Winforms Databinding

Snippets below have been condensed from their original sources for brevity. See references for original articles.

Dataset usage:

using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;

namespace Microsoft.AdoNet.DataSetDemo
{
    class NorthwindDataSet
    {
        static void Main()
        {
            string connectionString = GetConnectionString();
            ConnectToData(connectionString);
        }

        private static void ConnectToData(string connectionString)
        {
            //Create a SqlConnection to the Northwind database.
            using (SqlConnection connection =
                       new SqlConnection(connectionString))
            {
                //Create a SqlDataAdapter for the Suppliers table.
                SqlDataAdapter adapter = new SqlDataAdapter();

                // A table mapping names the DataTable.
                adapter.TableMappings.Add("Table", "Suppliers");

                // Open the connection.
                connection.Open();
                Console.WriteLine("The SqlConnection is open.");

                // Create a SqlCommand to retrieve Suppliers data.
                SqlCommand command = new SqlCommand(
                    "SELECT SupplierID, CompanyName FROM dbo.Suppliers;",
                    connection);
                command.CommandType = CommandType.Text;

                // Set the SqlDataAdapter's SelectCommand.
                adapter.SelectCommand = command;

                // Fill the DataSet.
                DataSet dataSet = new DataSet("Suppliers");
                adapter.Fill(dataSet);

                // Create a second Adapter and Command to get
                // the Products table, a child table of Suppliers. 
                SqlDataAdapter productsAdapter = new SqlDataAdapter();
                productsAdapter.TableMappings.Add("Table", "Products");

                SqlCommand productsCommand = new SqlCommand(
                    "SELECT ProductID, SupplierID FROM dbo.Products;",
                    connection);
                productsAdapter.SelectCommand = productsCommand;

                // Fill the DataSet.
                productsAdapter.Fill(dataSet);

                // Close the connection.
                connection.Close();
                Console.WriteLine("The SqlConnection is closed.");

                // Create a DataRelation to link the two tables
                // based on the SupplierID.
                DataColumn parentColumn =
                    dataSet.Tables["Suppliers"].Columns["SupplierID"];
                DataColumn childColumn =
                    dataSet.Tables["Products"].Columns["SupplierID"];
                DataRelation relation =
                    new System.Data.DataRelation("SuppliersProducts",
                    parentColumn, childColumn);
                dataSet.Relations.Add(relation);
                Console.WriteLine(
                    "The {0} DataRelation has been created.",
                    relation.RelationName);
            }
        }

        static private string GetConnectionString()
        {
            // To avoid storing the connection string in your code, 
            // you can retrieve it from a configuration file.
            return "Data Source=(local);Initial Catalog=Northwind;"
                + "Integrated Security=SSPI";
        }
    }
}

Binding DataGridView:

private void GetData(string selectCommand)
{
    try
    {
        // Specify a connection string. Replace the given value with a 
        // valid connection string for a Northwind SQL Server sample
        // database accessible to your system.
        String connectionString =
            "Integrated Security=SSPI;Persist Security Info=False;" +
            "Initial Catalog=Northwind;Data Source=localhost";

        // Create a new data adapter based on the specified query.
        dataAdapter = new SqlDataAdapter(selectCommand, connectionString);

        // Create a command builder to generate SQL update, insert, and
        // delete commands based on selectCommand. These are used to
        // update the database.
        SqlCommandBuilder commandBuilder = new SqlCommandBuilder(dataAdapter);

        // Populate a new data table and bind it to the BindingSource.
        DataTable table = new DataTable();
        table.Locale = System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture;
        dataAdapter.Fill(table);
        bindingSource1.DataSource = table;

        // Resize the DataGridView columns to fit the newly loaded content.
        dataGridView1.AutoResizeColumns( 
            DataGridViewAutoSizeColumnsMode.AllCellsExceptHeader);
    }
    catch (SqlException)
    {
        MessageBox.Show("To run this example, replace the value of the " +
            "connectionString variable with a connection string that is " +
            "valid for your system.");
    }
}

References:
MSDN, “DataSet Class”, http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.data.dataset.aspx

MSDN, “How to: Bind Data to the Windows Forms DataGridView Control”, http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/fbk67b6z.aspx

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About Ronnie Diaz

Ronnie Diaz is a software engineer and tech consultant. Ronnie started his career in front-end and back-end development for companies in ecommerce, service industries and remote education. This work transitioned from traditional desktop client-server applications through early cloud development. Software included human resource management and service technician workflows, online retail e-commerce and electronic ordering and fulfillment, IVR customer relational systems, and video streaming remote learning SCORM web applications. Hands on server experience and software performance optimization led to creation of a startup business focused on collocated data center services and continued experience with video streaming hardware and software. This led to a career in Amazon Prime Video where Ronnie is currently employed, building software and systems which stream live sports and events for millions of viewers around the world.

Posted on February 1, 2011, in Programming & Development and tagged , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 1 Comment.

  1. Thanks for sharing. You can read more about data binding here. A lot of good information is available here

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