Search for value in DataGridView in a column

Question

I want the user to be able to search for a number in a column in the DataGridView (dgv). The dgv can hold many records. Each record has a Project Number. So I want the user to be able to search for a project number in column Project Number. The columns I have are: ProjectID(not visible); Image(no headertext); Project Number; Project Name; Company; Contact.

Here is my code:

private void btnSearch_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    string searchValue = textBox1.Text;
    int rowIndex = -1;

    dgvProjects.SelectionMode = DataGridViewSelectionMode.FullRowSelect;
    try
    {
        foreach (DataGridViewRow row in dgvProjects.Rows)
        {
            if (row.Cells[row.Index].Value.ToString().Equals(searchValue))
            {
                rowIndex = row.Index;
                dgvProjects.Rows[row.Index].Selected = true;
                break;
            }
        }
    }
    catch (Exception exc)
    {
        MessageBox.Show(exc.Message);
    }
}

Problem #1: What it does so far: The user types the project number in TextBox1. When he/she clicks the button, the code searches for this string in the rows, and when found the project number, that row gets selected. It works fine, but only once. When I want to search for an other project number, nothing happens.

Problem #2: I think this can be done in a better way, by searching the values for column Project Name only. But how should I do this properly?

The code I used to search comes from this answer

Answer 1

Why you are using row.Cells[row.Index]. You need to specify index of column you want to search (Problem #2). For example, you need to change row.Cells[row.Index] to row.Cells[2] where 2 is index of your column:

private void btnSearch_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    string searchValue = textBox1.Text;

    dgvProjects.SelectionMode = DataGridViewSelectionMode.FullRowSelect;
    try
    {
        foreach (DataGridViewRow row in dgvProjects.Rows)
        {
            if (row.Cells[2].Value.ToString().Equals(searchValue))
            {
                row.Selected = true;
                break;
            }
        }
    }
    catch (Exception exc)
    {
        MessageBox.Show(exc.Message);
    }
}

Answer 2

Why don't you build a DataTable first then assign it to the DataGridView as DataSource:

DataTable table4DataSource=new DataTable();

table4DataSource.Columns.Add("col00");
table4DataSource.Columns.Add("col01");
table4DataSource.Columns.Add("col02");

...

(add your rows, manually, in a circle or via a DataReader from a database table) (assign the datasource)

dtGrdViewGrid.DataSource = table4DataSource;

and then use:

(dtGrdViewGrid.DataSource as DataTable).DefaultView.RowFilter = "col00 = '" + textBoxSearch.Text+ "'";
dtGrdViewGrid.Refresh();

You can even put this piece of code within your textbox_textchange event and your filtered values will be showing as you write.

Answer 3

It's better also to separate your logic in another method, or maybe in another class.

This method will help you retreive the DataGridViewCell object in which the text was found.

    /// <summary>
    /// Check if a given text exists in the given DataGridView at a given column index
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="searchText"></param>
    /// <param name="dataGridView"></param>
    /// <param name="columnIndex"></param>
    /// <returns>The cell in which the searchText was found</returns>
    private DataGridViewCell GetCellWhereTextExistsInGridView(string searchText, DataGridView dataGridView, int columnIndex)
    {
        DataGridViewCell cellWhereTextIsMet = null;

        // For every row in the grid (obviously)
        foreach (DataGridViewRow row in dataGridView.Rows)
        {
            // I did not test this case, but cell.Value is an object, and objects can be null
            // So check if the cell is null before using .ToString()
            if (row.Cells[columnIndex].Value != null && searchText == row.Cells[columnIndex].Value.ToString())
            {
                // the searchText is equals to the text in this cell.
                cellWhereTextIsMet = row.Cells[columnIndex];
                break;
            }
        }

        return cellWhereTextIsMet;
    }

    private void button_click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        DataGridViewCell cell = GetCellWhereTextExistsInGridView(textBox1.Text, myGridView, 2);
        if (cell != null)
        {
            // Value exists in the grid
            // you can do extra stuff on the cell
            cell.Style = new DataGridViewCellStyle { ForeColor = Color.Red };
        }
        else
        {
            // Value does not exist in the grid
        }
    }

Answer 4

//     This is the exact code for search facility in datagridview.
private void buttonSearch_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    string searchValue=textBoxSearch.Text;
    int rowIndex = 1;  //this one is depending on the position of cell or column
    //string first_row_data=dataGridView1.Rows[0].Cells[0].Value.ToString() ;

    dataGridView1.SelectionMode = DataGridViewSelectionMode.FullRowSelect;
    try
    {
        bool valueResulet = true;
        foreach (DataGridViewRow row in dataGridView1.Rows)
        {
            if (row.Cells[rowIndex].Value.ToString().Equals(searchValue))
            {
                rowIndex = row.Index;
                dataGridView1.Rows[rowIndex].Selected = true;
                rowIndex++;
                valueResulet = false;
            }
        }
        if (valueResulet != false)
        {
            MessageBox.Show("Record is not avalable for this Name"+textBoxSearch.Text,"Not Found");
            return;
        }
    }
    catch (Exception exc)
    {
        MessageBox.Show(exc.Message);
    }
}

Answer 5

Filter the data directly from DataTable or Dataset:

"MyTable".DefaultView.RowFilter = "<DataTable Field> LIKE '%" + textBox1.Text + "%'";
   this.dataGridView1.DataSource = "MyTable".DefaultView;

Use this code on event KeyUp of Textbox, replace "MyTable" for you table name or dataset, replace for the field where you want make the search.

Answer 6

"MyTable".DefaultView.RowFilter = " LIKE '%" + textBox1.Text + "%'"; this.dataGridView1.DataSource = "MyTable".DefaultView;

How about the relation to the database connections and the Datatable? And how should i set the DefaultView correct?

I use this code to get the data out:

con = new System.Data.SqlServerCe.SqlCeConnection();
con.ConnectionString = "Data Source=C:\\Users\\mhadj\\Documents\\Visual Studio 2015\\Projects\\data_base_test_2\\Sample.sdf";
con.Open();

DataTable dt = new DataTable();

adapt = new System.Data.SqlServerCe.SqlCeDataAdapter("select * from tbl_Record", con);        
adapt.Fill(dt);        
dataGridView1.DataSource = dt;
con.Close();