In this article I will explain how to bind (fill) DataGridView control in Windows Forms (WinForms) Application using DataTable in C# and VB.Net.
Database
For this article I am making use of the Microsoft’s Northwind Database. Download and install instructions are provided in the link below
Adding a DataGridView to the Windows Form
Firstly you need to add a DataGridView control to the Windows Form from the Visual Studio ToolBox as shown below.
![Bind (Fill) DataGridView in Windows Forms (WinForms) Application in C# and VB.Net]()
Namespaces
You will need to import the following namespace.
C#
using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
VB.Net
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
Simple binding of data to DataGridView from Database using DataTable in C# and VB.Net
Below is the simple and straight forward way of binding data to DataGridView control using DataTable.
In the below code, the DataTable is populated from Customers Table of Northwind Database and then it is set as DataSource to the DataGridView control.
In this approach all columns returned by the Select Query will be displayed in the DataGridView.
C#
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
BindGrid();
}
private void BindGrid()
{
string constring = @"Data Source=.\SQL2005;Initial Catalog=Northwind;User id = sa;password=pass@123";
using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(constring))
{
using (SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("SELECT * FROM Customers", con))
{
cmd.CommandType = CommandType.Text;
using (SqlDataAdapter sda = new SqlDataAdapter(cmd))
{
using (DataTable dt = new DataTable())
{
sda.Fill(dt);
dataGridView1.DataSource = dt;
}
}
}
}
}
}
VB.Net
Public Class Form1
Public Sub New()
InitializeComponent()
BindGrid()
End Sub
Private Sub BindGrid()
Dim constring As String = "Data Source=.\SQL2005;Initial Catalog=Northwind;User id = sa;password=pass@123"
Using con As New SqlConnection(constring)
Using cmd As New SqlCommand("SELECT * FROM Customers", con)
cmd.CommandType = CommandType.Text
Using sda As New SqlDataAdapter(cmd)
Using dt As New DataTable()
sda.Fill(dt)
dataGridView1.DataSource = dt
End Using
End Using
End Using
End Using
End Sub
End Class
![Bind (Fill) DataGridView in Windows Forms (WinForms) Application in C# and VB.Net]()
Bind (Show) Specific (Certain) columns to DataGridView control using C# and VB.Net
Sometimes requirement is such that you would like to bind only some specific (certain) columns and would not like to show all columns as done in the above approach.
For such cases we need to AutoGenerateColumns property to False (default True) and add the columns you want to show in DataGridView using code.
While adding columns it is necessary to set the following properties
Name: Unique Name of the DataGridView Column.
HeaderText: Header Text of the DataGridView Column.
DataPropertyName: Name of the Data Column Field that will be displayed in the DataGridView Column.
C#
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
BindGrid();
}
private void BindGrid()
{
string constring = @"Data Source=.\SQL2005;Initial Catalog=Northwind;User id = sa;password=pass@123";
using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(constring))
{
using (SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("SELECT * FROM Customers", con))
{
cmd.CommandType = CommandType.Text;
using (SqlDataAdapter sda = new SqlDataAdapter(cmd))
{
using (DataTable dt = new DataTable())
{
sda.Fill(dt);
//Set AutoGenerateColumns False
dataGridView1.AutoGenerateColumns = false;
//Set Columns Count
dataGridView1.ColumnCount = 3;
//Add Columns
dataGridView1.Columns[0].Name = "CustomerId";
dataGridView1.Columns[0].HeaderText = "Customer Id";
dataGridView1.Columns[0].DataPropertyName = "CustomerID";
dataGridView1.Columns[1].HeaderText = "Contact Name";
dataGridView1.Columns[1].Name = "Name";
dataGridView1.Columns[1].DataPropertyName = "ContactName";
dataGridView1.Columns[2].Name = "Country";
dataGridView1.Columns[2].HeaderText = "Country";
dataGridView1.Columns[2].DataPropertyName = "Country";
dataGridView1.DataSource = dt;
}
}
}
}
}
}
VB.Net
Public Class Form1
Public Sub New()
InitializeComponent()
BindGrid()
End Sub
Private Sub BindGrid()
Dim constring As String = "Data Source=.\SQL2005;Initial Catalog=Northwind;User id = sa;password=pass@123"
Using con As New SqlConnection(constring)
Using cmd As New SqlCommand("SELECT * FROM Customers", con)
cmd.CommandType = CommandType.Text
Using sda As New SqlDataAdapter(cmd)
Using dt As New DataTable()
sda.Fill(dt)
'Set AutoGenerateColumns False
dataGridView1.AutoGenerateColumns = False
'Set Columns Count
dataGridView1.ColumnCount = 3
'Add Columns
dataGridView1.Columns(0).Name = "CustomerId"
dataGridView1.Columns(0).HeaderText = "Customer Id"
dataGridView1.Columns(0).DataPropertyName = "CustomerID"
dataGridView1.Columns(1).Name = "Name"
dataGridView1.Columns(1).HeaderText = "Contact Name"
dataGridView1.Columns(1).DataPropertyName = "ContactName"
dataGridView1.Columns(2).Name = "Country"
dataGridView1.Columns(2).HeaderText = "Country"
dataGridView1.Columns(2).DataPropertyName = "Country"
dataGridView1.DataSource = dt
End Using
End Using
End Using
End Using
End Sub
End Class
![Bind (Fill) DataGridView in Windows Forms (WinForms) Application in C# and VB.Net]()
Downloads
