Find Panel

The grid can display a find panel that enables users to search for keywords in data.

Keyboard operations

Filter and Search modes

• press Ctrl+F to open the find panel
• press Esc once to clear the panel, press it again to close it
• press the Down Arrow key to move focus from the panel to the grid

Search mode only

• press F3/Enter to go to the next result
• press Shift/Alt/Ctrl+F3/Enter to go to the previous result

The GridView.OptionsFind property provides access to options related to the find panel.

Behavior: Filter or Search

The ColumnViewOptionsFind.Behavior property specifies how to show search results:

• FindPanelBehavior.Filter — hides records that do not match the query, and (optionally) highlights results in the view.

  

• FindPanelBehavior.Search — highlights results in the view and on the scrollbar.

  

If this property is set to FindPanelBehavior.Default, the behavior depends on the static (Shared in VB) WindowsFormsSettings.FindPanelBehavior property. If the latter property is also set to FindPanelBehavior.Default, the FindPanelBehavior.Filter mode is applied.

Highlight Results

To specify whether search queries are highlighted, use the ColumnViewOptionsFind.HighlightFindResults property.

Panel Visibility

• ColumnView.ShowFindPanel — opens the panel
• ColumnView.HideFindPanel — closes the panel
• ColumnViewOptionsFind.AllowFindPanel — set to false to prohibit opening the panel
• ColumnViewOptionsFind.AlwaysVisible — set to true to prevent the panel from being closed

Panel Location

The GridViewOptionsFind.FindPanelLocation property specifies where the panel is displayed:

• GridFindPanelLocation.GroupPanel — the find panel is embedded into the Group Panel. This mode is only available if the GridOptionsView.ShowGroupPanel option is enabled.

  

• GridFindPanelLocation.Panel — the find panel is displayed in a separate panel.

  

The default location depends on the Version Compatibility setting. Since version 19.2, the find panel is embedded into the group panel.

Specify Search Queries in Code

• ColumnView.ApplyFindFilter — fills in the find panel with the specified query and applies it.
• ColumnView.ClearFindFilter — discards the query and clears the find panel.
• ColumnView.CustomRowFilter — allows you to specify row visibility regardless of the currently applied filter.
• ColumnViewOptionsFind.FindFilterColumns — names of columns in which to search the keywords.

Search Syntax

The search syntax may vary depending on the ColumnViewOptionsFind.ParserKind and ColumnViewOptionsFind.Condition properties. See Find Panel Syntax for more information.

Operation Buttons

Use the following properties to show/hide the operation buttons:

• ColumnViewOptionsFind.ShowCloseButton - the X button that closes the panel.

  

• ColumnViewOptionsFind.ShowClearButton - the Clear button.

  

  To display the Clear button as a separate button, set the WindowsFormsSettings.DefaultSettingsCompatibilityMode to v19_1 or earlier.

  

  The separate Clear button is only displayed in FindPanelBehavior.Filter mode and if the find panel is not embedded into the group panel.

• ColumnViewOptionsFind.ShowSearchNavButtons - the Previous and Next buttons allow users to navigate between search results. These buttons are only displayed in FindPanelBehavior.Search mode.

  

• ColumnViewOptionsFind.ShowFindButton - the Find button that applies the query. This button is only displayed in FindPanelBehavior.Filter mode and if the find panel is not embedded into the group panel.

  

Apply Search Queries

After a user types in the search box, the search starts automatically or manually depending on the underlying data source. You can use use the ColumnViewOptionsFind.FindMode property to specify this behavior explicitly. The ColumnViewOptionsFind.FindDelay property allows you to specify the delay between entering a query and starting the search.

The find panel has the following limitations in the server mode:

• only numeric and text columns are supported;
• only focused row and selected row scrollbar annotations are supported;

• columns that show the custom text instead of the actual values are not supported;

  Tip

  To use these columns, store the custom text in a data source field and assign the field’s name to the GridColumn.FieldNameSortGroup property. You can also specify the ColumnViewOptionsFind.FindFilterColumns property to exclude these columns from the search.

• only case-insensitive queries are supported. See the How to make the Grid's filter case- and accent-insensitive in Server Mode Kb article for more information.