The RiaGridView control allows displaying data from the data source on a web page in the form of a table, as well as selecting, sorting and editing them. It is based on both ASP.NET and Silverlight technologies, by introducing the Silverlight application into GridView, an ASP.NET component. This allows using the capabilities of the Visual Studio environment for tuning the settings of the RiaGridView control.

Data Source Binding

As a data source, you can use any control, implementing the System.Collections.IEnumerable interface. All the data sources, that a standard GridView can work with, will be allowed for RiaGridView.

Column Fields

After the RiaGridView control is bound to a data source, the component automatically creates table columns for each of the fields in the same order they are arranged in the data source. You can also manipulate the display of the columns manually by defining your own column field collection. The RiaGridView control element supports six types of columns that allow displaying data as a text, a hyperlink, a checkbox, an image or a button.



Paging, Sorting and Dragging

The RiaGridView control element allows you to sort data by the column specified in the sorting field property. The sorting is assigned by left clicking the triangle in the in the column header. You can speed up the performance of the component, if you use the automatic paging with fewer records per page. To amend the column order, you can use the Field editor or simply drag-n-drop them. There will appear an arrow, pointing a place, where you can put the column.



Selection and Data Manipulation

A user has an option of single or multiple selections of data cells, as well as editing, inserting and deleting database records. To select a cell, simply left click it. The selected cell will change color. You can select several cells, by indicating the selection area with the mouse cursor. If you select a cell from the first column, all the cells in the row will be selected.




Column Templating

The RiaGridView control lets you bind fields, even if they are related to different data sources. For that, it uses a special field, where each of the records will have a value for display, defined by the bound field, and a value for editing, defined by the main field from the data source, bound to RiaGridView. For editing a record from a column, there is a drop-down list of data from the bound field. When you change the selected value, the data in the data source bound to the RiaGridView control changes accordingly.
The variants of the ProductID field display, depending on the filed type are presented below. The upper control applies the TemplateField type of display, the lower – the BoundField.

Before editing

After editing

The picture also demonstrates the singularities of editing records with the TemplateField. The cell with the record before and after editing is selected both in the left and in the right column.


Fixing Columns ^{Pro version only}

It is possible in the RiaGridView control to hold columns immovable while horizontal scrolling. To do that, you need to right-click on the column header and select Fixed from the drop-down menu. The column will shift to the left and ‘hold’ in its place.



To return a column to its original state, right-click its header and select Not Fixed from the drop-down menu. It is possible to fix a few columns. The layout of the fixed columns may be changed by drag-n-dropping their headers.

Data Filtering ^{Pro version only}

The RiaGridView control allows you to filter records in the run-time mode. Filtering data is displaying records, selected in accordance with the filter expression. The filter expression is a logical expression that consists of conditions, applied to the filed value.
The current state of the filter is displayed on the panel above the data table. Here you can delete or disable a filter and edit its parameters.

Creating a filter:



Disabling a filter:


Editing on the panel is done with the drop-down menus of filter expression elements that allow you to change the filter conditions, filter values and the logical operator.

Changing the filter expression:


You can also change the filter value of the specified filed by selecting an element from the pull-down menu under the filter icon in the header of the filed. If you select (All), the condition of selection for this filed will be deleted from the filter expression and be removed from the panel.

Deleting a condition from the filter expression:



Try to create your own filter right here:


Data Grouping ^{Pro version only}

In the RiaGridView control, you can group data by values from several columns. The keys (the values of the column, by which the grouping is performed) define whether a record belongs to the group. The records with the same keys are collated into groups, displayed separately from each other.
Data grouping is performed in the run-time mode. The header cell of the field, by which the grouping will be performed, is dragged to the group panel above the data table.
The group cells are displayed in the control with the indication of the group filed, the group key and the number of records in the group.




A ‘plus’ mark indicated the collapsed state of the group. Right clicking on it will change the mark to ‘minus’ and display the cells of the nested groups or the records with the specified keys.




To cancel grouping, right-click the cross in the upper right corner of the group panel – the cell will be deleted from the panel.
You can also group cells by several fields.



Try gouping the data yourself.



Data Statistics ^{Pro version only}

In the RiaGridView control there is an option of displaying data statistics, such as sum, average, minimal and maximal values for numerical fields. The statistics are displayed just below the data table in the line, whose cells contain the statistic information for the corresponding columns. If the data is grouped, the statistic data line will appear after each group of records.



RiaGridView Styles

You can adjust the parameters of the RiaGridView control appearance by setting its properties, among which are: the background (gradient or solid), the border color, and the font parameters.

Using the RiaChart control on your web page expands the options of data visualization that can be presented both as diagrams and as charts. RiaChart control is a heir of the wonderful ASP.NET Charting Control from Microsoft, that visualises it in the client's browser with the help of the in-built Silverlight application.
 

Data Binding

A set of the in-built methods of creating series and adding them to the Chart expands the standard options of data binding for the RiaChart control element. Chart Features Series are created from the source data. Then you should bind them to a diagram area and choose a type for it (Column, Bar, Point, Line, Pie).
 

The RiaChart control supports creating as many diagram areas, displaying several series at once, as you wish. You can also change the size of the diagram area; create a header for the diagram and the legend.
 

You can also manipulate the display of diagram axes and the lines of the coordinate grid: assign label names on the axes, specify the coordinate range (the minimum and maximum values of axes) of the chart on the coordinate grid.
 

Developer requirements

• Visual Studio 2005 or 2008 (2008 recommended) or Visual Web Developer
• .NET Framework 3.5 SP1

Web-server requirements

• NET Framework 3.5 SP1
• ASP.NET 2.0