DataGridView and INotifyCollectionChanged

Question

I had it in my mind that if I implemented INotifyCollectionChanged on my Custom Collection that the DataGridView would subscribe to the CollectionChanged event.

My Collection implements IListSource and INotifyCollectionChanged, and has an internal BindingList. I subscribe to the ListChanged event from the BindingList and call my OnCollectionChanged method which then raises the CollectionChanged event.

Perhaps there is a better way to accomplish the above, and I would be glad to hear it. However, my primary concern at the moment is getting the DataGridView to update after this sort method is called:

    public void Sort(List<SortField> sortFields)
    {
        if(sortFields == null || sortFields.Count == 0) return;

        IOrderedEnumerable<T> res;

        if (sortFields[0].Ascending)
            res = _items.OrderBy(o => o[sortFields[0].Name]);
        else
            res = _items.OrderByDescending(o => o[sortFields[0].Name]);

        for (int x = 1; x < sortFields.Count; x++)
            if (sortFields[x].Ascending)
                res = res.ThenBy(o => o[sortFields[x].Name]);
            else
                res = res.ThenByDescending(o => o[sortFields[x].Name]);

        Items = new BindingList<T>(res.ToList());
        OnListChanged(this, new ListChangedEventArgs(ListChangedType.Reset, null));
    }

Am I mistaken in my belief that the DataGridView subscribes to the CollectionChanged event or am I doing something else wrong?

Answer 1

I assume you are using ObservableCollection<T> class for your custom collection. DataGridView doesn't know about INotifyCollectionChanged. It is intended for WPF bindings and not to be used in WinForms.

See this SO question for more information.