How to: Map ListObject Columns to Data

When you bind a ListObject control to a DataTable, you might not want to display all the columns in a list, or you might have certain columns that are not bound to data. You can map which columns you want to appear in the ListObject when you call the SetDataBinding method.

Applies to: The information in this topic applies to document-level projects and application-level projects for Excel 2007 and Excel 2010. For more information, see Features Available by Office Application and Project Type.

For a related video demonstration, see How Do I: Create a List in Excel that is Connected to a SharePoint List?.

Mapping Columns

To map a data table to columns in a list

1. Create the DataTable at the class level.

   Dim table As System.Data.DataTable = New System.Data.DataTable("Employees")
   

   System.Data.DataTable table = new System.Data.DataTable("Employees");
   

2. Add sample columns and data in the Startup event handler of the Sheet1 class (in a document-level project) or ThisAddIn class (in an application-level project).

   table.Columns.Add("Id", GetType(Int32))
   table.Columns.Add("FirstName", GetType(String))
   table.Columns.Add("LastName", GetType(String))
   table.Columns.Add("Title", GetType(String))
   
   table.Rows.Add(1, "Nancy", "Anderson", "Sales Representative")
   table.Rows.Add(2, "Robert", "Brown", "Sales Representative")
   

   table.Columns.Add("Id", typeof(int));
   table.Columns.Add("FirstName", typeof(string));
   table.Columns.Add("LastName", typeof(string));
   table.Columns.Add("Title", typeof(string));
   
   table.Rows.Add(1, "Nancy", "Anderson", "Sales Representative");
   table.Rows.Add(2, "Robert", "Brown", "Sales Representative");
   

3. Call the SetDataBinding method and pass in the column names in the order they should appear. The list object will be bound to the newly-created DataTable, but the order of the columns in the list object will differ from the order they appear in the DataTable.

   Me.List1.AutoSetDataBoundColumnHeaders = True
   Me.List1.SetDataBinding(table, "", "Title", "LastName", "FirstName")
   

   this.list1.AutoSetDataBoundColumnHeaders = true;
   this.list1.SetDataBinding(table, "", "Title", "LastName", "FirstName");
   

Specifying Unmapped Columns

When you map columns to a DataTable, you can also specify that certain columns should not be bound to data by passing in an empty string. A new column that is not bound to data is then added to the ListObject control.

To specify an unmapped column when mapping ListObject columns

• Call the SetDataBinding method and pass in the column names in the order they should appear. Use an empty string to indicate where an unmapped column is added; in this case, between the title column and the last name column.

  Me.List1.SetDataBinding(table, "", "Title", "", "LastName", "FirstName")
  

  this.list1.SetDataBinding(table, "", "Title", "", "LastName", "FirstName");
  

Compiling the Code

This code example assumes you have an existing ListObject named list1 on the worksheet in which this code appears.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Fill ListObject Controls with Data

Concepts

Extending Word Documents and Excel Workbooks in Application-Level Add-ins at Run Time

Adding Controls to Office Documents at Run Time

Automating Excel by Using Extended Objects

ListObject Control

Other Resources

Controls on Office Documents