the parent FlowDocument...
flowDoc = New FlowDocument()

' Create the Table...
table1 = New Table()

' ...and add it to the FlowDocument Blocks collection.
flowDoc.Blocks.Add(table1)


' Set some global formatting properties for the table.
table1.CellSpacing = 10
table1.Background = Brushes.White

Next, six TableColumn objects are created and added to the table's Columns collection, with some formatting applied.

Note:
Note that the table's Columns collection uses standard zero-based indexing.

// Create 6 columns and add them to the table's Columns collection.
int numberOfColumns = 6;
for (int x = 0; x < numberOfColumns; x++)
{
    table1.Columns.Add(new TableColumn());

    // Set alternating background colors for the middle colums.
    if(x%2 == 0)
        table1.Columns[x].Background = Brushes.Beige;
    else
        table1.Columns[x].Background = Brushes.LightSteelBlue;
}

' Create 6 columns and add them to the table's Columns collection.
Dim numberOfColumns = 6
Dim x
For x = 0 To numberOfColumns
    table1.Columns.Add(new TableColumn())

    ' Set alternating background colors for the middle colums.
    If x Mod 2 = 0 Then
      table1.Columns(x).Background = Brushes.Beige
    Else
      table1.Columns(x).Background = Brushes.LightSteelBlue
    End If
Next x

Next, a title row is created and added to the table with some formatting applied. The title row happens to contain a single cell that spans all six columns in the table.

// Create and add an empty TableRowGroup to hold the table's Rows.
table1.RowGroups.Add(new TableRowGroup());

// Add the first (title) row.
table1.RowGroups[0].Rows.Add(new TableRow());

// Alias the current working row for easy reference.
TableRow currentRow = table1.RowGroups[0].Rows[0];

// Global formatting for the title row.
currentRow.Background = Brushes.Silver;
currentRow.FontSize = 40;
currentRow.FontWeight = System.Windows.FontWeights.Bold;

// Add the header row with content, 
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("2004 Sales Project"))));
// and set the row to span all 6 columns.
currentRow.Cells[0].ColumnSpan = 6;

' Create and add an empty TableRowGroup to hold the table's Rows.
table1.RowGroups.Add(new TableRowGroup())

' Add the first (title) row.
table1.RowGroups(0).Rows.Add(new TableRow())

' Alias the current working row for easy reference.
Dim currentRow As New TableRow()
currentRow = table1.RowGroups(0).Rows(0)

' Global formatting for the title row.
currentRow.Background = Brushes.Silver
currentRow.FontSize = 40
currentRow.FontWeight = System.Windows.FontWeights.Bold

' Add the header row with content, 
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("2004 Sales Project"))))
' and set the row to span all 6 columns.
currentRow.Cells(0).ColumnSpan = 6

Next, a header row is created and added to the table, and the cells in the header row are created and populated with content.

// Add the second (header) row.
table1.RowGroups[0].Rows.Add(new TableRow());
currentRow = table1.RowGroups[0].Rows[1];

// Global formatting for the header row.
currentRow.FontSize = 18;
currentRow.FontWeight = FontWeights.Bold;

// Add cells with content to the second row.
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("Product"))));
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("Quarter 1"))));
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("Quarter 2"))));
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("Quarter 3"))));
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("Quarter 4"))));
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("TOTAL"))));

' Add the second (header) row.
table1.RowGroups(0).Rows.Add(new TableRow())
currentRow = table1.RowGroups(0).Rows(1)

' Global formatting for the header row.
currentRow.FontSize = 18
currentRow.FontWeight = FontWeights.Bold

' Add cells with content to the second row.
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("Product"))))
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("Quarter 1"))))
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("Quarter 2"))))
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("Quarter 3"))))
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("Quarter 4"))))
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("TOTAL"))))

Next, a row for data is created and added to the table, and the cells in this row are created and populated with content. Building this row is similar to building the header row, with slightly different formatting applied.

// Add the third row.
table1.RowGroups[0].Rows.Add(new TableRow());
currentRow = table1.RowGroups[0].Rows[2];

// Global formatting for the row.
currentRow.FontSize = 12;
currentRow.FontWeight = FontWeights.Normal;

// Add cells with content to the third row.
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("Widgets"))));
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("$50,000"))));
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("$55,000"))));
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("$60,000"))));
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("$65,000"))));
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("$230,000"))));

// Bold the first cell.
currentRow.Cells[0].FontWeight = FontWeights.Bold;

' Add the third row.
table1.RowGroups(0).Rows.Add(new TableRow())
currentRow = table1.RowGroups(0).Rows(2)

' Global formatting for the row.
currentRow.FontSize = 12
currentRow.FontWeight = FontWeights.Normal

' Add cells with content to the third row.
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("Widgets"))))
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("$50,000"))))
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("$55,000"))))
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("$60,000"))))
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("$65,000"))))
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("$230,000"))))

' Bold the first cell.
currentRow.Cells(0).FontWeight = FontWeights.Bold

Finally, a footer row is created, added, and formatted. Like the title row, the footer contains a single cell that spans all six columns in the table.

table1.RowGroups[0].Rows.Add(new TableRow());
currentRow = table1.RowGroups[0].Rows[4];

// Global formatting for the footer row.
currentRow.Background = Brushes.LightGray;
currentRow.FontSize = 18;
currentRow.FontWeight = System.Windows.FontWeights.Normal;

// Add the header row with content, 
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("Projected 2004 Revenue: $810,000"))));
// and set the row to span all 6 columns.
currentRow.Cells[0].ColumnSpan = 6;

table1.RowGroups(0).Rows.Add(new TableRow())
currentRow = table1.RowGroups(0).Rows(4)

' Global formatting for the footer row.
currentRow.Background = Brushes.LightGray
currentRow.FontSize = 18
currentRow.FontWeight = System.Windows.FontWeights.Normal

' Add the header row with content, 
currentRow.Cells.Add(new TableCell(new Paragraph(new Run("Projected 2004 Revenue: $810,000"))))
' and set the row to span all 6 columns.
currentRow.Cells(0).ColumnSpan = 6

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How to: Build a Table Programmatically

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