“Brian Noyes’ writing style easily captures your attention as he elaborates on all aspects of data binding in his book. He has a refreshingly clear and crisp delivery as he starts each chapter with a simple tour of each topic, and then leads you into practical concerns for sound practices and extensibility opportunities. Most importantly, as Brian explains approaches to data-binding architecture, patterns of usage, the value of data sets, binding controls and the rest, he always describes how he reaches his recommendations on the topic. This book is perfect for newcomers to .NET 2.0, but also for those that have some experience. Anyone who cares about data in their applications (okay, that should be almost everyone) is guaranteed to learn something new and useful by reading Brian’s book.” —Michele Leroux Bustamante, IDesign chief architect, Microsoft regional director, and MVP “Brian has saved me a lot of time. I’m writing The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Visual Studio and SQL Server 2005 (7th Edition) and I’m not going to have to cover data binding nearly as deeply because Brian has done it for me. His book gets right to the meat of the subject and makes data binding look easy. I was also pleased to see that the book focuses on the misunderstood and under-applied Windows Forms architecture. It’s a must-read for anyone trying to make their application more interactive and to leverage the new Visual Studio 2005 technology. I’m planning to point my readers to this resource when they need an in-depth treatment of data binding.” —William Vaughn, president, Beta V Corporation “Data binding has finally come of age in Windows applications. Back in the Visual Studio 6.0 days, I ignored data binding completely and wrote my own repetitive code to encapsulate my business logic. With Visual Studio 2005, we finally have a robust and compelling data-binding technology. To ignore it today would make you inefficient and put you behind the curve. Brian delivers a clear and concise discussion of a core topic of development for Windows today. A combination of an easy-to-follow conversational yet technical tone, excellent examples, and solid explanations make this a must-read for any developer writing for Windows or learning to write for Windows.” —Stephen Forte, chief technical officer, Corzen Inc. “This book provides a clear, readable, and in-depth treatment of data binding, with detailed discussions of best practices in the presentation and use of data. Brian communicates his knowledge on the mechanics of data binding to give the low-level understanding that makes all the difference when building sophisticated applications and troubleshooting difficult problems. Effective data binding can enormously reduce the amount of code in your applications and will allow new levels of sophistication in your development. Read this book.” —Jonathan Cogley, chief executive officer, Thycotic, ASPInsider, and C# MVP “The .NET Framework 2.0, Visual Studio .NET 2005, and Windows Forms 2.0 incorporate the most powerful data-binding platform yet, and absolutely need a book like this to expose it. Brian’s extensive data-binding knowledge and experience shine through as he comprehensively explores its many facets, starting with the fundamentals before tackling a wide variety of real-world scenarios. I’ve always thought a data-binding book was necessary, and I’m glad Brian found the time to write his.” —Michael Weinhardt, freelance author and application developer “ Data Binding with Windows Forms 2.0 earns a gold star and a prized place in my development book library. Brian is an exceptional teacher of technology, best practices, and technique. He continues to educate at every presentation I attend; his book carries that quality to paper. I found this book to be highly informative and full of all the important steps and examples necessary to learn this technology. In this book, Brian demonstrates a firm grasp on the concepts and I really enjoy his efforts to promote best practices at every chance. Definitively a cover-to-cover read.” —Randy Hayes, president, Expert Network Solutions, Inc. “Brian’s direct and well-organized presentation makes this much misunderstood topic finally understandable.” —Sahil Malik, author of Pro ADO.NET 2.0 and C# MVP Data binding is the most important part of many business applications—and one of the most difficult things to understand. Data Binding with Windows Forms 2.0 is the first book to focus on this crucial area of development. It will quickly get you up to speed on binding data sources to Windows Forms components. The book contains clear examples in C# that work with SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005. Visual Basic .NET examples are available on the book’s Web site. Brian Noyes, leading consultant and speaker on .NET programming, teaches you both the theory and practice of data binding and provides numerous samples ready to run in Visual Studio 2005. From his in-depth coverage, you’ll learn how to Use Visual Studio 2005 to generate a data-bound application from a database Use the new Visual Studio 2005 typed data set designer, and how and why to use typed data sets and typed data adapters Perform simple and complex binding of data to controls, and how to use the .NET 2.0 BindingSource Use the Binding object for simple binding with automatic formatting, and how to handle binding events Generate bound controls with the Visual Studio Designer, and how to use Data Sources Present data with the new DataGridView control, and how to implement advanced features of the DataGridView Implement custom data-bound controls in Windows Forms Create custom business objects and collections that are suitable for use in data binding Implement validation and error handling at the Windows Forms and data-binding levels Implement data binding with ASP.NET 2.0 and the upcoming Windows Presentation Foundation (Avalon) technologies

Table of Contents:
Foreword xxi Preface xxiii Acknowledgments xxxv About the Author xxxvii Chapter 1: Building Data-Bound Applications with Windows Forms 1 What Is Data Binding? 2 Your First Data-Bound Windows Forms 2.0 Application 3 Data-Binding Landscape 14 Data Sources 15 Data Objects and Collections 16 DataSets or Not, That Is the Question... 18 Data-Bound Controls 20 Layered Application Architecture 21 What Is a Smart Client? 27 Where Are We? 28 Chapter 2: Working with Typed Data Sets and Table Adapters 31 A Quick Review of DataSets 31 The Quest for Type Safety 34 Typed Data Set Internals 37 Creating Typed Data Sets 41 Creating Typed Data Sets with the Data Set Designer 42 Typed Data Set-Generated Code 49 Introduction to Table Adapters 52 Filling and Updating a Typed Data Set with a Table Adapter 56 Connection Management 58 Adding Transaction Support to a Table Adapter 62 Adding Helper Data Access Methods 66 Basing Table Adapters on Stored Procedures or Views 67 Adding Queries to Table Adapters 69 Creating Typed Data Sets with Command Line Tools 77 Using Typed Data Sets in Your Code 78 Where Are We? 79 Chapter 3: Introducing Data Binding in Windows Forms 81 The 40,000-Foot View of Data Binding 81 Binding Data Collections to a Grid 86 Binding Data Collections to Multi-Valued Controls 88 Binding Data to Individual Controls on a Form 90 Data Paths Within Data Sources 92 Synchronizing Data Between Controls 96 Smarter Data Containment 97 Paging Through Data 99 Master-Details Data Binding 104 Updating Data Sources Through Data Binding 106 Where Are We? 108 Chapter 4: Binding Controls to Data Sources 111 Getting to Know the BindingSource Component 111 Simple Data Binding with Binding Sources 112 Chaining Binding Sources for Master-Details Data Binding 116 Navigating Data Through a Binding Source 121 Manipulating Data Through a Binding Source 122 Using a Binding Source as a Data Storage Container 124 Filling a Binding Source with a Data Reader 126 Sorting, Searching, and Filtering Presented Data with a Binding Source 128 Monitoring the Data with Events 131 Restricting Changes to the Data 133 Underneath the Covers of Data Binding for Complex Types 134 Binding an Image Column to a PictureBox Control 141 Binding a DateTime Column to a DateTimePicker 142 Binding a DateTime Column to a TextBox 144 Binding a Numeric Column to a TextBox 145 Automatic Formatting and Parsing Summary 147 Going Beyond Built-In Type Conversion with Binding Events 148 Handling the Format Event 154 Handling the Parse Event 156 Completing the Editing Process 157 Making the User’s Life Easier with AutoComplete 160 Data Binding Lifecycle 162 Smarter Child-Parent Data Binding 163 Binding to Multiple Copies of Data 165 Updating Parent Data-Bound Controls from Child Data-Bound Controls 168 Synchronizing Many-to-Many Related Collections 172 Where Are We? 176 Chapter 5: Generating Bound Controls with the Visual Studio Designer 177 Working with the Data Sources Window 177 Adding Data Sources to a Project 179 Choosing the Type of Data Source 180 Adding a Database Data Source 181 Adding a Web Service Data Source 185 Adding an Object Data Source 186 Generating Bound Controls from Data Sources 189 Selecting the Bound Control Type 196 Customizing the Bound Control Types 196 Binding Existing Controls to Data Sources 199 Behind the Scenes: Designer Code and Data Sources Files 202 Other Designer Data-Binding Code Generation 205 Setting Control Data Binding Through the Properties Window 206 Generating Data Bindings with Smart Tags 210 Generating Master-Details Data-Bound Controls with the Designer 214 Where Are We? 216 Chapter 6: Presenting Data with the DataGridView Control 217 DataGridView Overview 218 Basic Data Binding with the DataGridView 219 Controlling Modifications to Data in the Grid 221 Programmatic DataGridView Construction 222 Custom Column Content with Unbound Columns 226 Displaying Computed Data in Virtual Mode 233 Using the Built-In Column Types 241 Built-In Header Cells 255 Handling Grid Data Edits 256 Automatic Column Sizing 259 Column and Row Freezing 262 Using the Designer to Define Grids 263 Column Reordering 266 Defining Custom Column and Cell Types 269 Utilizing Cell-Oriented Grid Features 277 Formatting with Styles 281 Where Are We? 284 Chapter 7: Understanding Data-Binding Interfaces 285 What Does Data Binding Have to Do with Interfaces? 286 The IEnumerable and IEnumerator Interfaces: Supporting Iteration Through Collections 289 The ICollection Interface: Controlling Access to a Collection 295 The IList Interface: Enabling Data Binding 298 The IListSource Interface: Exposing Collections of Collections 303 Property Descriptors: Allowing Dynamic Data Item Information Discovery 305 The ITypedList Interface: Exposing Data-Binding Properties 307 The IBindingList Interface: Providing Rich Binding Support 310 The IBindingListView Interface: Supporting Advanced Sorting and Filtering 323 The ICancelAddNew Interface: Supporting Transactional Inserts in a Collection 325 The IRaiseItemChangedEvents Interface: Providing Item Modification Notifications on Collections 327 The IEditableObject Interface: Supporting Transactional Item Modifications 328 The INotifyPropertyChanged Interface: Publishing Item Change Notifications 329 The ICustomTypeDescriptor Interface: Exposing Custom Type Information 332 The ISupportInitialize Interface: Supporting Designer Initialization 334 The IDataErrorInfo Interface: Providing Error Information 330 The ISupportInitializeNotification Interface: Supporting Interdependent Component Initialization 337 The ICurrencyManagerProvider Interface: Exposing a Data Container’s CurrencyManager 341 Where Are We? 341 Chapter 8: Implementing Custom Data-Bound Controls 343 Extending Framework Data-Bound Controls 344 Creating a Grouped Column DataGridView 345 Using Custom Controls 350 The User Control Test Container 352 Developing Data-Bound Container Controls 353 Building a Filtered Grid Control 354 Adding Data-Binding Capability to a Custom Control 357 Supporting Designer Initialization of Data Binding 359 Specifying Binding Properties on a Control 360 Supporting Delayed Initialization with ISupportInitialize 362 Dynamically Determining the Properties of a Data Source 367 Autocompleting Input in a TextBox Control 371 Autosizing Columns in the Grid 375 Winding Up the Filtered Grid Example 376 Building a Custom Data-Bound Control from Scratch 379 Building a Data-Bound Charting Control for Decision Support 379 Coding a Data-Bound Custom Control 384 Adding Editing Support to a Custom Data Bound Control 391 Where Are We? 397 Chapter 9: Implementing Custom Data-Bound Business Objects and Collections 399 Defining and Working with Data-Bound Business Objects 400 Defining and Working with Data-Bound Business Object Collections 405 .NET Framework Generic Collection Classes 406 The CustomBusinessObjects Example 408 Setting the Textual Data-Binding Behavior of Custom Objects 415 Supporting Transacted Object Editing with IEditableObject 416 Supporting Object Edit Notifications with Property Change Events 420 Supporting Object Edit Notifications with INotifyPropertyChanged 423 Using BindingList to Create Rich Object Collections 424 Creating a Custom Collection Type Based on BindingList 426 Managing Transacted Additions to a Collection 439 Raising Item Changed Events 441 Adding IBindingListView Functionality 443 Binding to Business Objects Through the Data Sources Window 453 Where Are We? 455 Chapter 10: Validating Data Input and Handling Errors 457 Windows Forms Validation 458 Handling Validation Events 459 DataGridView Validation Events 462 Validation Up the Control Hierarchy 463 Displaying Validation Errors with the ErrorProvider Control 464 DataGridView Error Displays 467 DataGridView DataError Event 468 Controlling Validation Behavior with the AutoValidate Property 471 Validation down the Control Hierarchy 472 Extended Validation Controls 474 Capturing Data Errors on Data Sets 475 Providing Error Information from Custom Objects with IDataErrorInfo 479 Data Concurrency Resolution 483 Where Are We? 484 Appendix A: Binding to Data in ASP.NET 487 ASP.NET Page Processing Basics 489 Data Binding in ASP.NET 1.X 490 Data-Binding Overview in ASP.NET 2.0 498 Data Sources 499 Data-Binding Expressions 508 GridView Control 509 DetailsView Control 512 FormView Control 514 Master-Details Binding 515 Hierarchical Binding 518 Where Are We? 519 Appendix B: Binding Data in WinFx Applications 521 WinFx UI Programming and Capabilities Overview 522 Writing a Simple WinFx Application 525 WinFx Data Binding 101 532 Data Contexts and Data Sources 536 What About XAML? 537 Binding a Collection to a Grid with Templates 541 Control Styling in WinFx 543 Where Are We? 545 Appendix C: Programming Windows Forms Applications 547 Your First Windows Forms Data Application 548 Creating Windows Forms Applications with Visual Studio 554 Windows Forms Designer-Generated Code (New in 2.0) 563 A Brief Tour of the Windows Forms Architecture 567 The Dawn of .NET Execution—The Main Method 570 Handling Control Events 574 Displaying Other Forms 576 Containing Forms Within a Parent Form 577 Common Data Display Controls 578 Creating a Custom User Control 586 Laying Out Controls on a Form 589 Setting Tab Order 596 Command and Control of Your Windows Forms Applications (New in 2.0) 598 Where Are We? 600 Appendix D: Accessing Data with ADO.NET 601 Relational Data Access 603 The Ubiquitous DataSet 607 Loading Data Sets from a File 609 Creating a Data Set Programmatically 611 Loading Data Sets from a Database 613 Loading a DataTable with a DataReader 619 Master-Details DataSets 621 Retrieving Data with Stored Procedures 623 Updating the Database Using Data Sets 624 Handling Concurrency 628 Updating with Data Sets and Stored Procedures 632 Searching Data Sets 637 Merging Data from Multiple Data Sets 639 Working with Data Views 641 Working with Transactions 643 Scoping Transactions with System.Transactions 647 Client-Side Transactions 650 Data Set and Data Adapter Events 651 Reading Data into Business Objects 654 XML Data Access 658 Working with the XmlDataDocument Class 659 Working with the XPathDocument Class 663 Loading Data into an XPathDocument 664 Querying XML Data 665 Navigating an XML Document 667 Where Are We? 670 Index 671