How to show Enum type members in a DataGridViewComboBox?

Question

What else I have to do in order to show ReadAccess enum members in this DatagridViewComboBox?

ReadDataGridViewComboBoxColumn.Items.Clear();
ReadDa         


        

Answer 1

This is a problem i've come across many times. The DataGridViewComboBoxColumn doesn't know how to reconcile the difference between the enum's string representation and its integral value. Even though you set ValueType to the type of the enum, the DataGridView will try to set the cell's value to the underlying int value - this is why a FormatException will be raised during databinding.

The only way i've found to overcome this problem (short of subclassing the cell type) is to bind the DataGridViewComboBoxColumn to a data source which separates the string values from the integer values. You can use an anonymous type for this purpose:

ReadDataGridViewComboBoxColumn.ValueType = typeof(ReadAccess);
ReadDataGridViewComboBoxColumn.ValueMember = "Value";
ReadDataGridViewComboBoxColumn.DisplayMember = "Display";
ReadDataGridViewComboBoxColumn.DataSource = new ReadAccess[]
    { ReadAccess.None, ReadAccess.Allowed }
    .Select(value => new { Display=value.ToString(), Value=(int)value })
    .ToList();

This way, the DataGridView knows how to relate the cell value with its formatted value.

Answer 2

You should not convert enum value to the int. Use this code if you have an error like "invalid value":

ReadDataGridViewComboBoxColumn.DataSource = new ReadAccess[]
{ ReadAccess.None, ReadAccess.Allowed }
.Select(value => new { Display=value.ToString(), Value=value })
.ToList();

Answer 3

Adding to the answer Bradly Smith provided: One can get all Enum values (instead of naming each individually) easily using this code:

    ReadDataGridViewComboBoxColumn.DataSource =
        new List<ReadAccess>((ReadAccess[]) Enum.GetValues(typeof(ReadAccess)))
        .Select(value => new { Display=value.ToString(), Value=(int)value })
        .ToList();

Answer 4

An Improvement to accepted answer: There is no need to type enum members as array manually. Instead you can use System.Enum.GetValues(typeof(ReadAccess)). Also, instead of anonymous type list, you can use a List from Dictionary (Dictionary isn't accepted as datasource):

ReadDataGridViewComboBoxColumn.DataSource= System.Enum.GetValues(typeof(ReadAccess))
  .Cast<Enum>.ToDictionary<string, Enum>((e) => e.ToString(), (e) =>  e).ToList;

or directly a KeyValuePair list :

ReadDataGridViewComboBoxColumn.DataSource = System.Enum.GetValues(typeof(ReadAccess))
  .Cast<Enum>.Select((value) => new KeyValuePair<string, enum>(value.ToString(), (value)));

Still necessary (but DisplayMember now is "Key") :

 ReadDataGridViewComboBoxColumn.ValueType = typeof(ReadAccess);
 ReadDataGridViewComboBoxColumn.ValueMember = "Value";
 ReadDataGridViewComboBoxColumn.DisplayMember = "Key";