programmatically add column & rows to WPF Datagrid

Question

I'm new to WPF. I just want to know how should we add columns and rows programmatically to a DataGrid in WPF. The way we used to do it in windows forms. create table columns and rows, and bind it to DataGrid.

I believe WPF DataGrid is bit different the one used in ASP.net and Windows form (correct me if I am wrong).

I have No. of rows and columns which I need to draw in DataGrid so that user can edit the data in the cells.

Answer 1

I found a solution that adds columns at runtime, and binds to a DataTable.

• How do I bind a WPF DataGrid to a variable number of columns?

Unfortunately, with 47 columns defined this way, it doesn't bind to the data fast enough for me. Any suggestions?

xaml

<DataGrid
  Name="dataGrid"
  AutoGenerateColumns="False"
  ItemsSource="{Binding}">
</DataGrid>

xaml.cs using System.Windows.Data;

if (table != null) // table is a DataTable
{
  foreach (DataColumn col in table.Columns)
  {
    dataGrid.Columns.Add(
      new DataGridTextColumn
      {
        Header = col.ColumnName,
        Binding = new Binding(string.Format("[{0}]", col.ColumnName))
      });
  }

  dataGrid.DataContext = table;
}

Answer 2

If you already have the databinding in place John Myczek answer is complete.
If not you have at least 2 options I know of if you want to specify the source of your data. (However I am not sure whether or not this is in line with most guidelines, like MVVM)

option 1: like JohnB said. But I think you should use your own defined collection instead of a weakly typed DataTable (no offense, but you can't tell from the code what each column represents)

xaml.cs

DataContext = myCollection;

//myCollection is a `ICollection<YourType>` preferably
`ObservableCollection<YourType>

 - option 2) Declare the name of the Datagrid in xaml

        <WpfToolkit:DataGrid Name=dataGrid}>

in xaml.cs

CollectionView myCollectionView = 
      (CollectionView)CollectionViewSource.GetDefaultView(yourCollection);
dataGrid.ItemsSource = myCollectionView;

If your type has a property FirstName defined, you can then do what John Myczek pointed out.

DataGridTextColumn textColumn = new DataGridTextColumn(); 
dataColumn.Header = "First Name"; 
dataColumn.Binding = new Binding("FirstName"); 
dataGrid.Columns.Add(textColumn); 

This obviously doesn't work if you don't know properties you will need to show in your dataGrid, but if that is the case you will have more problems to deal with, and I believe that's out of scope here.