In this example I will explain with an example, how to make a Column (Cell) non editable (ReadOnly) in ASP.Net GridView set with AutoGenerateColumns property to true using C# and VB.Net.
 
Database
I have made use of the following table Customers with the schema as follows.
Make Column (Cell) non editable (ReadOnly) in ASP.Net GridView with AutoGenerateColumns true
I have already inserted few records in the table.
Make Column (Cell) non editable (ReadOnly) in ASP.Net GridView with AutoGenerateColumns true
 
Note: You can download the database table SQL by clicking the download link below.
          Download SQL file
 
 
HTML Markup
The below HTML Markup consists of a GridView control with AutoGenerateColumns property set to true. In order to automatically generated Edit Button, the AutoGenerateEditButton property are set to true.
The CustomerId column is set to the DataKeyNames property of GridView.
Note: If you want to make any column non editable (ReadOnly) in a GridView with AutoGenerateColumns property set to true, then you need to set such columns to the DateKeyNames property of the GridView. For more details refer, Using Multiple DataKeyNames (DataKeys) in ASP.Net GridView with examples.
 
The GridView is specified with the OnRowEditing, OnRowCancelingEdit and OnRowUpdating events.
<asp:GridView ID="GridView1" runat="server" DataKeyNames="CustomerId" OnRowEditing="OnRowEditing" OnRowCancelingEdit="OnRowCancelingEdit" OnRowUpdating="OnRowUpdating" AutoGenerateEditButton="true">
</asp:GridView>
 
 
Namespaces
You will need to import the following namespaces.
C#
using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.Configuration;
 
VB.Net
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
Imports System.Configuration
 
 
Populating the GridView control with AutoGenerateColumns true
The GridView is populated using the records from the Customers table inside the Page Load event of the ASP.Net page.
C#
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if (!this.IsPostBack)
    {
        this.BindGrid();
    }
}
 
private void BindGrid()
{
    string constr = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["constr"].ConnectionString;
    using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(constr))
    {
        using (SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("SELECT CustomerId, Name, Country FROM Customers"))
        {
            using (SqlDataAdapter sda = new SqlDataAdapter())
            {
                cmd.Connection = con;
                sda.SelectCommand = cmd;
                using (DataTable dt = new DataTable())
                {
                    sda.Fill(dt);
                    GridView1.DataSource = dt;
                    GridView1.DataBind();
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
 
VB.Net
Protected Sub Page_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
    If Not Me.IsPostBack Then
        Me.BindGrid()
    End If
End Sub
 
Private Sub BindGrid()
    Dim constr As String = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("constr").ConnectionString
    Using con As New SqlConnection(constr)
        Using cmd As New SqlCommand("SELECT CustomerId, Name, Country FROM Customers")
            Using sda As New SqlDataAdapter()
                cmd.Connection = con
                sda.SelectCommand = cmd
                Using dt As New DataTable()
                    sda.Fill(dt)
                    GridView1.DataSource = dt
                    GridView1.DataBind()
                End Using
            End Using
        End Using
    End Using
End Sub
 
Make Column (Cell) non editable (ReadOnly) in ASP.Net GridView with AutoGenerateColumns true
 
 
Editing and Updating GridView records with AutoGenerateColumns true
Edit
When the Edit Button is clicked, the GridView’s OnRowEditing event handler is triggered. Here simply the EditIndex of the GridView is updated with the Row Index of the GridView Row to be edited.
C#
protected void OnRowEditing(object sender, GridViewEditEventArgs e)
{
    GridView1.EditIndex = e.NewEditIndex;
    this.BindGrid();
}
 
VB.Net
Protected Sub OnRowEditing(sender As Object, e As GridViewEditEventArgs)
    GridView1.EditIndex = e.NewEditIndex
    Me.BindGrid()
End Sub
 
Update
When the Update Button is clicked, the GridView’s OnRowUpdating event handler is triggered.
CustomerId which is the primary key is fetched from the DataKey property of GridView while the Name and Country fields are fetched from their respective columns by referencing the TextBoxes in it.
Finally an Update query is executed over the database table.
C#
protected void OnRowUpdating(object sender, GridViewUpdateEventArgs e)
{
    GridViewRow row = GridView1.Rows[e.RowIndex];
    int customerId = Convert.ToInt32(GridView1.DataKeys[e.RowIndex].Values[0]);
    string name = (row.Cells[2].Controls[0] as TextBox).Text;
    string country = (row.Cells[3].Controls[0] as TextBox).Text;
    string constr = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["constr"].ConnectionString;
    using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(constr))
    {
        using (SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("UPDATE Customers SET Name = @Name, Country = @Country WHERE CustomerId = @CustomerId"))
        {
            cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@CustomerId", customerId);
            cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Name", name);
            cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Country", country);
            cmd.Connection = con;
            con.Open();
            cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
            con.Close();
        }
    }
    GridView1.EditIndex = -1;
    this.BindGrid();
}
 
VB.Net
Protected Sub OnRowUpdating(sender As Object, e As GridViewUpdateEventArgs)
    Dim row As GridViewRow = GridView1.Rows(e.RowIndex)
    Dim customerId As Integer = Convert.ToInt32(GridView1.DataKeys(e.RowIndex).Values(0))
    Dim name As String = TryCast(row.Cells(2).Controls(0), TextBox).Text
    Dim country As String = TryCast(row.Cells(3).Controls(0), TextBox).Text
    Dim constr As String = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("constr").ConnectionString
    Using con As New SqlConnection(constr)
        Using cmd As New SqlCommand("UPDATE Customers SET Name = @Name, Country = @Country WHERE CustomerId = @CustomerId")
            cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@CustomerId", customerId)
            cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Name", name)
            cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Country", country)
            cmd.Connection = con
            con.Open()
            cmd.ExecuteNonQuery()
            con.Close()
        End Using
    End Using
    GridView1.EditIndex = -1
    Me.BindGrid()
End Sub
 
Cancel Edit
When the Cancel Button is clicked, the GridView’s OnRowCancelingEdit event handler is triggered. Here the EditIndex is set to -1 and the GridView is populated with data.
C#
protected void OnRowCancelingEdit(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    GridView1.EditIndex = -1;
    this.BindGrid();
}
 
VB.Net
Protected Sub OnRowCancelingEdit(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
    GridView1.EditIndex = -1
    Me.BindGrid()
End Sub
 
Note: The CustomerId column is not editable (ReadOnly) because it has been set to the DataKeyNames property.
 
Make Column (Cell) non editable (ReadOnly) in ASP.Net GridView with AutoGenerateColumns true
 
 
Demo
 
 
Downloads