DataGridViewComboBoxCell.ValueMember Property

Definition

Namespace:

System.Windows.Forms

Assembly:

System.Windows.Forms.dll

Source:

DataGridViewComboBoxCell.cs

Gets or sets a string that specifies where to gather the underlying values used in the drop-down list.

public:
 virtual property System::String ^ ValueMember { System::String ^ get(); void set(System::String ^ value); };

public virtual string ValueMember { get; set; }

member this.ValueMember : string with get, set

Public Overridable Property ValueMember As String

Property Value

String

A string specifying the name of a property or column. The default value is Empty, which indicates that this property is ignored.

Exceptions

ArgumentException

The DataSource property is not null and the specified value when setting this property is not null or Empty and does not name a valid property or column in the data source.

Examples

The following code example demonstrates the use of the DataGridViewComboBoxColumn.ValueMember property, which is similar to this property. This example is part of a larger example available in the DataGridViewComboBoxColumn class overview topic.

private:
    DataGridViewComboBoxColumn^ CreateComboBoxColumn()
    {
        DataGridViewComboBoxColumn^ column =
            gcnew DataGridViewComboBoxColumn();
        {
            column->DataPropertyName = ColumnName::TitleOfCourtesy.ToString();
            column->HeaderText = ColumnName::TitleOfCourtesy.ToString();
            column->DropDownWidth = 160;
            column->Width = 90;
            column->MaxDropDownItems = 3;
            column->FlatStyle = FlatStyle::Flat;
        }
        return column;
    }

private:
    void SetAlternateChoicesUsingDataSource(DataGridViewComboBoxColumn^ comboboxColumn)
    {
        {
            comboboxColumn->DataSource = RetrieveAlternativeTitles();
            comboboxColumn->ValueMember = ColumnName::TitleOfCourtesy.ToString();
            comboboxColumn->DisplayMember = comboboxColumn->ValueMember;
        }
    }

private:
    DataTable^ RetrieveAlternativeTitles()
    {
        return Populate("SELECT distinct TitleOfCourtesy FROM Employees");
    }

    String^ connectionString;

private:
    DataTable^ Populate(String^ sqlCommand)
    {
        SqlConnection^ northwindConnection = gcnew SqlConnection(connectionString);
        northwindConnection->Open();

        SqlCommand^ command = gcnew SqlCommand(sqlCommand, northwindConnection);
        SqlDataAdapter^ adapter = gcnew SqlDataAdapter();
        adapter->SelectCommand = command;

        DataTable^ table = gcnew DataTable();
        adapter->Fill(table);

        return table;
    }

    // Using an enum provides some abstraction between column index
    // and column name along with compile time checking, and gives
    // a handy place to store the column names.
    enum class ColumnName
    {
        EmployeeID,
        LastName,
        FirstName,
        Title,
        TitleOfCourtesy,
        BirthDate,
        HireDate,
        Address,
        City,
        Region,
        PostalCode,
        Country,
        HomePhone,
        Extension,
        Photo,
        Notes,
        ReportsTo,
        PhotoPath,
        OutOfOffice
    };

private DataGridViewComboBoxColumn CreateComboBoxColumn()
{
    DataGridViewComboBoxColumn column =
        new DataGridViewComboBoxColumn();
    {
        column.DataPropertyName = ColumnName.TitleOfCourtesy.ToString();
        column.HeaderText = ColumnName.TitleOfCourtesy.ToString();
        column.DropDownWidth = 160;
        column.Width = 90;
        column.MaxDropDownItems = 3;
        column.FlatStyle = FlatStyle.Flat;
    }
    return column;
}

private void SetAlternateChoicesUsingDataSource(DataGridViewComboBoxColumn comboboxColumn)
{
    {
        comboboxColumn.DataSource = RetrieveAlternativeTitles();
        comboboxColumn.ValueMember = ColumnName.TitleOfCourtesy.ToString();
        comboboxColumn.DisplayMember = comboboxColumn.ValueMember;
    }
}

private DataTable RetrieveAlternativeTitles()
{
    return Populate("SELECT distinct TitleOfCourtesy FROM Employees");
}

string connectionString =
    "Integrated Security=SSPI;Persist Security Info=False;" +
    "Initial Catalog=Northwind;Data Source=localhost";

private DataTable Populate(string sqlCommand)
{
    SqlConnection northwindConnection = new SqlConnection(connectionString);
    northwindConnection.Open();

    SqlCommand command = new SqlCommand(sqlCommand, northwindConnection);
    SqlDataAdapter adapter = new SqlDataAdapter();
    adapter.SelectCommand = command;

    DataTable table = new DataTable();
    table.Locale = System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture;
    adapter.Fill(table);

    return table;
}

// Using an enum provides some abstraction between column index
// and column name along with compile time checking, and gives
// a handy place to store the column names.
enum ColumnName
{
    EmployeeId,
    LastName,
    FirstName,
    Title,
    TitleOfCourtesy,
    BirthDate,
    HireDate,
    Address,
    City,
    Region,
    PostalCode,
    Country,
    HomePhone,
    Extension,
    Photo,
    Notes,
    ReportsTo,
    PhotoPath,
    OutOfOffice
};

Private Function CreateComboBoxColumn() _
    As DataGridViewComboBoxColumn
    Dim column As New DataGridViewComboBoxColumn()

    With column
        .DataPropertyName = ColumnName.TitleOfCourtesy.ToString()
        .HeaderText = ColumnName.TitleOfCourtesy.ToString()
        .DropDownWidth = 160
        .Width = 90
        .MaxDropDownItems = 3
        .FlatStyle = FlatStyle.Flat
    End With
    Return column
End Function

Private Sub SetAlternateChoicesUsingDataSource( _
    ByVal comboboxColumn As DataGridViewComboBoxColumn)
    With comboboxColumn
        .DataSource = RetrieveAlternativeTitles()
        .ValueMember = ColumnName.TitleOfCourtesy.ToString()
        .DisplayMember = .ValueMember
    End With
End Sub

Private Function RetrieveAlternativeTitles() As DataTable
    Return Populate( _
        "SELECT distinct TitleOfCourtesy FROM Employees")
End Function

Private connectionString As String = _
        "Integrated Security=SSPI;Persist Security Info=False;" _
        & "Initial Catalog=Northwind;Data Source=localhost"

Private Function Populate(ByVal sqlCommand As String) As DataTable
    Dim northwindConnection As New SqlConnection(connectionString)
    northwindConnection.Open()

    Dim command As New SqlCommand(sqlCommand, _
        northwindConnection)
    Dim adapter As New SqlDataAdapter()
    adapter.SelectCommand = command
    Dim table As New DataTable()
    table.Locale = System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture
    adapter.Fill(table)

    Return table
End Function

' Using an enum provides some abstraction between column index
' and column name along with compile time checking, and gives
' a handy place to store the column names.
Enum ColumnName
    EmployeeId
    LastName
    FirstName
    Title
    TitleOfCourtesy
    BirthDate
    HireDate
    Address
    City
    Region
    PostalCode
    Country
    HomePhone
    Extension
    Photo
    Notes
    ReportsTo
    PhotoPath
    OutOfOffice
End Enum

Remarks

ValueMember represents the corresponding value of a selection. In contrast, the DisplayMember property represents the text information displayed in the drop-down list.

The DataSource property specifies the data source for the value of the selections displayed in the drop-down list.

If the data for the selections displayed by the DataGridViewComboBoxCell is supposed to be drawn from a nondefault property or column of the DataSource, then ValueMember must be set in addition to DataSource.

When DataSource is set to a string array, ValueMember does not need to be set because each string in the array will be used as a valid display string and a valid underlying value.

Another way of loading combo box selections is to use the Items property. ValueMember must contain the property name from which to gather the selections.

See also

• DataGridView
• Value
• DataSource