Tutorial: Bind the Grid to ADO.NET Data

Jun 26, 2025
2 minutes to read

In this tutorial, you will learn how to do the following:

Create and configure an ADO.NET data source in a WinForms project.
Bind the DevExpress WinForms Data Grid to a data source.
Post changes to the database.

Important

This tutorial targets .NET Framework. Since .NET 5+ design time does not support ADO.NET, you cannot use the .NET Form Designer to create a new ADO.NET data source. In .NET 5+, you can only reference existing DataSet objects. Both Microsoft and our team recommend that you use modern code-based ORMs (such as Entity Framework) to bind WinForms controls to database data. Refer to the following Microsoft blog post for details: Data Binding with the OOP Windows Forms Designer.

Create an ADO.NET Data Source

Invoke the grid control’s smart tag menu and open the Data Source Configuration Wizard.
Choose “ADO.NET Typed DataSet” and click New Data Source.
Select the Database source type and click Next.
Choose Dataset and click Next.
Choose an existing data connection or create and configure a new connection. This tutorial uses an existing connection to a local SQL Server Northwind database.
Specify the connection string name and click Next.
Select required tables and data fields in the database and click Finish.

Bind the Grid to the ADO.NET Data Source

In the grid control’s smart tag menu, open the drop-down menu next to the Choose Data Source option and select a table.

The following auto-generated code loads data into nwindDataSet:

C#
VB.NET

csharp

void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {
    this.categoriesTableAdapter.Fill(this.nwindDataSet.Categories);
}

Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
    Me.categoriesTableAdapter.Fill(Me.nwindDataSet.Categories)
End Sub

Post Data to the Database

The following code snippet handles the Form’s FormClosing event and calls the table adapter’s Update method to post changes to the database:

C#
VB.NET

csharp

private void Form1_FormClosing(object sender, FormClosingEventArgs e) {
    categoriesTableAdapter.Adapter.Update(nwindDataSet);
}

Private Sub Form1_FormClosing(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As FormClosingEventArgs)
    categoriesTableAdapter.Adapter.Update(nwindDataSet)
End Sub

Tip

Read the following help topic for additional information: Post Data to an Underlying Data Source.