Master Detail DataGridView in C# Windows Forms

Introduction



In my previous article I explained how to Create a DatagGridView helper class using C#

I have extended the DatagGridView Helper class to create a Master/Detail DatagGridView. My intent is to create a simple and easy program for users. Users can download the code and can customize it depending on their requirements.

Why to use a Nested or Hierarchical DataGridView

In real projects like Order Management, Production Management and and so on we need to display the data in the hierarchical result.

For example let's use an Order Management project for a restaurant. Let's consider four people going to a restaurant to have their lunch. The waiter from the restaurant will provide a menu card to select the item to place an order. Now in a table the total of 4 people are sitting in a restaurant. In restaurant management, usually all the tables have a unique Table Id or name. All 4 people will select their item from the menu and place the order to serve their food. In restaurant management for each order we will create a unique id in an Order Master table and all the item details related to the order in the Order Detail table. Let's see an example structure of the order.

Why to use a Master and Detail Table

To avoid the duplicate data we can use the master Detail table relation to store our data. For example for every order there will be one waiter and one Table so if we didn't use the Master Detail table relation then the output will be like this below.



Here we can see that Order No, Table ID, Waiter Name and Order Date have been repeated. To avoid this duplicate data we will create a Master and Detail relation tables. See the following table for Master and Details.

Order Master Table

Here we can see that the duplicate data has been stored in a separate table as an Order Master Table.



Order Detail Table

Here we can see all the item details of the order in a separate table. But in the detail table we have used the Order Number for a relation to the Master table. Using the relation we can combine both tables and produce the output.



Normal grid result

The result can be shown without using the Hierarchal grid output. But we must display the duplicate results as in the following.



We can also merge the same data and show the result as in the following table. But the output is not much better and is not easy to view and understand.



Let's see now the hierarchical output of the same result.



Now this final result looks much better than all the previous. It will be easy to view the master and detail of all records. Here is my sample output of the hierarchical DataGridView.



In the same manner as Order Management in restaurant projects we also have Bill Master and Detail, Account Master and Detail, Item Master and Detail and Inventory Master and Detail. In production projects we will have Production Order Master and Oder Detail, Finished Good Receipt Master and Detail, Finished Goods Issue Master and Detail and so on. In the same manner in our all our actual projects we will use the Master and detail relation to display our data.