ADO.NET 3.5 Cookbook, 2nd Edition

8.20. Searching a Windows Forms DataGridView Control

Problem

You need to use a search criteria specified by a user to locate a record displayed in a DataGridView without executing a query against the database.

Solution

Use the Find() method of the DataView bound to the DataGridView to locate a record in the sorted column of the DataGrid and reposition to that row in the DataGridView.

Follow these steps:

1. Create a C# Windows Forms application named SearchWindowsFormsDataGridView.

2. Add the following controls to the Form1 design surface:

   • DataGridView named contactDataGridView

   • TextBox named findTextBox

   • Button named findButton with Text property = Find

   The completed layout of the Windows Form named Form1 is shown in Figure 8-39.

The C# code in Form1.cs in the project SearchWindowsFormsDataGridView is shown in Example 8-32. The solution creates a DataTable and filled with the Person.Contact table from AdventureWorks. A DataView is created based on the default view of the DataTable, its sort key is set to the ContactID (first) column, and it is bound to the DataGridView. Finally, a CurrencyManager is created from the DataView.

The event handler for the Find button uses the Find() method of the DataView to locate a record with the user-specified value in the DataView sort column. If a match is found, the CurrencyManager is used to select the matching record in the DataGridView.

Figure 8-39. Layout for Form1 ...