syncfusion-wpf-excel-like-grid

Implementing Syncfusion WPF GridControl

The Syncfusion WPF GridControl is a high-performance, cell-oriented grid that functions as a flexible tabular display engine. It makes no assumptions about data structure, supports virtual (on-demand) data loading via QueryCellInfo, and provides Excel-like behaviors including formulas, import/export, clipboard operations, covered cells, and 20+ built-in cell types.

When to Use This Skill

• Adding a GridControl to a WPF application (XAML or code-behind)
• Populating cells via direct assignment or the virtual QueryCellInfo event
• Configuring cell types (CheckBox, ComboBox, DateTimeEdit, FormulaCell, etc.)
• Customizing cell appearance (background, font, borders, data formats)
• Managing rows and columns (insert, remove, move, freeze, hide)
• Clipboard, undo/redo, and editing behavior
• Interactive features: drag-drop columns, cell drag-drop, resizing
• Formula cell support and the built-in formula library
• Exporting grid data to Excel; importing Excel workbooks into the grid
• Selection modes, events, and virtual mode patterns
• Performance tuning, virtualization, covered ranges, zooming
• Advanced features: comments, tooltips, printing, serialization, autofit

Documentation and Navigation Guide

Getting Started

📄 Read: references/getting-started.md

• Required assembly references
• Adding GridControl via designer or programmatically
• Setting RowCount and ColumnCount
• Populating data by loop vs. QueryCellInfo virtual event
• Minimal working example

Cell Types

📄 Read: references/cell-types.md

• 20+ built-in cell types: Header, Static, CheckBox, Button, Image, ComboBox, DropDownList, DateTimeEdit, IntegerEdit, DoubleEdit, CurrencyEdit, PercentEdit, MaskEdit, UpDownEdit, RichText, DataBoundTemplate, NestedGrid (ScrollGrid)
• Setting Style.CellType on individual cells or ranges
• ComboBox with ChoiceList vs. ItemsSource
• Custom cell types (CellModel + CellRenderer pattern)

Appearance and Styling

📄 Read: references/appearance-and-styling.md

• GridStyleInfo class and style inheritance hierarchy
• Volatile vs. render cell styles
• Base styles (BaseStylesMap), TableStyle, RowStyles, ColumnStyles
• Background (solid/gradient), Foreground, Font, text orientation, borders
• Numeric and DateTime format strings; FormatProvider interface

Managing Rows and Columns

📄 Read: references/managing-rows-and-columns.md

• Setting row/column counts and default sizes
• Hiding and unhiding rows/columns (SetHidden)
• Freezing rows/columns; footer and header rows/columns
• Inserting, moving, and removing rows/columns at runtime
• Resize behavior and disabling resize controllers

Editing, Clipboard, and Undo/Redo

📄 Read: references/editing-clipboard-undo.md

• CopyPasteOption flags (CopyText, CopyCellData, PasteCell, CutCell, XmlCopyPaste)
• TextDataExchange for custom delimiters and buffer-based operations
• Clipboard events and IGridCopyPaste custom implementation
• CommandStack: Undo/Redo, BeginTrans, CommitTrans, Rollback
• Creating derived commands for extended undo/redo

Interactive Features

📄 Read: references/interactive-features.md

• Column drag-drop (AllowDragColumns)
• Excel-like cell drag-drop (AllowDragDrop, DataObjectConsumerOptions)
• Runtime row/column resizing and disabling resize controllers
• Hide/unhide rows and columns visually (HiddenBorderBrush, SetHidden)

Formula Cells

📄 Read: references/formula-cells.md

• Enabling FormulaCell type for individual cells or the entire grid
• Built-in formula library (150+ functions: Sum, Avg, Sqrt, Pow, Cos, Sin, etc.)
• Arithmetic operators and calculation precedence
• Cross-cell references (A1 notation), named ranges
• Adding custom formula functions to the library

Excel Import and Export

📄 Read: references/excel-import-export.md

• Required assemblies (Syncfusion.XlsIO, Syncfusion.GridConverter.Wpf)
• Exporting entire or selected grid content to .xls / .xlsx
• Importing Excel workbooks: styles, formulas, conditional formatting, freeze panes, hyperlinks, comments
• Virtualized import for large workbooks

Selection and Events

📄 Read: references/selection-and-events.md

• Selection modes: cell, row, column (AllowSelection flags)
• QueryCellInfo event pattern for virtual data loading
• PrepareRenderCell for view-specific overrides
• Common grid events: CommitCellInfo, CurrentCellActivated, clipboard events, RowsInserted, ColumnsMoved, ResizingRows, etc.
• Working with GridRangeInfo and SelectedRanges

Performance and Virtualization

📄 Read: references/performance-virtualization.md

• Virtual mode fundamentals and QueryCellInfo best practices
• Covered ranges (CoveredCells) and floating cells
• Zooming the grid
• High-frequency update patterns

Advanced Features

📄 Read: references/advanced-features.md

• Cell comments, input-message tips, and tooltips
• Cell layout customization (covered cells, merged ranges, autofit)
• Printing grid content
• Serialization: saving and loading grid state
• Autofit rows and columns to content

Quick Start Example

   1. Add assemblies: 
      Syncfusion.Grid.Wpf
      Syncfusion.GridCommon.Wpf,
      Syncfusion.Linq.Base, 
      Syncfusion.Shared.Wpf

  // 2. XAML — place GridControl inside a ScrollViewer
<ScrollViewer>
     <syncfusion:GridControl x:Name="gridControl" />
</ScrollViewer>

// 3. Code-behind: set size and populate
gridControl.Model.RowCount = 100;
gridControl.Model.ColumnCount = 10;

// Option A — direct assignment
for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++)
    for (int j = 0; j < 10; j++)
        gridControl.Model[i, j].CellValue = $"{i}/{j}";

// Option B — virtual mode (preferred for large data)
gridControl.QueryCellInfo += (s, e) =>
{
    if (e.Cell.RowIndex > 0 && e.Cell.ColumnIndex > 0)
        e.Style.CellValue = $"{e.Cell.RowIndex}/{e.Cell.ColumnIndex}";
};

Common Patterns

Apply a Cell Type to a Range

// Set an entire column to CheckBox
for (int i = 1; i <= gridControl.Model.RowCount; i++)
    gridControl.Model[i, 3].CellType = "CheckBox";

Alternate Row Colors via PrepareRenderCell

gridControl.PrepareRenderCell += (s, e) =>
{
    if (e.Cell.RowIndex > 0 && e.Cell.RowIndex % 2 == 0)
        e.Style.Background = Brushes.LightSkyBlue;
};

Freeze Header and Enable Formula Cells

gridControl.Model.FrozenRows = 1;
gridControl.Model.HeaderRows = 1;
gridControl.BaseStylesMap["Standard"].StyleInfo.CellType = "FormulaCell";

Export to Excel

gridControl.Model.ExportToExcel(@"Output.xlsx", ExcelVersion.Excel2007);

Key Style Properties

Property	Purpose
Model[r, c].CellType	Sets built-in or custom cell type string
Model[r, c].CellValue	Data value stored in the cell
Model[r, c].Background	Cell background brush
Model[r, c].Foreground	Cell text color
Model[r, c].Font.FontSize	Cell font size
Model[r, c].Borders	Individual border pens (Top/Bottom/Left/Right)
Model[r, c].Format	Format string (e.g., "C", "0.00", "d")
Model.RowHeights[r]	Row height in device-independent units
Model.ColumnWidths[c]	Column width
Model.FrozenRows	Number of rows frozen at top
Model.FrozenColumns	Number of columns frozen at left