DataGridCollectionView Class

Glossary Item Box

Prerequisite Knowledge
DataGrid Fundamentals: Object Model Overview
The DataGridCollectionView class allows any collection that implements the IEnumerable interface to be grouped, sorted, or filtered. Unlike the BindingListCollectionView class, the DataGridCollectionView class will never touch the underlying data source, meaning that the original sorting and filtering present in the data source will not be modified. The underlying data source to which the DataGridCollectionView is bound can be retrieved through the SourceCollection property.
By default, a DataGridItemProperty will be created for each property in the underlying data source and can be retrieved through the ItemProperties property of the DataGridCollectionView (you can consider these items to be the columns that will end up in a grid). Each item-property object represents the characteristics of a property for an item in the DataGridCollectionView, including the DataType, Name, PropertyDescriptor, Title, and ValuePath. Automatic creation of item properties can be disabled by setting the AutoCreateItemProperties property of the DataGridCollectionViewSource to false (by default, true) or by specifying so when creating an instance of the DataGridCollectionView.
The Contains method determines whether an item exists in the current view, while the GetItemAt and IndexOf methods can be used to retrieve an item at a specific index or retrieve its index, respectively. The number of items contained in a DataGridCollectionView can be determined through the Count property. In the case where no items are displayed in the view, the Count property will return 0 and the IsEmpty property will return true.
Programmatically, when the DataGridCollectionView is bound to a data source, the ItemProperties.Clear method must be called prior to adding DataGridItemProperty objects to the ItemProperties collection to remove items that were automatically added when the DataGridCollectionView was instantiated.

Unbound data can be "appended" to a data item through the use of unbound item properties, which are represented by the DataGridUnboundItemProperty class. Unlike unbound columns, which can be used to display non-data related information such as a label or controls that allow some sort of action to be carried out, unbound item properties can be used to provide additional data, such as calculated columns (see Example 1 in Unbound Data). 

Grouping, Sorting, and Filtering

Data items contained in the view can be grouped using either the default PropertyGroupDescription or the DataGridGroupDescription (recommended) and adding them to the GroupDescriptions property. The final, runtime groups can be retrieved through the Groups property. Data items can also be sorted by adding the standard SortDescription structures to the SortDescriptions property. In addition to the default type-based sorting, custom sorting can also be applied by providing an IComparer to the SortComparer property of one or more item properties defined in the DataGridCollectionView to which a grid is bound.
For more information on grouping, sorting, and filtering data items, refer to the Grouping Data, Sorting Data and Filtering Data topics.

Detail Relations (Hierarchical Master/Detail)

If the data source to which a DataGridCollectionView is bound contains hierarchical detail relations, the content of those relations will be displayed as the details of data items in a grid or in another detail. Relations are represented by DataGridDetailDesciptions objects and will automatically be created for:

Automatic creation of detail descriptions can be disabled by setting the AutoCreateDetailDescriptions property of the DataGridCollectionViewSource to false (by default, true) or by specifying so when creating an instance of the DataGridCollectionView.

In order for the details of a data item to be displayed (and created), the parent grid or detail's AutoCreateDetailConfigurations property must be set to true (by default, false at the grid level and true for detail configurations).

Hierarchical master/detail is only available when a grid is in a table-view layout.

For more information on master/detail relations, refer to the DataGridDetailDescriptions Class and Detail Configuration topics.

Inserting and Editing Data Items

The DataGridCollectionView and DataGridCollectionViewSource classes expose events (see Table 1 in Inserting Data) that are triggered during key stages of inserting a new item into an underlying data source. These events provide full control over the insertion process and make it possible to insert items into a source that does not implement the IBindingLIist interface

The DataGridCollectionView also exposes the EditItem, CommitEdit, and CancelEdit methods to allow items in the underlying data source to be edited directly. 

For more information on inserting and editing data, refer to the Inserting Data and Editing Data topics.

DataGridCollectionViewSource Class

The DataGridCollectionViewSource class represents the XAML proxy of the DataGridCollectionView class. The DataGridCollectionViewSource class is not a view but rather the XAML representation of the DataGridCollectionView class.

Most properties and events exposed by the DataGridCollectionView class are also exposed by the DataGridCollectionViewSource class.

Most of the XAML examples demonstrated throughout this documentation make use of the DataGridCollectionViewSource class to provide data to a grid.

Data Virtualization

The DataGridVirtualizingCollectionView class and its XAML proxy, the DataGridVirtualizingCollectionViewSource class, provide support for data virtualization. Also known as "virtual mode" or "lazy loading", data virtualization provides smart deferred querying of data, support for asynchronous data fetching, preemptive loading, and query abort notifications to ensure a smooth and seemless experience that leaves applications responsive and prevents needless queries to data servers. 

For more information on data virtualization, refer to the Data Virtualization topic.

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