Templated Columns in Action

As powerful as it is, a DataGrid control handles data only in terms of columns, and it can display only information that can be expressed by using a data field name. More often than not, these restrictions are too limiting to build a really user-friendly interface. For example, suppose you have three fields to display: first name, last name, and a title of courtesy, such as "Mr.", "Mrs.", or "Dr." The query selects three distinct fields, and your simplest option is to display that data in a DataGrid control that uses three distinct columns. Figure 3-1 shows the results.

Figure 3-1. The DataGrid control must display even simple information in a column format.

Figure 3-1 is clear, but the full name looks unusual ...

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