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Use RadContextMenu within RadGridView

This tutorial will demonstrate how to use a RadContextMenu to add functionality to the RadGridView control. The article is divided into the following sections:

You can have a look at the Row Context Menu and Header Context Menu demos which can be found in the RadGridView section of the WPF Controls Examples.

To start, first define a RadGridView, which will display a list of Employee objects.

Example 1: RadGridView definition

<telerik:RadGridView x:Name="radGridView" AutoGenerateColumns="False"> 
    <telerik:RadGridView.Columns> 
        <telerik:GridViewDataColumn DataMemberBinding="{Binding FirstName}" Header="First Name"/> 
        <telerik:GridViewDataColumn DataMemberBinding="{Binding LastName}" Header="Last Name"/> 
        <telerik:GridViewDataColumn DataMemberBinding="{Binding Age}" Header="Age"/> 
        <telerik:GridViewDataColumn DataMemberBinding="{Binding IsMarried}" Header="Married"/> 
    </telerik:RadGridView.Columns> 
</telerik:RadGridView> 

Attach RadContextMenu to RadGridView

In order to add a RadContextMenu to the RadGridView control, you have to just set the RadContextMenu.ContextMenu attached property.

Example 2: Add RadContextMenu to RadGridView

<telerik:RadGridView x:Name="radGridView1" AutoGenerateColumns="False"> 
    <telerik:RadContextMenu.ContextMenu> 
        <telerik:RadContextMenu x:Name="GridContextMenu" /> 
    </telerik:RadContextMenu.ContextMenu> 
    <telerik:RadGridView.Columns> 
        <telerik:GridViewDataColumn DataMemberBinding="{Binding FirstName}" Header="First Name"/> 
        <telerik:GridViewDataColumn DataMemberBinding="{Binding LastName}" Header="Last Name"/> 
        <telerik:GridViewDataColumn DataMemberBinding="{Binding Age}" Header="Age"/> 
        <telerik:GridViewDataColumn DataMemberBinding="{Binding IsMarried}" Header="Married"/> 
    </telerik:RadGridView.Columns> 
</telerik:RadGridView> 

Configure the ItemContainerStyle for RadContextMenu

The RadContextMenu will be populated with dynamic data, so you have to prepare an ItemContainerStyle that will display this data. The business object that will represent the data is defined in Example 3.

Example 3: The MenuItem class

public class MenuItem : INotifyPropertyChanged 
{ 
    private bool isEnabled = true; 
    private string text; 
    private ObservableCollection<MenuItem> subItems; 
    public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged; 
    public bool IsEnabled 
    { 
        get 
        { 
            return this.isEnabled; 
        } 
        set 
        { 
            if (this.isEnabled != value) 
            { 
                this.isEnabled = value; 
                this.OnNotifyPropertyChanged("IsEnabled"); 
            } 
        } 
    } 
    public string Text 
    { 
        get 
        { 
            return this.text; 
        } 
        set 
        { 
            if (this.text != value) 
            { 
                this.text = value; 
                this.OnNotifyPropertyChanged("Text"); 
            } 
        } 
    } 
    public ObservableCollection<MenuItem> SubItems 
    { 
        get 
        { 
            if (this.subItems == null) 
            { 
                this.subItems = new ObservableCollection<MenuItem>(); 
            } 
            return this.subItems; 
        } 
        set 
        { 
            if (this.subItems != value) 
            { 
                this.subItems = value; 
                this.OnNotifyPropertyChanged("SubItems"); 
            } 
        } 
    } 
    private void OnNotifyPropertyChanged(string ptopertyName) 
    { 
        if (this.PropertyChanged != null) 
        { 
            this.PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(ptopertyName)); 
        } 
    } 
} 
Public Class MenuItem 
    Implements INotifyPropertyChanged 
 
    Private _isEnabled As Boolean = True 
    Private _text As String 
    Private _subItems As ObservableCollection(Of MenuItem) 
 
    Public Property IsEnabled() As Boolean 
        Get 
            Return Me._isEnabled 
        End Get 
        Set(value As Boolean) 
            If Me._isEnabled <> value Then 
                Me._isEnabled = value 
                Me.OnNotifyPropertyChanged("IsEnabled") 
            End If 
        End Set 
    End Property 
    Public Property Text() As String 
        Get 
            Return Me._text 
        End Get 
        Set(value As String) 
            If Me._text <> value Then 
                Me._text = value 
                Me.OnNotifyPropertyChanged("Text") 
            End If 
        End Set 
    End Property 
    Public Property SubItems() As ObservableCollection(Of MenuItem) 
        Get 
            If Me._subItems Is Nothing Then 
                Me._subItems = New ObservableCollection(Of MenuItem)() 
            End If 
            Return Me._subItems 
        End Get 
        Set(value As ObservableCollection(Of MenuItem)) 
            If Me._subItems IsNot value Then 
                Me._subItems = value 
                Me.OnNotifyPropertyChanged("SubItems") 
            End If 
        End Set 
    End Property 
 
    Private Sub OnNotifyPropertyChanged(ByVal propertyName As String) 
        RaiseEvent PropertyChanged(Me, New PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName)) 
    End Sub 
 
    Public Event PropertyChanged As PropertyChangedEventHandler Implements INotifyPropertyChanged.PropertyChanged 
End Class 

Here is the ItemContainerStyle:

Example 4: The ItemContainerStyle

<Style x:Key="MenuItemContainerStyle" TargetType="telerik:RadMenuItem"> 
    <Setter Property="Header" Value="{Binding Text}"/> 
    <Setter Property="ItemsSource" Value="{Binding SubItems}"/> 
    <Setter Property="IsEnabled" Value="{Binding IsEnabled}"/> 
</Style> 

Display Different Menu Items Depending on Which RadGridView Part Is Clicked

The RadContextMenu should display different items, depending on which part of it is clicked. Here are the possible scenarios along with the list of items we will show for each one:

  • GridView Header

    • Sort

      • Ascending

      • Descending

      • None

    • Move Left

    • Move Right

  • GridView Row

    • Add

    • Edit

    • Delete

  • Anything Else

    • Add

    • Edit (Disabled)

    • Delete (Disabled)

As you can see, two data sources have to be provided for the RadContextMenu - one when a header is clicked and a separate one when a row is clicked. For that purpose, create two collection fields in your UserControl as demonstrated in Example 5.

Example 5: The two MenuItem collections

private ObservableCollection<MenuItem> headerContextMenuItems; 
private ObservableCollection<MenuItem> rowContextMenuItems; 
Private headerContextMenuItems As ObservableCollection(Of MenuItem) 
Private rowContextMenuItems As ObservableCollection(Of MenuItem) 

Now, initialize them by using methods similar to the ones demonstrated in Example 6.

Example 6: The helper methods to populate the RadContextMenu

public RadGridViewIntegration() 
{ 
    InitializeComponent(); 
    this.radGridView.ItemsSource = RadGridViewSampleData.GetEmployees(); 
 
    this.InitializeHeaderContextMenuItems(); 
    this.InitializeRowContextMenuItems(); 
} 
 
private void InitializeRowContextMenuItems() 
{ 
    ObservableCollection<MenuItem> items = new ObservableCollection<MenuItem>(); 
    MenuItem addItem = new MenuItem(); 
    addItem.Text = "Add"; 
    items.Add(addItem); 
    MenuItem editItem = new MenuItem(); 
    editItem.Text = "Edit"; 
    items.Add(editItem); 
    MenuItem deleteItem = new MenuItem(); 
    deleteItem.Text = "Delete"; 
    items.Add(deleteItem); 
    this.rowContextMenuItems = items; 
} 
private void InitializeHeaderContextMenuItems() 
{ 
    ObservableCollection<MenuItem> headerItems = new ObservableCollection<MenuItem>(); 
    ObservableCollection<MenuItem> sortItems = new ObservableCollection<MenuItem>(); 
    MenuItem sortAscItem = new MenuItem(); 
    sortAscItem.Text = "Ascending"; 
    sortItems.Add(sortAscItem); 
    MenuItem sortDescItem = new MenuItem(); 
    sortDescItem.Text = "Descending"; 
    sortItems.Add(sortDescItem); 
    MenuItem sortNoneItem = new MenuItem(); 
    sortNoneItem.Text = "None"; 
    sortItems.Add(sortNoneItem); 
    MenuItem sortItem = new MenuItem(); 
    sortItem.Text = "Sort"; 
    sortItem.SubItems = sortItems; 
    headerItems.Add(sortItem); 
    MenuItem moveLeftItem = new MenuItem(); 
    moveLeftItem.Text = "Move Left"; 
    headerItems.Add(moveLeftItem); 
    MenuItem moveRightItem = new MenuItem(); 
    moveRightItem.Text = "Move Right"; 
    headerItems.Add(moveRightItem); 
    this.headerContextMenuItems = headerItems; 
} 
Public Sub New() 
    InitializeComponent() 
    Me.radGridView.ItemsSource = EmployeeService.GetEmployees() 
    Me.InitializeHeaderContextMenuItems() 
    Me.InitializeRowContextMenuItems() 
End Sub 
Private Sub InitializeRowContextMenuItems() 
    Dim items As New ObservableCollection(Of MenuItem)() 
    Dim addItem As New MenuItem() 
    addItem.Text = "Add" 
    items.Add(addItem) 
    Dim editItem As New MenuItem() 
    editItem.Text = "Edit" 
    items.Add(editItem) 
    Dim deleteItem As New MenuItem() 
    deleteItem.Text = "Delete" 
    items.Add(deleteItem) 
    Me.rowContextMenuItems = items 
End Sub 
Private Sub InitializeHeaderContextMenuItems() 
    Dim headerItems As New ObservableCollection(Of MenuItem)() 
    Dim sortItems As New ObservableCollection(Of MenuItem)() 
    Dim sortAscItem As New MenuItem() 
    sortAscItem.Text = "Ascending" 
    sortItems.Add(sortAscItem) 
    Dim sortDescItem As New MenuItem() 
    sortDescItem.Text = "Descending" 
    sortItems.Add(sortDescItem) 
    Dim sortNoneItem As New MenuItem() 
    sortNoneItem.Text = "None" 
    sortItems.Add(sortNoneItem) 
    Dim sortItem As New MenuItem() 
    sortItem.Text = "Sort" 
    sortItem.SubItems = sortItems 
    headerItems.Add(sortItem) 
    Dim moveLeftItem As New MenuItem() 
    moveLeftItem.Text = "Move Left" 
    headerItems.Add(moveLeftItem) 
    Dim moveRightItem As New MenuItem() 
    moveRightItem.Text = "Move Right" 
    headerItems.Add(moveRightItem) 
    Me.headerContextMenuItems = headerItems 
End Sub 

Next you will need two properties that will return the clicked row and the clicked header. Define them in your UserControl as follows by using the GetClickedElement method.

Example 7: The ClickedHeader and ClickedRow helper properties

private GridViewHeaderCell ClickedHeader 
{ 
    get 
    { 
        return this.GridContextMenu.GetClickedElement<GridViewHeaderCell>(); 
    } 
} 
private GridViewRow ClickedRow 
{ 
    get 
    { 
        return this.GridContextMenu.GetClickedElement<GridViewRow>(); 
    } 
} 
Private ReadOnly Property ClickedHeader() As GridViewHeaderCell 
    Get 
        Return Me.GridContextMenu.GetClickedElement(Of GridViewHeaderCell)() 
    End Get 
End Property 
Private ReadOnly Property ClickedRow() As GridViewRow 
    Get 
        Return Me.GridContextMenu.GetClickedElement(Of GridViewRow)() 
    End Get 
End Property 

The last thing to do is to attach an event handler to the Opened event of the RadContextMenu. There you can implement the logic around changing the ItemsSource of the RadContextMenu depending on the clicked element.

Example 8: Attach the Opened event handler

<telerik:RadContextMenu x:Name="GridContextMenu2" 
                        ItemContainerStyle="{StaticResource MenuItemContainerStyle}" 
                        Opened="GridContextMenu_Opened" /> 

Example 9: The Opened event handler definition

private void GridContextMenu_Opened(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) 
{ 
    if (this.ClickedHeader != null) 
    { 
        this.GridContextMenu.ItemsSource = this.headerContextMenuItems; 
    } 
    else if (this.ClickedRow != null) 
    { 
        this.radGridView.SelectedItem = this.ClickedRow.DataContext; 
        foreach (var item in this.rowContextMenuItems) 
        { 
            item.IsEnabled = true; 
        } 
        this.GridContextMenu.ItemsSource = this.rowContextMenuItems; 
    } 
    else 
    { 
        foreach (var item in this.rowContextMenuItems) 
        { 
            if (!item.Text.Equals("Add")) 
            { 
                item.IsEnabled = false; 
            } 
        } 
        this.GridContextMenu.ItemsSource = this.rowContextMenuItems; 
    } 
} 
Private Sub GridContextMenu_Opened(sender As Object, e As RoutedEventArgs) 
    If Me.ClickedHeader IsNot Nothing Then 
        Me.GridContextMenu.ItemsSource = Me.headerContextMenuItems 
    ElseIf Me.ClickedRow IsNot Nothing Then 
        Me.radGridView.SelectedItem = Me.ClickedRow.DataContext 
        For Each item As Object In Me.rowContextMenuItems 
            item.IsEnabled = True 
        Next 
        Me.GridContextMenu.ItemsSource = Me.rowContextMenuItems 
    Else 
        For Each item As Object In Me.rowContextMenuItems 
            If Not item.Text.Equals("Add") Then 
                item.IsEnabled = False 
            End If 
        Next 
        Me.GridContextMenu.ItemsSource = Me.rowContextMenuItems 
    End If 
End Sub 

The result once you click on a row or header is illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1: RadContextMenu shown when clicking on row and header respectively

RadContextMenu shown when clicking on row and header respectively

Handle the Menu Items' Clicks

The last thing to do in this tutorial is to handle the menu items' actions. For this purpose, attach an event handler to the ItemClick event of the RadContextMenu. In it, get the clicked item and, depending on its value, execute the appropriate code.

Example 10: Attach the ItemClick event handler

<telerik:RadContextMenu x:Name="GridContextMenu3" 
                        ItemContainerStyle="{StaticResource MenuItemContainerStyle}" 
                        Opened="GridContextMenu_Opened" 
                        ItemClick="GridContextMenu_ItemClick" /> 

Example 11: The ItemClick event handler definition

private void GridContextMenu_ItemClick(object sender, Telerik.Windows.RadRoutedEventArgs e) 
{ 
    MenuItem item = (e.OriginalSource as RadMenuItem).DataContext as MenuItem; 
    switch (item.Text) 
    { 
        case "Add": 
            this.radGridView.BeginInsert(); 
            break; 
        case "Edit": 
            this.radGridView.BeginEdit(); 
            break; 
        case "Delete": 
            this.radGridView.Items.Remove(this.radGridView.SelectedItem); 
            break; 
        case "Ascending": 
            this.radGridView.SortDescriptors.Clear(); 
            this.radGridView.SortDescriptors.Add(new SortDescriptor() 
            { 
                Member = this.ClickedHeader.Column.UniqueName, 
                SortDirection = ListSortDirection.Ascending 
            }); 
            break; 
        case "Descending": 
            this.radGridView.SortDescriptors.Clear(); 
            this.radGridView.SortDescriptors.Add(new SortDescriptor() 
            { 
                Member = this.ClickedHeader.Column.UniqueName, 
                SortDirection = ListSortDirection.Descending 
            }); 
            break; 
        case "None": 
            this.radGridView.SortDescriptors.Clear(); 
            break; 
        case "Move Left": 
            if (this.ClickedHeader.Column.DisplayIndex > 0) 
                this.ClickedHeader.Column.DisplayIndex -= 1; 
            break; 
        case "Move Right": 
            if (this.ClickedHeader.Column.DisplayIndex < this.radGridView.Columns.Count - 1) 
                this.ClickedHeader.Column.DisplayIndex += 1; 
            break; 
    } 
} 
Private Sub GridContextMenu_ItemClick(sender As Object, e As Telerik.Windows.RadRoutedEventArgs) 
    Dim item As MenuItem = TryCast((TryCast(e.OriginalSource, RadMenuItem)).DataContext, MenuItem) 
    Select Case item.Text 
        Case "Add" 
            Me.radGridView.BeginInsert() 
            Exit Select 
        Case "Edit" 
            Me.radGridView.BeginEdit() 
            Exit Select 
        Case "Delete" 
            Me.radGridView.Items.Remove(Me.radGridView.SelectedItem) 
            Exit Select 
        Case "Ascending" 
            Me.radGridView.SortDescriptors.Clear() 
            Me.radGridView.SortDescriptors.Add(New SortDescriptor With { 
                                               .Member = Me.ClickedHeader.Column.UniqueName, 
                                               .SortDirection = ListSortDirection.Ascending}) 
            Exit Select 
        Case "Descending" 
            Me.radGridView.SortDescriptors.Clear() 
            Me.radGridView.SortDescriptors.Add(New SortDescriptor With { 
                                               .Member = Me.ClickedHeader.Column.UniqueName, 
                                               .SortDirection = ListSortDirection.Descending}) 
            Exit Select 
        Case "None" 
            Me.radGridView.SortDescriptors.Clear() 
            Exit Select 
        Case "Move Left" 
            If Me.ClickedHeader.Column.DisplayIndex > 0 Then 
                Me.ClickedHeader.Column.DisplayIndex -= 1 
            End If 
            Exit Select 
        Case "Move Right" 
            If Me.ClickedHeader.Column.DisplayIndex < Me.radGridView.Columns.Count - 1 Then 
                Me.ClickedHeader.Column.DisplayIndex += 1 
            End If 
            Exit Select 
    End Select 
End Sub 

See Also

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