The Most Trusted WinForms Datagrid Control
Power your next .NET application with FlexGrid, the longest supported and most trusted WinForms datagrid control.
- Optimized for Performance - FlexGrid is the most powerful tool for productive Windows applications
- Engineered for Flexibility - FlexGrid gives you complete control over cell customization with its robust API
- Designed for Usability - FlexGrid delivers many Microsoft Excel-like features and behaviors, so it’s easy to use
Overview
A WinForms datagrid is a user interface control for displaying, editing, and analyzing large data sets. FlexGrid is a WinForms datagrid optimized for high-performance and flexibility, enabling .NET developers to customize every aspect of the control.
WinForms Datagrid Highlights
The Most Flexible WinForms DataGrid Control
One of the main strengths of FlexGrid is the ability to customize every aspect of the entire grid’s appearance and individual cells. Easily embed sparklines, images, ratings, or any UI component in the cells. Most datagrids let you customize entire columns with just one template, but FlexGrid makes it easy to customize the grid cell by cell. You can even transpose the grid or create a “TreeGrid” using FlexGrid’s flexible API.
See: How to Customize C# Datagrid Features in Your Desktop App
The Perfect DataGrid with the Excel Features Your Users Need
FlexGrid is a complete WinForms datagrid with features inspired and designed to behave like Microsoft Excel. This ensures familiarity for end-users as they don’t need to learn a new way to edit, analyze, and copy data. You can effortlessly enable many Excel-like features in FlexGrid, such as filtering, selection, cell merging, cell freezing, formatting, and clipboard operations.
Save Time with Visual Studio Designers
Getting started with FlexGrid for WinForms is as easy as dragging and dropping the component from your toolbox onto the form. Through its smart tag and contextual column editors, you can quickly set most of its properties without writing any code. Customize cell styles and column bands through special designers - ideal for novices and experts alike.
The Best Tool for Powerful Desktop Applications
FlexGrid is optimized for the best performance in .NET desktop applications. Its lightweight architecture has been engineered to handle large data sets by providing you flexible optimization techniques. Improve performance and reduce load times for very large data sets with on-demand loading, where data is only retrieved as the user scrolls. This feature is also known as "Virtual Mode" and is supported in FlexGrid through our innovative C1DataCollection component.
WinForms Datagrid Key Features
Dynamic Updates
Create live datagrid displays and dashboards with automatic updates. Show stock prices and other rapidly updating information in your datagrid.
Paging
To improve performance for large data sets, you can enable paging rather than vertical scrolling. Set the page size and navigate pages using the data pager control.
Virtual Mode
Improve performance and reduce load times for very large data sets with on-demand loading, where data is only retrieved as the user scrolls. This feature is also known as "Virtual Mode" and is supported in FlexGrid through the C1DataCollection.
Bound or Unbound
FlexGrid supports data binding to most .NET data collections, including ObservableCollection, List, Array, BindingSource, and ADO.NET objects such as DataSet and DataTable. Columns are automatically generated when data-binding.
Connect to SQL Server or a variety of other sources like JSON, CSV, Dynamics, and other online CRMs using ComponentOne Data Connectors.
With unbound mode, you can programmatically add rows and columns. Set cell values in code or create an empty grid for end-users to edit.
Hierarchical TreeGrid
FlexGrid supports several hierarchical data binding scenarios. You can connect two datagrids in a master-detail relationship. You can nest a child datagrid in the FlexGrid’s expandable row details. You can also transform any data collection into a hierarchical “TreeGrid” using its flexible tree node API.
Dynamic Updates
FlexGrid honors .NET dynamic data sources. Data bind to an ObservableCollection or anything that inherits the INotifyPropertyChanged interface and get dynamic updates to the data source reflected in the FlexGrid. Take advantage of its OwnerDrawCell event to provide custom graphics in each cell.
Paging
Enable paging to navigate through different pages of data bound to FlexGrid. Like the virtual mode and on-demand loading, paging is supported by the help of C1DataCollection. Paging can improve performance for large data sets as data is loaded per page. Learn how to page in WinForms through our samples and blogs.
Virtual Mode
Virtual Mode (also known as “data virtualization” or “incremental loading”) helps manage large datasets from remote sources when loading the entire dataset at once is not practical. With Virtual Mode, we can understand the entire data set but only load smaller portions (or pages) of it at once.
Understanding the data means we can filter, sort, and scroll the data as if the entire data set existed on the client.
Read More: A Guide to On-Demand Loading with Data Virtualization in C# .NET
Excel-like Editing
FlexGrid provides a familiar editing experience based on Microsoft Excel. Navigate cells using arrow, tab, and enter keys. Define more editing rules for your users with FlexGrid’s flexible API.
Custom Cell Editors
FlexGrid provides several built-in editors to enable efficient in-cell editing for numbers, dates, checkboxes, and data-mapped combo-boxes. Or create a custom cell editor using any other UI component.
Add New Row
Give your users a quick solution for adding records to the data source with FlexGrid’s built-in empty new row feature.
Selection
Get Excel-like cell selection across rows and columns. Configure the selection mode per your requirements. FlexGrid also has mobile selection solutions such as intuitive touch support and checkbox selection.
Clipboard Support
When working with datagrids the clipboard is critical. FlexGrid allows users to cut, copy and paste selected cells to edit or duplicate values across grids and other applications.
Validation
Validate data entry with built-in formatting and error detection, or use unobtrusive validation to validate as the user types.
Excel-like Editing
FlexGrid provides a familiar editing experience based on Microsoft Excel. Users can navigate cells using the arrow, tab, and enter keys. They can press F2 to put the current cell into edit mode. You can further provide custom editing rules, such as batch editing, confirmation dialogs, or pop-up forms, using FlexGrid’s flexible API.
Custom Cell Editors
FlexGrid for WinForms provides built-in cell editors for formatted text, numbers, dates, checkboxes, and data-mapped combo-boxes. Plus, you can easily assign custom cell editors using FlexGrid’s Cell Style Editor property.
Add New Row
In addition to editing data, FlexGrid provides a built-in feature for adding new records to the data source. When adding new rows is enabled, an empty row displays at the top or bottom of the FlexGrid that allows users to quickly add new records.
Selection
FlexGrid provides the most flexible selection options. Through its Selection Mode, you can define how users select cells: by row, column, row range, column range, single cell, or cell range. FlexGrid also supports non-adjacent cell range selection by holding the CTRL key. Plus, for mobile UIs, you can achieve checkbox selection with touch support.
Clipboard Support
FlexGrid supports all clipboard operations, such as cut, copy, and paste, on selected cells. You can configure the copying behavior to include or exclude column headers and row headers for convenience. Plus, FlexGrid supports cell value deletion by pressing the Delete key.
Validation
Input validation lets you analyze and control the data that users enter in a FlexGrid cell. There are several ways in which data can be validated, such as restricting invalid keys, showing an error or warning message, or reverting the value to the original. You can also enable unobtrusive validation that occurs as the user types.
Excel-Like Filtering
FlexGrid supports drop-down filters in the column headers like Microsoft Excel. You can enable filtering on any column to provide users value and condition-based filter editors.
Filter Row
It’s also possible to display a traditional filter row at the top of the FlexGrid to allow filtering on multiple columns.
Searching
FlexGrid allows you to perform full-text filtering, or searching, on your data to show all matching instances found in the grid. Search the entire grid or just a specific column and then highlight all matching occurrences.
Multi-Column Sorting
FlexGrid supports sorting, ascending, and descending by clicking on the column headers. It also supports sorting by multiple columns.
Grouping & Aggregation
Group data in FlexGrid to organize and analyze data more precisely. Customize the text displayed in header rows. Enable run-time grouping to give users full control.
Conditional Formatting
Apply conditional formatting to highlight values that meet any criteria. FlexGrid provides a robust cell formatting API.
Sparklines in Cells
Display sparklines in cells to show trends such as periodic fluctuations, or to highlight maximum or minimum values of the data series.
Cross-Tab Pivot Views
Create dynamic pivot table views like Microsoft Excel and aggregate millions of rows of data in milliseconds with ComponentOne FlexPivot, an extended FlexGrid component.
Learn More: ComponentOne FlexPivot for WinForms
Gantt Views
Provide users with a Microsoft Project-like experience for project schedule management with ComponentOne GanttView, an extended FlexGrid component.
Learn More: ComponentOne GanttView for WinForms
Excel-Like Filtering
FlexGrid provides Excel-like filtering through a drop-down editor in the column headers. It supports value-based (checkbox) and condition-based filters by default, along with specialized editors for dates, Booleans, and numbers. Users can build complex filters with multiple conditions. You can also extend the filter UI to provide custom filtering.
Filter Row
A filter row enables users to filter the grid data per column as you type. It consists of an empty row of cells at the top of the FlexGrid. When users type text in the filter row, a filter condition is created based on the entered text, and the data is filtered accordingly by each column. The filter row is a custom filtering solution provided through a .NET Windows Forms sample.
Searching
Full-text filtering lets users search the entire FlexGrid through a standard TextBox. You can configure which columns can be searched, filter out unmatching rows, and highlight matching text. In WinForms, this feature is supported through the C1FlexGridSearchPanel component.
Multi-Column Sorting
Sorting is one of the basic features a .NET datagrid must have, and FlexGrid provides complete control over how data can be sorted in ascending or descending order for easier data analysis. By default, multi-column sorting is also possible by pressing the Shift or CTRL key while clicking on multiple column headers.
Grouping & Aggregation
Grouping helps organize the grid data into a hierarchical structure where rows with common values are displayed as a group. You can enable grouping through code, or enable it at runtime through the column header menu or the grouping panel. FlexGrid for WinForms also supports aggregation and summary of grouped data using the Subtotal method.
Conditional Formatting
Apply conditional formatting by highlighting cell values that fall into a specific range. You can format text, display symbols, and apply cell styles to provide visual highlights to data values. FlexGrid has a flexible API consisting of Cell Styles and the OwnerDraw event in WinForms.
Sparklines in Cells
Embed Sparklines in FlexGrid to show trends such as periodic fluctuations, or to highlight maximum or minimum values of the data series. The Sparklines support column, line, and win/loss visualizations, and the feature is completely built in.
Cross-Tab Pivot Views
Create dynamic pivot tables like Microsoft Excel with ComponentOne FlexPivot.
- Connect to multiple data sources, including SSAS cubes
- Process and aggregate millions of rows in milliseconds
- Simply connect the all-in-one C1FlexPivotPage component to a data source, and you have a complete analytical tool, including the pivot panel, grid, chart, and toolbar.
Learn More: ComponentOne FlexPivot for WinForms
Gantt Views
Provide users with a Microsoft Project-like experience for project schedule management with ComponentOne GanttView.
- Visualize and edit project tasks in a graphical Gantt chart
- Generate automatic schedules from your data source or import from Microsoft Project
- Get complete runtime management of resources, dependencies, styles, and much more
Learn More: ComponentOne GanttView for WinForms
Freezing and Pinning
FlexGrid offers Excel-like row and column freezing and pinning. This allows users to keep rows and columns in view as they navigate the content of the datagrid. The difference is pinning allows any column to be frozen.
Cell Merging
Merge adjacent cells with matching values across columns and down rows. Merge header cells, create custom cell merging rules, and set restrictions on how FlexGrid merges cells.
Column Bands
FlexGrid allows you to organize columns into logical groups, known as bands. Column bands make it easier to represent many columns in the .NET datagrid because groups can be collapsed.
Multi-Line Rows
A multi-line row datagrid consists of more than one row of cells per record. This is useful to display many columns without requiring horizontal scrolling.
Column Reordering
FlexGrid allows users to modify the column order by dragging and dropping their headers. Save and persist the layout for future runs of the application.
Responsive Column Sizing
FlexGrid columns can be automatically sized to fit text and allow users to resize at runtime. Additionally, columns can be set to proportionally fill the space (star sizing).
Row Details
Drill into a row of data to show more details inside a collapsible panel. You can display an input form, a child data grid, or anything else within the detail row.
Transposed View
You can easily transpose FlexGrid by just setting one property. A transposed datagrid flips the rows and columns so that the headers display down the left side and rows display horizontally across the application.
Freezing and Pinning
Freeze any number of rows or columns in FlexGrid just like Microsoft Excel. At runtime, users can drag the frozen line to adjust. Column Pinning allows the end-user to freeze any column in the grid and pin it to the left, allowing them to keep it in view while horizontally scrolling the FlexGrid.
Cell Merging
ComponentOne's C# and VB.NET WinForms datagrid FlexGrid supports content-driven cell merging just like Microsoft Excel. This allows you to merge matching adjacent cells across columns and down rows. Merge header cells, create custom cell merging rules, and set restrictions on how FlexGrid merges cells.
Column Bands
FlexGrid allows you to organize columns into logical groups, known as column bands. Column bands make it easier to represent huge amount of data in the grid. For example, you can display the city, country and postal code columns in a grouped band labeled “Address.” Some versions support collapsible headers.
Multi-Line Rows
A multi-line row datagrid, or simply MultiRow, allows you to bind each data item to multiple rows, creating form-like interfaces that can display a large number of columns with minimal horizontal scrolling. This feature is supported in WinForms by creating advanced column bands.
Column Reordering
At runtime, users can easily drag and reorder the columns. FlexGrid for WinForms also includes a custom column picker implementation, which allows users to reorder, display, or hide columns in various ways.
Responsive Column Sizing
With FlexGrid for WinForms, you have some flexible column sizing solutions. First, columns can be autosized to fit all content. Second, you can extend the last column to fill in any empty space. Third, you can enable “star sizing” that keeps all columns scaled proportionally as the Form gets resized. This ensures the grid always fits the client window and will not require horizontal scrolling.
Row Details
The FlexGrid Row Details feature lets you embed child or hierarchical data within each row of the grid. The row details are collapsible and customizable. You can display an input form, a child data grid, or anything else within the detail row.
Transposed View
A transposed WinForms datagrid flips the rows and columns so that the headers display down the left side and rows display horizontally across the application. You can easily transpose FlexGrid for WinForms by just setting one property.
Import & Export to Excel
If your business relies on Excel for data management, you can use FlexGrid to both import XLSX files and export your FlexGrid data into an XLSX file to view in Excel.
Export to PDF
FlexGrid supports exporting all content to PDF using the ComponentOne PDF library. This allows you to export the datagrid as a quick and easy report.
Printing
FlexGrid lets you print the grid and perform various basic and advanced print settings using its built-in methods and properties. Plus, our special C1PrintDocument component enables advanced printing techniques.
Persistent State
Preserve the column layout and sort settings between runs of the application by saving its state. FlexGrid supports XML serialization to save the datagrid state for your users.
Import & Export to Excel
Export the FlexGrid data to Microsoft Excel files (XLSX) and even load files as a data source. The FlexGrid uses the C1.Excel library to manage file access. Choose how to preserve formatting. You can also export only selected data. Exporting to CSV and plain text is also supported.
Export to PDF
FlexGrid supports several different approaches to PDF export. For .NET desktop, there is the C1.PDF library and PdfDocumentSource libraries. For WinForms, we have the C1PrintDocument which gives even more customization. For the web, you can use the FlexGridPdfConverter kit. Set the scale, orientation and even password.
Printing
The FlexGrid control provides a printing method that allows you to specify the document name, page margins, scaling, maximum number of pages to print, and print parameters. The output is a faithful rendering of the grid, including all style elements, fonts, gradients, images, etc. Row and column headers are included on every page. Plus, our special C1PrintDocument component enables advanced printing techniques.
Persistent State
You can easily save the current state of the grid for later use and then restore it when needed. For instance, the user may apply grouping, sorting, filtering, or styling to the grid that they want to use later, after reopening the application. This behavior can be achieved by persisting the grid's state. FlexGrid supports XML serialization to save the datagrid state for your users.
Cell Styles
Highlight cells based on the underlying value or as the user hovers over them with the mouse. Configure cell styles for a wide range of use cases.
Themes
FlexGrid supports a modern, light theme by default. For certain frameworks, you can additionally choose one of our professionally designed themes for FlexGrid.
Localization & Globalization
Select the language FlexGrid uses to display its data, and format how it displays dates and numbers. Plus, with RTL Support, you can handle Arabic, Hebrew, and other right-to-left languages with the globalized FlexGrid.
Cell Styles
FlexGrid provides built-in collection of styles for predefined cell types and states such as normal cells, fixed cells, alternating rows, hovered cells, focused cells, and so on. You can easily modify the cell styles in C# code, XAML, or CSS, depending on the framework.
Themes
ComponentOne WinForms Edition offers 40 professional themes, including Office 365 and Material themes. You can easily apply a theme to the entire application or just FlexGrid. You can customize and create your own themes, which include custom scrollbar styles.
Localization & Globalization
Select the language that FlexGrid uses to display its data, and format how it displays dates and numbers. Plus, with RTL Support, you can handle Arabic, Hebrew, and other right-to-left languages with the globalized FlexGrid. Exported Excel files also support RTL.
Easy Licensing and Distribution
Add distribution keys to your applications through your Mescius account.
Licensing FAQs
ComponentOne is licensed per developer. Once you purchase a license, you can build and publish your .NET applications using ComponentOne controls. Licensing is perpetual and royalty-free.
Become an OEM Partner
To create your own commercially-licensed SDK, or web application builder, choose the Commercial OEM license. Commercial OEM and SaaS licenses are customized for each customer.
Have Questions? We're Here to Help
Email sales@mescius.com to schedule a call with our product specialists or request a personalized demo from a product expert to discuss your project needs.
Get started with FlexGrid by adding the C1.Win.FlexGrid NuGet package.
dotnet add package C1.Win.FlexGridGet Started with FlexGrid for WinForms
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How to Update Using the C1ControlPanel
The same C1ControlPanel utility that is used to install ComponentOne controls can also be used to update the controls to a newer version.
Steps to Update using C1ControlPanel
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Download and launch the C1ControlPanel application
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Select the latest version and check the “Update” box
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Optionally, choose which .NET versions you need
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Click “Update Selected Controls” and accept the license agreement
For more information, see our Welcome to the ComponentOne Control Panel blog.
How to Update Using NuGet Packages
Updating is very easy if you’re referencing the ComponentOne control packages from nuget.org.
Steps to Update using NuGet
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Open the Tools → NuGet Package Manager → Manage NuGet Packages for Solution… window in Visual Studio.
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On the Updates tab, select all ComponentOne libraries (search C1.*)
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Select the project and the latest (or desired) version
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Click Update or Install and accept the license agreement
For more help, check out our online documentation.
Why Choose WinForms UI Controls and .NET Data Components?
WinForms UI controls are reusable design elements that help developers implement a wide variety of features in their desktop apps in less time. ComponentOne provides a complete set of dynamic, flexible WinForms controls including data connectors, data engine, grids, charts, and more.
Why Choose ComponentOne for Your WinForms Applications?
The Industry's Best .NET Datagrid
FlexGrid continues to be the industry's fastest data grid—loading large data sets up to 10x faster than the competition.
Fun and Easy-To-Use Design
Enjoy building your UI swiftly thanks to our smart Visual Studio design-time integration.
Extensive and Flexible API
Get the features you need for today and tomorrow, with an ever-growing API that allows you to customize every control to your specifications.
Develop Desktop Apps With Style
Go beyond the standard desktop look-and-feel with 40+ built-in themes, or create your own with our Theme Designer.
Deliver Modern, Touch-first Desktop Apps
Broaden the reach of your desktop apps for touch screens and tablets using our unique TouchToolkit.
500+ VB and C# Samples
Learn how to implement every feature hands-on with access to hundreds of code samples—installed locally or found on GitHub.
Visual Studio 2022 and Windows 11 Support
With seamless toolbox and project template integration, ComponentOne is the perfect companion to Visual Studio development on Windows 11.
Manageable Distribution With NuGet Packages
Make package management effortless with ComponentOne NuGet packages on nuget.org or installed locally.
Explore All WinForms Controls
The following controls support .NET 6, .NET 8 and .NET Framework 4.5.2+.
Data Management
Data Services
* included with Studio Enterprise
† included with WinForms Data Services Edition
Data Visualization
Navigation & Layout
- Accordion
- DashboardLayout
- DockingTab
- Menus and Toolbars
- Ribbon
- Sizer
- SuperTooltip
- TileControl
- TreeView
Scheduling
Reporting & Documents
Utilities
Additional .NET Framework-Only Controls
The following controls are supported in .NET Framework 4.5.2+.
Data Management
Navigations & Layout
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