Adding Properties to a Custom Column

You may want to add properties to a column in order to set a specific behavior. Continuing with the hyperlink column created in the previous topics, in this topic you'll add a property called TargetName. This property allows the user to specify the name of the target window or frame where the page will open.

Complete the following steps:
Add the following code to create the TargetName property:

Visual Basic	Copy Code
Private _TargetName As String Public Property TargetName() As String Get Return _TargetName End Get Set(ByVal value As String) _TargetName = value End Set End Property

C#	Copy Code
public string TargetName { get; set; }

2. Once the property is created you'll propagate this to the hyperlink in the BindCellContent method:

Visual Basic	Copy Code
Public Overloads Overrides Sub BindCellContent(ByVal cellContent As FrameworkElement, ByVal row As DataGridRow) Dim hyperlink = DirectCast(cellContent, HyperlinkButton) If Binding IsNot Nothing Then Dim newBinding As Binding = CopyBinding(Binding) newBinding.Source = row.DataItem hyperlink.SetBinding(HyperlinkButton.NavigateUriProperty, newBinding) End If hyperlink.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment hyperlink.VerticalAlignment = VerticalAlignment hyperlink.TargetName = TargetName End Sub

Visual Basic

Copy Code

Public Overloads Overrides Sub BindCellContent(ByVal cellContent As FrameworkElement, ByVal row As DataGridRow)
    Dim hyperlink = DirectCast(cellContent, HyperlinkButton)
    If Binding IsNot Nothing Then
        Dim newBinding As Binding = CopyBinding(Binding)
        newBinding.Source = row.DataItem
        hyperlink.SetBinding(HyperlinkButton.NavigateUriProperty, newBinding)
    End If
    hyperlink.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment
    hyperlink.VerticalAlignment = VerticalAlignment
    hyperlink.TargetName = TargetName
End Sub

C#	Copy Code
public override void BindCellContent(FrameworkElement cellContent, DataGridRow row) { var hyperlink = (HyperlinkButton)cellContent; if (Binding != null) { Binding newBinding = CopyBinding(Binding); newBinding.Source = row.DataItem; hyperlink.SetBinding(HyperlinkButton.NavigateUriProperty, newBinding); } hyperlink.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment; hyperlink.VerticalAlignment = VerticalAlignment; hyperlink.TargetName = TargetName; }

Copy Code

public override void BindCellContent(FrameworkElement cellContent, DataGridRow row)
{
    var hyperlink = (HyperlinkButton)cellContent;
    if (Binding != null)
    {
        Binding newBinding = CopyBinding(Binding);
        newBinding.Source = row.DataItem;
        hyperlink.SetBinding(HyperlinkButton.NavigateUriProperty, newBinding);
    }
    hyperlink.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment;
    hyperlink.VerticalAlignment = VerticalAlignment;
    hyperlink.TargetName = TargetName;
}

Tips

You may find the following tips helpful when adding properties to a custom column:

Provide a constructor that takes PropertyInfo as parameter calling base(property) in order to automatically set the Binding, SortMemberPath, FilterMemberPath and Header properties as well as properties set using custom attributes. Currently supported attributes include: DisplayAttribute (AutoGenerateFilter, Name, GroupName, Order), DisplayFormatAttribute, and EditableAttribute.

C#	Copy Code
public DataGridHyperlinkColumn(PropertyInfo property) : base(property)

You can set a converter in the binding to help you to manage scenarios where you need to use a column bound to property source that is not the same type. Suppose you want to bind a numeric column against a string property, this scenario will work correctly if you set a converter type which converts the string to a double.