add custom DataGridViewColumn with label and button per cell

Question

I want to add a custom DataGridViewColumn to my DataGridView. This column should create the following cell per row

At first I created

Answer 1

There are 3 main pillars for a new column type:

• DataGridViewColumn is responsible for properties which you set in design mode in column editor of the control.
• DataGridViewCell is responsible for appearance of the cell. It renders the value and other painting parts in cell and initialize the editing control (if the column has any editing control).
• DataGridViewEditingControl is responsible for editing the value of the cell.

When creating a new column you can derive from DataGridViewColumn or one of its derived classes. Also when creating a new cell for the column, you can derive from DataGridViewCell or one of its derived classes. Also when creating a new editing control, you can derive from one of the existing editing controls, or you can start by deriving from a control class and implementing IDataGridViewEditingControl interface.

Keep in mind, the editing control will be shown just in the editing cell. Rest of cells show what you render in the paint method of the cell.

Example

Here in this post, I've shared an example of drawing a custom cell containing a label and a button. I've not created an editing control because for this example, we can derive from DataGridViewButtonColumn and DataGridViewButtonCell without needing to create an editing control. We just add some properties to column and change paint logic and override OnContentClick to show the context menu, like this:

The custom column has LabelText and ButtonText properties. When you click on the button part, it shows the ContextMenuStrip which you assigned to corresponding property.

Note: This is just an example and depending on the requirements, you may want to change properties, rendering logic and the way that you show menu or anything else. But I think it's a good start point.

Here is the code:

using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;
public class DataGridViewAllocationControlColumn : DataGridViewButtonColumn
{
    public DataGridViewAllocationControlColumn()
    {
        this.CellTemplate = new DataGridViewAllocationControlCell();
    }
    public string LabelText { get; set; }
    public string ButtonText { get; set; }
    public override object Clone()
    {
        var c = (DataGridViewAllocationControlColumn)base.Clone();
        c.LabelText = this.LabelText;
        c.ButtonText = this.ButtonText;
        return c;
    }
}
public class DataGridViewAllocationControlCell : DataGridViewButtonCell
{
    protected override void Paint(Graphics graphics, Rectangle clipBounds,
        Rectangle cellBounds, int rowIndex, 
        DataGridViewElementStates elementState,
        object value, object formattedValue, string errorText,
        DataGridViewCellStyle cellStyle,
        DataGridViewAdvancedBorderStyle advancedBorderStyle,
        DataGridViewPaintParts paintParts)
    {
        var g = this.DataGridView;
        var c = (DataGridViewAllocationControlColumn)this.OwningColumn;
        base.Paint(graphics, clipBounds, cellBounds, rowIndex, elementState,
            value, formattedValue, errorText, cellStyle, advancedBorderStyle,
            DataGridViewPaintParts.All &
            ~DataGridViewPaintParts.ContentBackground &
            ~DataGridViewPaintParts.ContentForeground);
        var r1 = g.GetCellDisplayRectangle(c.Index, rowIndex, false);
        var r2 = GetContentBounds(rowIndex);
        var r3 = new Rectangle(r1.Location, new Size(GetLabelWidth(), r1.Height));
        r2.Offset(r1.Location);
        base.Paint(graphics, clipBounds, r2, rowIndex, elementState,
            value, c.ButtonText, errorText, cellStyle, advancedBorderStyle,
            DataGridViewPaintParts.All);
        TextRenderer.DrawText(graphics, c.LabelText, cellStyle.Font,
            r3, cellStyle.ForeColor);
    }
    protected override Rectangle GetContentBounds(Graphics graphics, 
        DataGridViewCellStyle cellStyle, int rowIndex)
    {
        var w = GetLabelWidth();
        var r = base.GetContentBounds(graphics, cellStyle, rowIndex);
        return new Rectangle(r.Left + w, r.Top, r.Width - w, r.Height);
    }
    protected override void OnContentClick(DataGridViewCellEventArgs e)
    {
        base.OnContentClick(e);
        var g = this.DataGridView;
        var c = (DataGridViewAllocationControlColumn)this.OwningColumn;
        var r1 = GetContentBounds(e.RowIndex);
        var r2 = g.GetCellDisplayRectangle(e.ColumnIndex, e.RowIndex, false);
        var p = new Point(r2.Left + r1.Left, r2.Top + r1.Bottom);
        if (c.ContextMenuStrip != null)
            c.ContextMenuStrip.Show(g, p);
    }
    private int GetLabelWidth()
    {
        var c = (DataGridViewAllocationControlColumn)this.OwningColumn;
        var text = c.LabelText;
        return TextRenderer.MeasureText(text, c.DefaultCellStyle.Font).Width;
    }
}

Answer 2

I took this code and modified it to something a bit more dynamic this was a great start for me to build off of and I really appreciate this. I wanted to be able to select a folder with the button and open the folder by clicking the link.

using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms.VisualStyles;
using System.IO;

namespace Project
{

public class LinkButtonColumn : DataGridViewButtonColumn
{
    private EventHandler<DataGridViewCellMouseEventArgs> buttonClickHandler;
    private EventHandler<DataGridViewCellMouseEventArgs> linkClickHandler;
    public LinkButtonColumn()
    {
        this.CellTemplate = new DataGridViewLinkButtonCell();
    }

    public override DataGridViewCell CellTemplate
    {
        get
        {
            return base.CellTemplate;
        }
        set
        {
            base.CellTemplate = value;
            DataGridViewLinkButtonCell cell = CellTemplate as DataGridViewLinkButtonCell;
            if (cell != null)
                cell.ButtonClickHandler = ButtonClickHandler;
            cell.LinkClickHandler = LinkClickHandler;
            

        }
    }

    public EventHandler<DataGridViewCellMouseEventArgs> LinkClickHandler
    {
        get
        {
            return linkClickHandler;
        }
        set
        {
            DataGridViewLinkButtonCell cell = CellTemplate as DataGridViewLinkButtonCell;
            if (cell != null)
            {
                if (value != null)
                    cell.LinkClickHandler += value;
                else if (linkClickHandler != null)
                    cell.LinkClickHandler -= linkClickHandler;
            }
            linkClickHandler = value;
        }
    }

    public EventHandler<DataGridViewCellMouseEventArgs> ButtonClickHandler
    {
        get
        {
            return buttonClickHandler;
        }
        set
        {
            DataGridViewLinkButtonCell cell = CellTemplate as DataGridViewLinkButtonCell;
            if (cell != null)
            {
                if (value != null)
                    cell.ButtonClickHandler += value;
                else if (buttonClickHandler != null)
                    cell.ButtonClickHandler -= buttonClickHandler;
            }
            buttonClickHandler = value;
        }
    }

}
internal sealed class DataGridViewLinkButtonColumn : DataGridViewColumn
{
    private EventHandler<DataGridViewCellMouseEventArgs> buttonClickHandler;
    private EventHandler<DataGridViewCellMouseEventArgs> linkClickHandler;
    public string LabelText { get; set; }
    public string ButtonText { get; set; }
    public override object Clone()
    {
        var c = (DataGridViewLinkButtonColumn)base.Clone();
        c.LabelText = this.LabelText;
        c.ButtonText = this.ButtonText;
        return c;
    }
    public DataGridViewLinkButtonColumn() : base(new DataGridViewLinkButtonCell())
    {
    }

    public EventHandler<DataGridViewCellMouseEventArgs> LinkClickHandler
    {
        get
        {
            return linkClickHandler;
        }
        set
        {
            DataGridViewLinkButtonCell cell = CellTemplate as DataGridViewLinkButtonCell;
            if (cell != null)
            {
                if (value != null)
                    cell.LinkClickHandler += value;
                else if (linkClickHandler != null)
                    cell.LinkClickHandler -= linkClickHandler;
            }
            linkClickHandler = value;
        }
    }

    public EventHandler<DataGridViewCellMouseEventArgs> ButtonClickHandler
    {
        get
        {
            return buttonClickHandler;
        }
        set
        {
            DataGridViewLinkButtonCell cell = CellTemplate as DataGridViewLinkButtonCell;
            if (cell != null)
            {
                if (value != null)
                    cell.ButtonClickHandler += value;
                else if (buttonClickHandler != null)
                    cell.ButtonClickHandler -= buttonClickHandler;
            }
            buttonClickHandler = value;
        }
    }
}

public class DataGridViewLinkButtonCell : DataGridViewButtonCell
{
    private Rectangle clickRectangleValue = new Rectangle();
    private string buttonPosion = "Middle";
    public EventHandler<DataGridViewCellMouseEventArgs> ButtonClickHandler { get; set; }
    public EventHandler<DataGridViewCellMouseEventArgs> LinkClickHandler { get; set; }

    public Rectangle ClickRectangle
    {
        get
        {
            Rectangle newRect = new Rectangle();
            switch (buttonPosion)
            {
                case "Bottom":
                    newRect = new Rectangle(clickRectangleValue.X + clickRectangleValue.Width - 20, clickRectangleValue.Y + (clickRectangleValue.Height - 20), 20, 20);
                    break;
                case "Middle":
                    newRect = new Rectangle(clickRectangleValue.X + clickRectangleValue.Width - 20, clickRectangleValue.Y + ((clickRectangleValue.Height - 20) / 2), 20, 20);
                    break;
                case "Top":
                    newRect = new Rectangle(clickRectangleValue.X + clickRectangleValue.Width - 20, clickRectangleValue.Y, 20, 20);                        
                    break;
            }
            

            return newRect;
        }
    }

    public override object Clone()
    {
        DataGridViewLinkButtonCell cell = base.Clone() as DataGridViewLinkButtonCell;
        if (cell != null)
        {
            cell.ButtonClickHandler = ButtonClickHandler;
            cell.LinkClickHandler = LinkClickHandler;
        }
        return cell;
    }

    protected override void Paint(Graphics graphics, Rectangle clipBounds,
        Rectangle cellBounds, int rowIndex,
        DataGridViewElementStates elementState,
        object value, object formattedValue, string errorText,
        DataGridViewCellStyle cellStyle,
        DataGridViewAdvancedBorderStyle advancedBorderStyle,
        DataGridViewPaintParts paintParts)
    {
        var g = this.DataGridView;
        var c = (DataGridViewLinkButtonColumn)this.OwningColumn;
        base.Paint(graphics, clipBounds, cellBounds, rowIndex, elementState,
            value, formattedValue, errorText, cellStyle, advancedBorderStyle,
            DataGridViewPaintParts.All &
            ~DataGridViewPaintParts.ContentBackground &
            ~DataGridViewPaintParts.ContentForeground);
        var r1 = g.GetCellDisplayRectangle(c.Index, rowIndex, false);
        

        
        Color forecolor = Color.Black;
        TextFormatFlags horizontal = TextFormatFlags.HorizontalCenter;
        TextFormatFlags vertical = TextFormatFlags.VerticalCenter;
        switch (cellStyle.Alignment)
        {
            case DataGridViewContentAlignment.BottomCenter:
                horizontal = TextFormatFlags.HorizontalCenter;
                vertical = TextFormatFlags.Bottom;
                break;
            case DataGridViewContentAlignment.BottomLeft:
                horizontal = TextFormatFlags.Left;
                vertical = TextFormatFlags.Bottom;
                break;
            case DataGridViewContentAlignment.BottomRight:
                horizontal = TextFormatFlags.Right;
                vertical = TextFormatFlags.Bottom;
                break;
            case DataGridViewContentAlignment.MiddleCenter:
                horizontal = TextFormatFlags.HorizontalCenter;
                vertical = TextFormatFlags.VerticalCenter;
                break;
            case DataGridViewContentAlignment.MiddleLeft:
                horizontal = TextFormatFlags.Left;
                vertical = TextFormatFlags.VerticalCenter;
                break;
            case DataGridViewContentAlignment.MiddleRight:
                horizontal = TextFormatFlags.Right;
                vertical = TextFormatFlags.VerticalCenter;
                break;
            case DataGridViewContentAlignment.TopCenter:
                horizontal = TextFormatFlags.HorizontalCenter;
                vertical = TextFormatFlags.Top;
                break;
            case DataGridViewContentAlignment.TopLeft:
                horizontal = TextFormatFlags.Left;
                vertical = TextFormatFlags.Top;
                break;
            case DataGridViewContentAlignment.TopRight:
                horizontal = TextFormatFlags.Right;
                vertical = TextFormatFlags.Top;
                break;
        }


        if (g.Rows[rowIndex].Cells[c.Index].Selected)
        {
            if (value != null)
            {
                if (Directory.Exists(value.ToString()) || File.Exists(value.ToString()))
                {
                    forecolor = Color.Red;
                    TextRenderer.DrawText(graphics, value.ToString(), new Font(cellStyle.Font, FontStyle.Underline),
                  r1, forecolor, Color.Empty,
                  horizontal |
                  vertical |
                  TextFormatFlags.TextBoxControl |
                  TextFormatFlags.WordBreak |
                  TextFormatFlags.EndEllipsis);
                }
                else
                {
                    forecolor = Color.Blue;
                    TextRenderer.DrawText(graphics, value.ToString(), new Font(cellStyle.Font, FontStyle.Regular),
                  r1, Color.White, Color.Empty,
                  horizontal |
                  vertical |
                  TextFormatFlags.TextBoxControl |
                  TextFormatFlags.WordBreak |
                  TextFormatFlags.EndEllipsis);
                }
            }
        }
        else
        {
            if (value != null)
            {
                if (Directory.Exists(value.ToString()) || File.Exists(value.ToString()))
                {
                    forecolor = Color.Blue;
                    TextRenderer.DrawText(graphics, value.ToString(), new Font(cellStyle.Font, FontStyle.Underline),
                  r1, forecolor, Color.Empty,
                  horizontal |
                  vertical |
                  TextFormatFlags.TextBoxControl |
                  TextFormatFlags.WordBreak |
                  TextFormatFlags.EndEllipsis);
                }
                else
                {
                    forecolor = Color.Blue;
                    TextRenderer.DrawText(graphics, value.ToString(), new Font(cellStyle.Font, FontStyle.Regular),
                  r1, Color.Black, Color.Empty, 
                  horizontal |
                  vertical |
                  TextFormatFlags.TextBoxControl |
                  TextFormatFlags.WordBreak |
                  TextFormatFlags.EndEllipsis);
                }
            }
        }

        

        Point cursorPosition = this.DataGridView.PointToClient(Cursor.Position);

        
        if (cellBounds.Contains(cursorPosition))
        {
            clickRectangleValue = cellBounds;
            Rectangle newRect = new Rectangle(cellBounds.X + 1,
                cellBounds.Y + 1, cellBounds.Width - 4,
                cellBounds.Height - 4);
            DataGridViewCellStyle style = cellStyle;
            style.Alignment = DataGridViewContentAlignment.MiddleCenter;
            base.Paint(graphics, clipBounds, ClickRectangle, rowIndex, elementState,
            value, c.ButtonText, errorText, style, advancedBorderStyle,
            DataGridViewPaintParts.All);
        }
        
    }
    protected override Rectangle GetContentBounds(Graphics graphics,
        DataGridViewCellStyle cellStyle, int rowIndex)
    {
        
        var r = base.GetContentBounds(graphics, cellStyle, rowIndex);
        switch (cellStyle.Alignment)
        {
            case DataGridViewContentAlignment.BottomCenter:
                buttonPosion = "Bottom";
                break;
            case DataGridViewContentAlignment.BottomLeft:
                buttonPosion = "Bottom";
                break;
            case DataGridViewContentAlignment.BottomRight:
                buttonPosion = "Bottom";
                break;
            case DataGridViewContentAlignment.MiddleCenter:
                buttonPosion = "Middle";
                break;
            case DataGridViewContentAlignment.MiddleLeft:
                buttonPosion = "Middle";
                break;
            case DataGridViewContentAlignment.MiddleRight:
                buttonPosion = "Middle";
                break;
            case DataGridViewContentAlignment.TopCenter:
                buttonPosion = "Top";
                break;
            case DataGridViewContentAlignment.TopLeft:
                buttonPosion = "Top";
                break;
            case DataGridViewContentAlignment.TopRight:
                buttonPosion = "Top";
                break;
        }
        clickRectangleValue = r;
        
        return new Rectangle(ClickRectangle.X, ClickRectangle.Y, ClickRectangle.Width, ClickRectangle.Height);
    }
        

    protected override void OnMouseClick(DataGridViewCellMouseEventArgs e)
    {
        int x = e.X;
        int y = e.Y;

        Point cursorPosition = this.DataGridView.PointToClient(Cursor.Position);

        var g = this.DataGridView;
        var r1 = GetContentBounds(e.RowIndex);
        var r2 = g.GetCellDisplayRectangle(e.ColumnIndex, e.RowIndex, false);
        r1.X = r1.X + r2.X;
        r1.Y = r1.Y + r2.Y;
        if (r1.Contains(cursorPosition))
        {                
            if (ButtonClickHandler != null)
            {
                this.ButtonClickHandler.Invoke(this,e); 
            }
        }
        else
        {
            if (r2.Contains(cursorPosition))
            {
                if (LinkClickHandler != null)
                {
                    this.LinkClickHandler.Invoke(this, e);
                }
            }
        }
        
    }
    
    protected override void OnMouseEnter(int rowIndex)
    {
        Cursor.Current = Cursors.Hand;
        this.DataGridView.Cursor = Cursor.Current;
        this.DataGridView.InvalidateCell(this);
        
    }
    
    protected override void OnMouseLeave(int rowIndex)
    {
        this.DataGridView.InvalidateCell(this);
        Cursor.Current = Cursors.Default;
        this.DataGridView.Cursor = Cursor.Current;
    }
}
}

Then I pragmatically add the column to the grid.

if (!Addendum_dataGridView.Columns.Contains("Folder_Location"))
    {
    DataGridViewLinkButtonColumn textButtonColumn = new DataGridViewLinkButtonColumn();

    textButtonColumn.ValueType = typeof(string);
    textButtonColumn.HeaderText = "Folder Location";
    textButtonColumn.ButtonText = "...";
    textButtonColumn.DefaultCellStyle.Alignment = DataGridViewContentAlignment.MiddleCenter;
    textButtonColumn.DefaultCellStyle.Padding = new Padding(1, 0, 0, 0);
    textButtonColumn.Width = 100;
    textButtonColumn.Name = "Folder_Location";
    textButtonColumn.DataPropertyName = "Folder_Location";           
    textButtonColumn.LinkClickHandler = (o, e) =>
     {
     if(Addendum_dataGridView.Rows[e.RowIndex].Cells[Addendum_dataGridView.Columns["Folder_Location"].Index].Value != DBNull.Value)
     { 
         if (Directory.Exists(Addendum_dataGridView.Rows[e.RowIndex].Cells[Addendum_dataGridView.Columns["Folder_Location"].Index].Value.ToString()) || File.Exists(Addendum_dataGridView.Rows[e.RowIndex].Cells[Addendum_dataGridView.Columns["Folder_Location"].Index].Value.ToString()))
         {
         Process.Start(Addendum_dataGridView.Rows[e.RowIndex].Cells[Addendum_dataGridView.Columns["Folder_Location"].Index].Value.ToString());
         }
     }
     };
    textButtonColumn.ButtonClickHandler = (o, e) =>
    {
    CommonOpenFileDialog cofd = new CommonOpenFileDialog();
    cofd.IsFolderPicker = true;
    cofd.Multiselect = false;
    cofd.Title = "Select Addendum Folder";
    if (Addendum_dataGridView.Rows[e.RowIndex].Cells[Addendum_dataGridView.Columns["Folder_Location"].Index].Value != DBNull.Value)
    {
        cofd.InitialDirectory = Addendum_dataGridView.Rows[e.RowIndex].Cells[Addendum_dataGridView.Columns["Folder_Location"].Index].Value.ToString();
    }
    else
    {
        cofd.InitialDirectory = Directory.GetParent(Directory.GetParent(SQL_Commands.Get_Data("select top 1 Quote_Location from [Index].[Estimates_Project_info] where Project_ID = " + P_ID).FirstOrDefault()).ToString()).ToString();
    }
    if (cofd.ShowDialog() == CommonFileDialogResult.Ok)
    {
        if (Addendum_dataGridView.Rows[e.RowIndex].IsNewRow)
        {
            int r = Addendum_dataGridView.NewRowIndex;
            DataTable dt = Addendum_dataGridView.DataSource as DataTable;

            DataRow row = dt.NewRow();

            row["Addendum_Number"] = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(cofd.FileName.ToString());
            row["Folder_Location"] = cofd.FileName.ToString();

            dt.Rows.Add(row);
            dt = Addendum_dataGridView.DataSource as DataTable;

            bool blank = true;
            DataGridViewRow dgvr = Addendum_dataGridView.Rows[Addendum_dataGridView.Rows.Count - 2];
            for (int i = 0; i < Addendum_dataGridView.ColumnCount;i++)
            {
                if (dgvr.Cells[i].Value != DBNull.Value)
                {
                    blank = false;
                }
        }

        if (blank)
        {
            Addendum_dataGridView.Rows.RemoveAt(Addendum_dataGridView.Rows.Count - 2);
        }

        insert_Addendum = true;
        Addendum_Data_Update(r);
    }
    else
    {
        Addendum_dataGridView["Folder_Location",e.RowIndex].Value = cofd.FileName.ToString();Addendum_dataGridView.Rows[e.RowIndex].Cells[Addendum_dataGridView.Columns["Folder_Location"].Index].Selected = true;
        Addendum_Data_Update(e.RowIndex);
    }
    }

    };
Addendum_dataGridView.Columns.Insert(Addendum_dataGridView.Columns.Count,textButtonColumn);
}