Viewing data is a vital part of many applications. Data binding allows you to associate records in a data source with controls on a form, allowing them to be browsed and updated.
Data binding refers to a relationship between a data provider and a data consumer. A data provider is a source for data and is linked to a data consumer, which receives data and processes or displays it.
A traditional example of data binding is the relationship between a data-bound control such as a TextBox and a data source. The control displays the value of the column in the data source to which it is bound at the current row. As the current row changes, the value displayed by the control changes.
Data Providers
In the .NET Framework, any object that implements the IList interface can be a data provider. This not only includes ADO.NET objects, such as DataSets, DataTables, and DataColumns, but also more mundane objects such as arrays or collections. DataViews, which are discussed later in this lesson, are a customizable view of data that can also act as a data provider.
Data providers also manage currency of data. In previous data access technologies, a cursor was used to manage data currency. As the cursor moved, the current record changed and bound controls were updated. Because data access in ADO.NET is fundamentally disconnected, there is no concept of a database cursor. Rather, each data source has an associated CurrencyManager object that keeps track of the current record. CurrencyManager objects are managed through a form's BindingContext object. Data currency is discussed in detail later in this lesson.
Data Consumers
The data consumer represents the control with bound properties. In the .NET Framework, you can bind any run-time accessible property of any control to a data source. For example, you could bind the Size property of a control to a database record, or the location, or any other run-time accessible property of the control.
Data binding has a wide variety of uses. A typical scenario that involves data binding is a data entry form. Several controls, such as TextBox, CheckBox, ListBox, and so on are bound to relevant columns of a DataSet. New records are manually entered by typing values for each column into the appropriate controls displayed on the form. When a record is complete, it is added to the DataSet, which can then be used to update the database.
There are two types of data binding: simple binding and complex binding. A simple-bound control binds one record at a time to a control. For example, a Label control can be simply bound to a column in a DataTable. In such a case, it would display the member of that column for the current record.
Complex binding, on the other hand, allows multiple records to be bound to a single control. Controls such as ListBox or ComboBox can be complex bound to a single column in a DataTable or DataView. At run time, these controls would display all members of that column rather than only the current row. Complex-bound controls are usually involved in displaying choices and allowing specific rows of data to be chosen. Controls such as the DataGrid are capable of even more complex binding and can be bound to all column and rows of a particular DataTable or DataView, or even to a DataSet.
Creating a Simple-Bound Control
You can create a simple-bound control through the DataBindings property. The DataBindings property is an instance of the ControlBindingsCollection class that keeps track of and organizes which controls are bound to what data sources. At design time, the DataBindings property is displayed as a node in the Properties window. This node expands to list the properties that are most commonly data bound.
Data Binding at Run Time
You might want to change the data source that a control is bound to at run time. Or, you might not know at design time what data source a particular control might be bound to. In a third scenario, you might want to bind your control to an array or collection that is not instantiated until run time, in which case, you must set the binding in code.
Data binding for a control is managed through the control's DataBindings property, which is an instance of a ControlBindingsCollection object. At run time, you can add, remove, or clear data binding information by setting the appropriate member of the DataBindings collection.
You can bind a property to a data source by using the DataBindings.Add method. This creates a new binding association and adds it to the DataBindings collection. The Add method takes three parameters: the property name you want to bind, as a String; the data source you want to bind to, as an object; and the data member of the data source you want to bind the property to.
The CurrencyManager
The CurrencyManager object keeps track of the current record for a particular data source. There can be multiple data sources in an application at one time, and each data source maintains its own CurrencyManager. Because there can be multiple data sources represented on a single form at any given time, each form manages the CurrencyManager objects associated with those data sources through a central object called the BindingContext.
The BindingContext organizes and exposes the CurrencyManager objects associated with each data source. Thus, you can use the BindingContext property of each form to manage the position of the current record for each data source. You access a particular currency manager by supplying the BindingContext property with the data source object whose CurrencyManager you want to retrieve.
To navigate bound data in a Windows Form
Set the Position property for the appropriate BindingContext member.
Because the .NET Framework will not allow you to set the Position property to a value less than zero or greater than the upper bound of the collection, there is no possibility of an error occurring if you attempt to move before or after the end of the records.
You might, however, want to incorporate program logic to provide visual cues to users to let them know when the end or beginning of a group of records is reached. The following example demonstrates how to use the PositionChanged event of the CurrencyManager to disable back and forward buttons when the end of the record list is reached.
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Data binding refers to a relationship between a data provider and a data consumer. A data provider is a source for data and is linked to a data consumer, which receives data and processes or displays it.
A traditional example of data binding is the relationship between a data-bound control such as a TextBox and a data source. The control displays the value of the column in the data source to which it is bound at the current row. As the current row changes, the value displayed by the control changes.
Data Providers
In the .NET Framework, any object that implements the IList interface can be a data provider. This not only includes ADO.NET objects, such as DataSets, DataTables, and DataColumns, but also more mundane objects such as arrays or collections. DataViews, which are discussed later in this lesson, are a customizable view of data that can also act as a data provider.
Data providers also manage currency of data. In previous data access technologies, a cursor was used to manage data currency. As the cursor moved, the current record changed and bound controls were updated. Because data access in ADO.NET is fundamentally disconnected, there is no concept of a database cursor. Rather, each data source has an associated CurrencyManager object that keeps track of the current record. CurrencyManager objects are managed through a form's BindingContext object. Data currency is discussed in detail later in this lesson.
Data Consumers
The data consumer represents the control with bound properties. In the .NET Framework, you can bind any run-time accessible property of any control to a data source. For example, you could bind the Size property of a control to a database record, or the location, or any other run-time accessible property of the control.
Data binding has a wide variety of uses. A typical scenario that involves data binding is a data entry form. Several controls, such as TextBox, CheckBox, ListBox, and so on are bound to relevant columns of a DataSet. New records are manually entered by typing values for each column into the appropriate controls displayed on the form. When a record is complete, it is added to the DataSet, which can then be used to update the database.
There are two types of data binding: simple binding and complex binding. A simple-bound control binds one record at a time to a control. For example, a Label control can be simply bound to a column in a DataTable. In such a case, it would display the member of that column for the current record.
Complex binding, on the other hand, allows multiple records to be bound to a single control. Controls such as ListBox or ComboBox can be complex bound to a single column in a DataTable or DataView. At run time, these controls would display all members of that column rather than only the current row. Complex-bound controls are usually involved in displaying choices and allowing specific rows of data to be chosen. Controls such as the DataGrid are capable of even more complex binding and can be bound to all column and rows of a particular DataTable or DataView, or even to a DataSet.
Creating a Simple-Bound Control
You can create a simple-bound control through the DataBindings property. The DataBindings property is an instance of the ControlBindingsCollection class that keeps track of and organizes which controls are bound to what data sources. At design time, the DataBindings property is displayed as a node in the Properties window. This node expands to list the properties that are most commonly data bound.
Data Binding at Run Time
You might want to change the data source that a control is bound to at run time. Or, you might not know at design time what data source a particular control might be bound to. In a third scenario, you might want to bind your control to an array or collection that is not instantiated until run time, in which case, you must set the binding in code.
Data binding for a control is managed through the control's DataBindings property, which is an instance of a ControlBindingsCollection object. At run time, you can add, remove, or clear data binding information by setting the appropriate member of the DataBindings collection.
You can bind a property to a data source by using the DataBindings.Add method. This creates a new binding association and adds it to the DataBindings collection. The Add method takes three parameters: the property name you want to bind, as a String; the data source you want to bind to, as an object; and the data member of the data source you want to bind the property to.
The CurrencyManager
The CurrencyManager object keeps track of the current record for a particular data source. There can be multiple data sources in an application at one time, and each data source maintains its own CurrencyManager. Because there can be multiple data sources represented on a single form at any given time, each form manages the CurrencyManager objects associated with those data sources through a central object called the BindingContext.
The BindingContext organizes and exposes the CurrencyManager objects associated with each data source. Thus, you can use the BindingContext property of each form to manage the position of the current record for each data source. You access a particular currency manager by supplying the BindingContext property with the data source object whose CurrencyManager you want to retrieve.
To navigate bound data in a Windows Form
Set the Position property for the appropriate BindingContext member.
Because the .NET Framework will not allow you to set the Position property to a value less than zero or greater than the upper bound of the collection, there is no possibility of an error occurring if you attempt to move before or after the end of the records.
You might, however, want to incorporate program logic to provide visual cues to users to let them know when the end or beginning of a group of records is reached. The following example demonstrates how to use the PositionChanged event of the CurrencyManager to disable back and forward buttons when the end of the record list is reached.
RELATED POST
DAY 11 OOPS INTRODUCTION
DAY 12 POLYMORPHISM
DAY 13 INHERITANCE AND POLYMORPHISM
DAY 14 EBUGGING TOOLS IN DOT NET
DAY 15 DEBUG AND TRACE IN CLASSES
DAY 16 UNIT TEST PLAN
DAY 17 EXCEPTIONS IN VISUAL STUDIO
DAY 19 ADO.NET INTRODUCTION
DAY 20 DATA ACCESSING IN DOT NET
DAY 21 DATA BASE OBJECTS
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