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.NET Controls: The List View
 

Overview of the List View
 

Introduction

A list box is used to display a list of strings and all items of that control are primarily strings. To go a little further than a simple list of strings, the Microsoft Windows operating system provides the list view control. A list view is used to display a list of items to the user but it can be configured to change the type of display.

 

List View Creation

The list view control is made available in the .NET Framework through the ListView class that is represented in the Windows Forms section of the Toolbox by the ListView button. To add a list view to your application, you can click ListView in the Toolbox and click the form or another container.

To programmatically create a list view, you can declare a variable of type ListView, use the New operator to instantiate it, and add it to its host's list of controls through a call to the Controls.Add() method. Here is an example:

Imports System
Imports System.Drawing
Imports System.Windows.Forms

Public Class Exercise
    Inherits Form

    Friend WithEvents btnCreate As Button

    Public Sub New()
        Me.InitializeComponent()
    End Sub

    Private Sub InitializeComponent()
        btnCreate = New Button
        btnCreate.Text = "Create"
        btnCreate.Location = New Point(10, 10)

        Me.Controls.Add(btnCreate)
        Text = "Countries Statistics"
        Size = New Size(450, 245)
        StartPosition = FormStartPosition.CenterScreen
    End Sub

    Private Sub btnCreate_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
                            ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnCreate.Click

        Dim lvwCountries As ListView = New ListView
        lvwCountries.Location = New Point(10, 40)
        lvwCountries.Width = 420
        lvwCountries.Height = 160

        Controls.Add(lvwCountries)

    End Sub

    Public Shared Sub Main()
        Application.Run(New Exercise)
    End Sub

End Class

After this declaration, an empty rectangular control is created and added to your application. You can then start populating it.

 

Practical Learning Practical Learning: Introducing the List View
  1. Start a new Windows Forms Application named DeptStore2
  2. Change the form's Text to Department Store
  3. In the Windows Forms section of the Toolbox, click ListView and click the form
  4. Using the Properties window, change its properties as follows:
    (Name): lvwStoreItems
    Anchor: Top, Bottom, Left, Right
  5. Add a Button to the form and change its properties as follows:
    (Name): btnClose
    Text: Close
    Anchor: Bottom, Right
     
  6. Double-click the Close button and implement its Click event as follows:
      
    Private Sub btnClose_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
		           ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnClose.Click
        End
End Sub
  7. Save all
 

The Items of a List View
 

Introduction to Creating List View Items

To create the items of a list view, you can use the ListViewItem Collection Editor of Microsoft Visual Studio .NET. To get it, after adding the ListView to your application, you can click the ellipsis button of its Items field in the Properties window:

ListViewItem Collection Editor

At design time and in the ListViewItem Collection Editor, to create a new item, you can click the Add button:

ListViewItem Collection Editor

The items of a list view are stored in a property called Items. The Items property is based on the ListView.ListViewItemCollection class. To create a new list view item, the ListViewItemCollection class is equipped with the Add() method which is overloaded with three versions. One of the versions of this method uses the following syntax: 

Overloads Public Overridable Function Add(ByVal text As String) As ListViewItem

This method expects a string that will display as the new item. Here is an example:

Private Sub btnCreate_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
                                ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnCreate.Click

        Dim lvwCountries As ListView = New ListView
        lvwCountries.Location = New Point(10, 40)
        lvwCountries.Width = 420
        lvwCountries.Height = 160

        Controls.Add(lvwCountries)

        lvwCountries.Items.Add("Egypt")

End Sub

As the Items property is in fact a list, each item of this collection is represented by the Item property of the ListView.ListViewItemCollection class. This Item property is based on the ListViewItem class. The ListViewItem class is equipped with various constructors, the default of which allows you to instantiate an item without giving much details.

Instead of directly passing a string to the ListView.ListViewItemCollection.Add() method, you can first create a ListViewItem object and pass it to the following version of the ListView.ListViewItemCollection.Add() method:

Overloads Public Overridable Function Add(ByVal value As ListViewItem) As ListViewItem

This method expects a ListViewItem value. One way you can use it consists of providing the string the item would display. To do this, you can use the following constructor of the ListViewItem class:

Public Sub New(ByVal text As String)

This constructor expects as argument the text that the new item will display. Here is an example:

Private Sub btnCreate_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
                                ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnCreate.Click

        Dim lvwCountries As ListView = New ListView
        lvwCountries.Location = New Point(10, 40)
        lvwCountries.Width = 420
        lvwCountries.Height = 160

        Controls.Add(lvwCountries)

        Dim lviPortugal As ListViewItem = New ListViewItem("Portugal")
        lvwCountries.Items.Add(lviPortugal)

End Sub

You can use any of these techniques to create as many items as necessary. Alternatively, if you have many items to create, you can first store them in an array of ListViewItem values, then call the ListView.ListViewItemCollection.AddRange() method. The syntax of this method is:

Public Sub AddRange(ByVal values() As ListViewItem)

This method takes as argument an array of ListViewItem objects. Here is an example:

 
Private Sub btnCreate_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
                                ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnCreate.Click

        Dim lvwCountries As ListView = New ListView
        lvwCountries.Location = New Point(10, 40)
        lvwCountries.Width = 420
        lvwCountries.Height = 160

        Controls.Add(lvwCountries)

        Dim lviPortugal As ListViewItem = New ListViewItem("Portugal")
        lvwCountries.Items.Add(lviPortugal)

        Dim lviCountries() As ListViewItem = {New ListViewItem("Australia"), _
                                               New ListViewItem("Mali"), _
                                               New ListViewItem("Sweden"), _
                                               New ListViewItem("Venezuela")}

        lvwCountries.Items.AddRange(lviCountries)

End Sub

Alternatively, you can create an array of strings and pass it to the following constructor of the ListViewItem class:

Public Sub New(ByVal text As String)
 

Practical Learning Practical Learning: Creating List View Items
  1. To add a new form to the application, on the main menu, click Project -> Add Windows Forms ...
  2. Set the name to NewStoreItem and press Enter
  3. Design the form as follows:
     
    Control Name Text Other Properties
    Label   Item #:  
    TextBox txtItemNumber   Modifiers: Public
    Button btnOK OK DialogResult: OK
    Button btnCancel Cancel DialogResult: Cancel
    Form   New Make AcceptButton: btnOK
    CancelButton: btnCancel
    FormBorderStyle: FixedDialog
    MaximizeBox: False
    MinimizeBox: False
    ShowInTaskbar: False
    StartPosition: CenterScreen
  4. Display the first form (Form1.vb (Design)). Add a Button to it and change its properties as follows:
    (Name): btnNewItem
    Text: New Item
    Anchor: Bottom, Left
  5. Double-click the button
  6. To create a new item, implement the event as follows:
      
    Private Sub btnNewItem_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
			 ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnNewItem.Click
        Dim frmItem As NewStoreItem = New NewStoreItem

        Dim rndNumber As Random = New Random(DateTime.Now.Millisecond)
        Dim number1 As Integer = rndNumber.Next(100, 999)
        Dim number2 As Integer = rndNumber.Next(100, 999)
        Dim itemNumber As String = CStr(number1) & "-" & CStr(number2)

        frmItem.txtItemNumber.Text = itemNumber
        If frmItem.ShowDialog() = DialogResult.OK Then
            Dim lviStoreItem As ListViewItem = New ListViewItem(frmItem.txtItemNumber.Text)
            Me.lvwStoreItems.Items.Add(lviStoreItem)
        End If
End Sub
  7. Return to the first form (Form1.vb (Design)). In the Windows Forms section of the Toolbox, click ContextMenu and click the form
  8. On the form, click ContextMenu and click Type Here. Create the following menu items:
     
    Text (Name) Shortcut
    New Item mnuNewItem CtrlN
    Edit mnuEditItem CtrlE
    Del mnuDelItem Del
    Remove all Items mnuDeleteAll ShiftDel
  9. On the form, click the list view. In the Properties window, set its ContextMenu to contextMenu1
 

List View Items and Their Icons

One of the fundamental differences between a list box and a list view is that this one has a built-in capability to display icons. Unlike the tree view, the list view uses two sets of pictures. This means that two icons would be associated to each item. One of the icons should have a 32x32 pixels size and the other should have a 16x16 pixels size. The set of 32x32 pixels list is referred to as large icons. The other set is referred to as small icons. Before using the pictures, you should first store them in image lists. Each set must be stored in its own ImageList object.

To support the various sets of icons, the ListView class is equipped with a property called LargeImageList for the 32x32 icons and another property called SmallImageList for the 16x16 icons. After creating both ImageList objects, you can assign each to the appropriate property.

When creating an item using the ListView.ListViewItemCollection.Add() method, if you plan to display an icon next to it, you can use the following version of the method:

Overloads Public Overridable Function Add(ByVal text As String, _
   				    ByVal imageIndex As Integer) As ListViewItem

The first argument is the string that will display for the item. The second argument is the index of the icon in the ImageList property. This method returns a reference to the ListViewItem object that was added to the control.

We saw that you can also first create a ListViewItem object to add to the control. If you use this approach and you want the item to display an icon, you can use the following constructor of the TreeViewItem class:

Public Sub New(ByVal text As String, ByVal imageIndex As Integer)

This constructor uses the same arguments as the version of the ListView.ListViewItemCollection.Add() method above. You can also create an array of strings and assign them the same icon. To do this, you can create the item with the following constructor of the TreeViewItem class:

 
Overloads Public Overridable Function Add(ByVal text As String, _
				    ByVal imageIndex As Integer) As ListViewItem
 

Practical LearningPractical Learning: Associating Icons With Nodes
  1. To create an icon, on the main menu, click Project . Add Resource... In the Add Resource dialog box, click Icon and click New
  2. In the Properties window, change the Filename to Babies.ico and design the icon as follows:
     
  3. Right-click a white area in the main window and click New Item Type... In the New Icon Image Type dialog box, make sure 16x16, 16 colors is selected and click OK
  4. Design the icon as follows:
     
  5. To create another icon, on the main menu, click Project . Add Resource...In the Add Resource dialog box, click Icon and click New
  6. In the Properties window, change the Filename to Teens.ico and design it as follows:
     
  7. As done above, display the New Icon Image dialog box and select 16x16, 16 colors
  8. Design the icon as follows:
     
  9. To create another icon, on the main menu, click Project . Add Resource...In the Add Resource dialog box, click Icon and click New
  10. In the Properties window, change the Filename to Women.ico and design it as follows:
     
  11. As done above, display the New Icon Image dialog box and select 16x16, 16 colors
  12. Design the icon as follows:
     
  13. In the Properties window, change the Filename to Men.ico and design it as follows:
     
  14. As done above, display the New Icon Image dialog box and select 16x16, 16 colors
  15. Design the icon as follows:
     
  16. In the Properties window, change the Filename to Misc.ico and design it as follows:
     
  17. As done above, display the New Icon Image dialog box and select 16x16, 16 colors
  18. Design the icon as follows:
     
  19. Save all
  20. Display the first form.
    In the Toolbox, click ImageList and click the form
  21. In the Properties window, change its name to imgLarge
  22. Change the ImageSize to 32, 32
  23. Click the ellipsis button of the Images field
  24. In Image Collection Editor, click Add
  25. Locate the folder that contains the current project and display it in the Look In combo box
  26. Select Babies.ico and click Open
  27. In the same way, add the other pictures in the following order: Teens.ico, Women.ico, Men.ico, and Misc.ico
  28. Click OK
  29. In the Toolbox, click ImageList and click the form
  30. In the Properties window, change its name to imgSmall
  31. In the Properties window, click the ellipsis button of the Images field
  32. In Image Collection Editor, click Add
  33. Select Babies.ico, Teens.ico, Women.ico, Men.ico, and Misc.ico
  34. Click OK
  35. Access the NewStoreItem form and change its design as follows:
     
    Control Name Text Other Properties
    Label   Category:  
    ComboBox cboCategories Miscellaneous Modifiers: Public
    Items: Babies, Teens, Women, Men, Miscellaneous
  36. Display the first form and click the list view on it
  37. In the Properties window, change the following properties:
    LargeImageList: imgLarge
    SmallImageList: imgSmall
  38. Double-click the New Item button and change its Click event as follows:
      
    Private Sub btnNewItem_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnNewItem.Click
        Dim frmItem As NewStoreItem = New NewStoreItem
        Dim icoSelected As Integer = 4
        Dim strCatSelected As String = "Miscellaneous"

        Dim rndNumber As Random = New Random(DateTime.Now.Millisecond)
        Dim number1 As Integer = rndNumber.Next(100, 999)
        Dim number2 As Integer = rndNumber.Next(100, 999)
        Dim itemNumber As String = CStr(number1) & "-" & CStr(number2)

        frmItem.txtItemNumber.Text = itemNumber
        If frmItem.ShowDialog() = DialogResult.OK Then
            strCatSelected = frmItem.cboCategories.Text
        End If

        If strCatSelected = "Babies" Then
            icoSelected = 0
        ElseIf strCatSelected = "Teens" Then
            icoSelected = 1
        ElseIf strCatSelected = "Women" Then
            icoSelected = 2
        ElseIf strCatSelected = "Men" Then
            icoSelected = 3
        End If

        Dim lviStoreItem As ListViewItem = New ListViewItem(frmItem.txtItemNumber.Text, icoSelected)
        Me.lvwStoreItems.Items.Add(lviStoreItem)

End Sub
  39. Execute the application to test it
  40. Try creating an item for each category (use the random numbers generated by the application)
     
  41. Close the form and return to your programming environment

View Styles

To set it apart from the list box, a list view provides various options of displaying its items. To support this, the ListView class is equipped with the View property that is based on the View enumerator. Three of its members are:

  • LargeIcon: In this view, the control displays a list of items using icons with a 32x32 pixels size of icons. The string of the item displays under its corresponding icon:
     
    List View: Large Icons
  • List: Each item appears with a small icon to its left. The first item appears to the left side of the view. The next item (usually in alphabetical order) appears under it, and so on. If there are more items to fit in one column, the list continues with a new column to the right of the previous one. This continues until the list is complete:
     
    List View: List
  • SmallIcon: Like the List option, this view uses small icons to display its items. The icon of an item appears to the left of its string. The first item appears in the top-left section of the view. The next item is positioned to the right of the previous item. The list continues to the right. If there are more items, the subsequent ones display on the next line, until the list is complete
      
    List View Style: Small Icons

As seen so far, you can use one of four different displays on a list view. Furthermore, you can give the user the ability to change views as needed. The different displays of the list view are controlled by the View property of the ListView class. To specify the type of view to use, assign the desired member of the View enumerator to the ListView.View property.

 

Practical LearningPractical Learning: Using View Styles
  1. To create an icon, on the main menu, click Project -> Add New Item...
  2. In the Add New Item dialog box, click Icon File
  3. Set the Name to LrgIcon.ico and press Enter
  4. On the main menu, click Image -> New Item Type...
  5. In the New Icon Image Type dialog box, make sure 16x16, 16 colors is selected and click OK
  6. Design the icon as follows:
     
  7. Right-click the white area -> Current Icon Image Types -> 32x32, 16 Colors
  8. Right-click the white area and click Delete Image Type
  9. To save the file, on the main menu, click File -> Save LrgIcon.ico
  10. To create another icon, on the main menu, click Project -> Add New Item...
  11. In the Add New Item dialog box, click Icon File
  12. Set the Name to SmIcon.ico and press Enter
  13. On the main menu, click Image -> New Item Type...
  14. In the New Icon Image Type dialog box, make sure 16x16, 16 colors is selected and click OK
  15. Design the icon as follows:
     
  16. Right-click the white area -> Current Icon Image Types -> 32x32, 16 Colors
  17. Right-click the white area and click Delete Image Type
  18. To save the file, on the main menu, click File -> Save LrgIcon.ico
  19. To create another icon, on the main menu, click Project -> Add New Item...
  20. In the Add New Item dialog box, click Icon File
  21. Set the Name to List.ico and press Enter
  22. On the main menu, click Image -> New Item Type...
  23. In the New Icon Image Type dialog box, make sure 16x16, 16 colors is selected and click OK
  24. Design the icon as follows:
     
  25. Right-click the white area -> Current Icon Image Types -> 32x32, 16 Colors
  26. Right-click the white area and click Delete Image Type
  27. To save the file, on the main menu, click File -> Save LrgIcon.ico
  28. To create another icon, on the main menu, click Project -> Add New Item...
  29. In the Add New Item dialog box, click Icon File
  30. Set the Name to Details.ico and press Enter
  31. On the main menu, click Image -> New Item Type...
  32. In the New Icon Image Type dialog box, make sure 16x16, 16 colors is selected and click OK
  33. Design the icon as follows:
     
  34. Right-click the white area . Current Icon Image Types . 32x32, 16 Colors
  35. Right-click the white area and click Delete Image Type
  36. Save all
  37. Change the design of the first form as follows:
     
    Control Name Appearance Checked Image
    RadioButton btnLargeIcons Button   LrgIcons.ico
    RadioButton btnSmallIcons Button   SmIcons.ico
    RadioButton btnList Button   List.ico
    RadioButton btnDetails Button True Details.ico
  38. Double-click each of the new buttons from left to right and implement their Click events as follows:
      
    Private Sub btnLargeIcons_CheckedChanged(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
		ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnLargeIcons.CheckedChanged
        lvwStoreItems.View = View.LargeIcon
    End Sub

Private Sub btnSmallIcons_CheckedChanged(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
		ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnSmallIcons.CheckedChanged
        lvwStoreItems.View = View.SmallIcon
End Sub

Private Sub btnList_CheckedChanged(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
		ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnList.CheckedChanged
        lvwStoreItems.View = View.List
End Sub

Private Sub btnDetails_CheckedChanged(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
		ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnDetails.CheckedChanged
        lvwStoreItems.View = View.Details
End Sub
  39. Return to the first form. Under the form, click contextMenu1
  40. On the form, click Context Menu and click Type Here under the other menu items
  41. Type View and click Type Here on its right
  42. Create the sub-menu items and select the events in the Events section of the Properties window as follows:
     
    Menu Text (Name) Event . Click
    Large Icons mnuLargeIcons btnLargeIcons_CheckedChanged
    Small Icons mnuSmallIcons btnSmallIcons_CheckedChanged
    List mnuList btnList_CheckedChanged
    Details mnuDetails btnDetails_CheckedChanged
     
  43. Save all

The Columns of a List View
 

Introduction

Another characteristic that sets the list view apart from the list box is that the former can provide more information about each item of its list. Based on this, each type of item we have created so far can be equipped with its own list of sub-items. The view would appear as follows:

List View Style: Details
 

Creating Columns

Before creating the sub-items of a list view, you may need to plan it first to identify the types of information you want to provide. To guide the user with the type of information that each item would display, you can create a column for each type. To support columns, the ListView class is equipped with the Columns property. The Columns property is an object of type ListView.ColumnHeaderCollection. As its name indicates, the Columns property represents a list of columns. Each column is based on the ColumnHeader class.

To create a column, you can call the ColumnHeaderCollection.Add() method that is overloaded with two versions. One of the versions of this method uses the following syntax:

 
Overloads Public Overridable Function Add(ByVal str As String, _
   				    ByVal width As Integer, _
   				    ByVal textAlign As HorizontalAlignment) As ColumnHeader

The first argument of this method is referred to as the column's caption. It is text that would display in the column header. The second argument is a natural number that represents the distance from the left to the right borders of the column. The last argument specifies how the caption of the column would be aligned. The options are the same as those of the text box: Left, Center, or Right. The default value is Left.

Here is an example of creating a column by calling this method:

 
Private Sub btnCreate_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
                                ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnCreate.Click

        Dim lvwCountries As ListView = New ListView
        lvwCountries.Location = New Point(10, 40)
        lvwCountries.Width = 420
        lvwCountries.Height = 160
        lvwCountries.View = View.Details

        Controls.Add(lvwCountries)

        lvwCountries.Columns.Add("Name", 120, HorizontalAlignment.Left)

End Sub

As mentioned earlier, a column is in fact an object of type ColumnHeader. This class is equipped with all the necessary characteristics of a column header:

  • Caption: The Text property holds the string that displays on top of the column
  • Width: This property represents the width of the column
  • Text Alignment: The TextAlign property specifies the horizontal alignment of its string. This property uses a value of type HorizontalAlignment, which is the same as that of the text box
  • Index: Since the columns are stored in a collection, this property allows you to get the index of this column in the collection it belongs to
  • The Parent List View: If you want to know what list view the current column header belongs to, you can access its ColumnHeader.ListView property

Instead of defining a column in the Add() method, you can first create an object based on the ColumnHeader class and then pass it to the following version of the ColumnHeaderCollection.Add() method:

 
Overloads Public Overridable Function Add(ByVal value As ColumnHeader) As Integer

This method takes as argument a ColumnHeader object. Here is an example:

Private Sub btnCreate_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
                                ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnCreate.Click

        Dim lvwCountries As ListView = New ListView
        lvwCountries.Location = New Point(10, 40)
        lvwCountries.Width = 420
        lvwCountries.Height = 160
        lvwCountries.View = View.Details

        Controls.Add(lvwCountries)

        lvwCountries.Columns.Add("Name", 120, HorizontalAlignment.Left)

        Dim colArea As ColumnHeader = New ColumnHeader
        colArea.Text = "Area"
        colArea.Width = 80
        colArea.TextAlign = HorizontalAlignment.Right
        lvwCountries.Columns.Add(colArea)

End Sub

Instead of adding one column at a time as we have done above, you can first create an array of ColumnHeader objects and pass it to the ListView.ColumnHeaderCollection.AddRange() method. Its syntax is:

Public Overridable Sub AddRange(ByVal values() As ColumnHeader)

Here is an example of using it:

 
Private Sub btnCreate_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
                                ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnCreate.Click

        Dim lvwCountries As ListView = New ListView
        lvwCountries.Location = New Point(10, 40)
        lvwCountries.Width = 420
        lvwCountries.Height = 160
        lvwCountries.View = View.Details

        Controls.Add(lvwCountries)

        lvwCountries.Columns.Add("Name", 120, HorizontalAlignment.Left)

        Dim colArea As ColumnHeader = New ColumnHeader
        colArea.Text = "Area"
        colArea.Width = 80
        colArea.TextAlign = HorizontalAlignment.Right
        lvwCountries.Columns.Add(colArea)

        Dim colPopulation As ColumnHeader = New ColumnHeader
        colPopulation.Text = "Population"
        colPopulation.Width = 78
        colPopulation.TextAlign = HorizontalAlignment.Right

        Dim colCapital As ColumnHeader = New ColumnHeader
        colCapital.Text = "Capital"
        colCapital.Width = 96
        colCapital.TextAlign = HorizontalAlignment.Left

        Dim colCode As ColumnHeader = New ColumnHeader
        colCode.Text = "Code"
        colCode.Width = 40
        colCode.TextAlign = HorizontalAlignment.Center

        Dim cols() As ColumnHeader = {colPopulation, colCapital, colCode}
        lvwCountries.Columns.AddRange(cols)
End Sub
 

Practical LearningPractical Learning: Creating Columns
  1. Display the first form and click its list view
  2. In the Properties window, click Columns and click its ellipsis button
  3. In the ColumnHeader Collection Editor, click Add
  4. In the columnHeader1 properties list, change the following properties
    (Name): colItemNumber
    Text: Item #
    Width: 70
  5. Click Add again and set the new column as follows:
    (Name): colCategory
    Text: Category
    Width: 70
  6. Click Add again and set the new column as follows:
    (Name): colItemName
    Text: Item Name
    Width: 200
  7. Click Add again and set the new column as follows:
    (Name): colItemSize
    Text: Size
    Width: 80
  8. Click Add again and set the new column as follows:
    (Name): colUnitPrice
    Text: Unit Price
    TextAlign: Right
  9. Click Add again and set the new column as follows:
    (Name): colQuantity
    Text: Qty
    TextAlign: Right
  10. Click OK
  11. While the list view is still selected in the form, change its View property to Details:
     
  12. Execute the application to test it
  13. After viewing the form, close it

Inserting Columns

If you call the AddRange() method, its list of columns is created at the end of any existing column, unless there was no other column. If you call the Add() method to create a column, the new column is added to the end of the existing columns, unless it is the first column. If you don't want the new column to simply be created at the end of the other column(s), if any, you can call the ListView.ColumnHeaderCollection.Insert() method. It is overloaded with two versions and their syntaxes are:

Overloads Public Sub Insert(ByVal index As Integer, _
   		             ByVal value As ColumnHeader)
Overloads Public Sub Insert(ByVal index As Integer, _
   		             ByVal str As String, _
   		             ByVal width As Integer, _
   		             ByVal textAlign As HorizontalAlignment)

In both versions, the first argument specifies the index where the new column will be created inside the Columns collection.

 

The Number of Columns of a List View

As reviewed above, the columns of a list view are stored in a collection. To know the number of columns of a list view, you can check its ListView.ColumnHeaderCollection.Count property.

Locating Columns

To find out if a certain column is part of a list view, you can call the ListView.ColumnHeaderCollection.Contains() method. Its syntax is:

Public Function Contains(ByVal value As ColumnHeader) As Boolean

This method takes as argument a defined ColumnHeader object and scans the list of columns looking for it. If it finds it, it returns true. If it doesn't find a column that matches this object, it returns false. As opposed to looking for a column, you can perform two searches in one by calling the ListView.ColumnHeaderCollection.IndexOf() method. Its syntax is:

Public Function IndexOf(ByVal value As ColumnHeader) As Integer

This method looks for the value ColumnHeader. If it finds it, it returns the column's index from the collection. If the method doesn't find it, it returns -1.

Deleting Columns

If you don't need a column any more, you can delete it. In the same way, you can delete all columns of a list view.

To delete a ColumnHeader object, you can call the ListView.ColumnHeaderCollection.Remove() method. Its syntax is:

Public Overridable Sub Remove(ByVal column As ColumnHeader)

To delete a column based on its position in the collection, you can call the ListView.ColumnHeaderCollection.RemoveAt() method. Its syntax is:

Public Overridable Sub RemoveAt(ByVal index As Integer) Implements IList.RemoveAt

To delete all columns of a list view, you can call the ListView.ColumnHeaderCollection.Clear() method. Its syntax is:

Public Overridable Sub Clear() Implements IList.Clear
 

The Sub Items of an Item
 

Introduction

The idea of having columns is to provide more information about each item of a list view instead of a simple string for each. Consider the following example: 

Private Sub btnCreate_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
                                ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnCreate.Click
        Dim lvwCountries As ListView = New ListView
        lvwCountries.Location = New Point(10, 40)
        lvwCountries.Width = 420
        lvwCountries.Height = 100
        lvwCountries.View = View.Details

        Controls.Add(lvwCountries)

        lvwCountries.Columns.Add("Name", 120, HorizontalAlignment.Left)
        Dim colArea As ColumnHeader = New ColumnHeader
        colArea.Text = "Area"
        colArea.Width = 80
        colArea.TextAlign = HorizontalAlignment.Right
        lvwCountries.Columns.Add(colArea)

        Dim colPopulation As ColumnHeader = New ColumnHeader
        colPopulation.Text = "Population"
        colPopulation.Width = 78
        colPopulation.TextAlign = HorizontalAlignment.Right

        Dim colCapital As ColumnHeader = New ColumnHeader
        colCapital.Text = "Capital"
        colCapital.Width = 96
        colCapital.TextAlign = HorizontalAlignment.Left

        Dim colCode As ColumnHeader = New ColumnHeader
        colCode.Text = "Code"
        colCode.Width = 40
        colCode.TextAlign = HorizontalAlignment.Center

        Dim cols() As ColumnHeader = {colPopulation, colCapital, colCode}
        lvwCountries.Columns.AddRange(cols)

        lvwCountries.Items.Add("Egypt")

        Dim lviPortugal As ListViewItem = New ListViewItem("Portugal")
        lvwCountries.Items.Add(lviPortugal)

        Dim lviCountry As ListViewItem = New ListViewItem("Australia")
        lvwCountries.Items.Add(lviCountry)
        lviCountry = New ListViewItem("Mali")
        lvwCountries.Items.Add(lviCountry)
        lviCountry = New ListViewItem("Sweden")
        lvwCountries.Items.Add(lviCountry)
End Sub

To support sub-items, the ListViewItem class is equipped with a property called SubItems. This property is of type ListViewItem.ListViewSubItemCollection. To create a sub-item, you can directly specify its text by passing a string to the ListViewSubItemCollection.Add() method. The ListViewSubItemCollection.Add() method is overloaded with three versions. The version referred to in this case uses the following syntax: 

Overloads Public Function Add(ByVal text As String) As ListViewSubItem

To identify each piece of information concerning a sub-item, the ListViewSubItemCollection class is equipped with a property called Item, which in turn is based on the ListViewSubItem class. As you can see, this method returns a ListViewSubItem value.

Here are two examples of calling the above Add() method: 

Private Sub btnCreate_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
                                ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnCreate.Click
        Dim lvwCountries As ListView = New ListView
        lvwCountries.Location = New Point(10, 40)
        lvwCountries.Width = 420
        lvwCountries.Height = 100
        lvwCountries.View = View.Details

        Controls.Add(lvwCountries)

        lvwCountries.Columns.Add("Name", 120, HorizontalAlignment.Left)
        Dim colArea As ColumnHeader = New ColumnHeader
        colArea.Text = "Area(km2)"
        colArea.Width = 80
        colArea.TextAlign = HorizontalAlignment.Right
        lvwCountries.Columns.Add(colArea)

        Dim colPopulation As ColumnHeader = New ColumnHeader
        colPopulation.Text = "Population"
        colPopulation.Width = 78
        colPopulation.TextAlign = HorizontalAlignment.Right

        Dim colCapital As ColumnHeader = New ColumnHeader
        colCapital.Text = "Capital"
        colCapital.Width = 96
        colCapital.TextAlign = HorizontalAlignment.Left

        Dim colCode As ColumnHeader = New ColumnHeader
        colCode.Text = "Code"
        colCode.Width = 40
        colCode.TextAlign = HorizontalAlignment.Center

        Dim cols() As ColumnHeader = {colPopulation, colCapital, colCode}
        lvwCountries.Columns.AddRange(cols)

        Dim lviEgypt As ListViewItem = lvwCountries.Items.Add("Egypt")
        lviEgypt.SubItems.Add("1,001,450")
        lviEgypt.SubItems.Add("74,718,797")
        lviEgypt.SubItems.Add("Cairo")
        lviEgypt.SubItems.Add("eg")

        Dim lviPortugal As ListViewItem = New ListViewItem("Portugal")
        lviPortugal.SubItems.Add("92,391")
        lviPortugal.SubItems.Add("10,102,022")
        lviPortugal.SubItems.Add("Lisbon")
        lviPortugal.SubItems.Add("pt")
        lvwCountries.Items.Add(lviPortugal)

        Dim lviCountry As ListViewItem = New ListViewItem("Australia")
        lvwCountries.Items.Add(lviCountry)

        lviCountry = New ListViewItem("Mali")
        lvwCountries.Items.Add(lviCountry)

        lviCountry = New ListViewItem("Sweden")
        lvwCountries.Items.Add(lviCountry)
End Sub

As mentioned above, each sub-item is of type ListViewSubItem. The ListViewSubItem class is equipped with three constructors. The default allows you to create an empty sub-item. After declaring a sub-item, you can specify its text by assigning the desired string to the ListViewSubItem.Text property. Instead of directly passing the text of a sub-item to the ListViewSubItemCollection.Add() method as done above, you can first define a ListViewSubItem object using the following constructor of the ListViewSubItem class: 

Public Sub New(ByVal owner As ListViewItem, ByVal text As String)

The first argument of this constructor specifies the ListViewItem object that this sub-item will belong to. The second argument is simply the string that this sub-item will display. After defining a ListViewSubItem object, you can pass it to the following version of the ListViewSubItemCollection.Add() method: 

Overloads Public Function Add(ByVal item As ListViewItem.ListViewSubItem) As ListViewSubItem

Here are three examples of using it: 
Private Sub btnCreate_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
                                ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnCreate.Click
        Dim lvwCountries As ListView = New ListView
        lvwCountries.Location = New Point(10, 40)
        lvwCountries.Width = 420
        lvwCountries.Height = 100
        lvwCountries.View = View.Details

        Controls.Add(lvwCountries)

        lvwCountries.Columns.Add("Name", 120, HorizontalAlignment.Left)
        Dim colArea As ColumnHeader = New ColumnHeader
        colArea.Text = "Area(km2)"
        colArea.Width = 80
        colArea.TextAlign = HorizontalAlignment.Right
        lvwCountries.Columns.Add(colArea)

        Dim colPopulation As ColumnHeader = New ColumnHeader
        colPopulation.Text = "Population"
        colPopulation.Width = 78
        colPopulation.TextAlign = HorizontalAlignment.Right

        Dim colCapital As ColumnHeader = New ColumnHeader
        colCapital.Text = "Capital"
        colCapital.Width = 96
        colCapital.TextAlign = HorizontalAlignment.Left

        Dim colCode As ColumnHeader = New ColumnHeader
        colCode.Text = "Code"
        colCode.Width = 40
        colCode.TextAlign = HorizontalAlignment.Center

        Dim cols() As ColumnHeader = {colPopulation, colCapital, colCode}
        lvwCountries.Columns.AddRange(cols)

        Dim lviEgypt As ListViewItem = lvwCountries.Items.Add("Egypt")
        lviEgypt.SubItems.Add("1,001,450")
        lviEgypt.SubItems.Add("74,718,797")
        lviEgypt.SubItems.Add("Cairo")
        lviEgypt.SubItems.Add("eg")

        Dim lviPortugal As ListViewItem = New ListViewItem("Portugal")
        lviPortugal.SubItems.Add("92,391")
        lviPortugal.SubItems.Add("10,102,022")
        lviPortugal.SubItems.Add("Lisbon")
        lviPortugal.SubItems.Add("pt")
        lvwCountries.Items.Add(lviPortugal)

        Dim lviAustralia As ListViewItem = New ListViewItem("Australia")
        Dim subAustralia As ListViewItem.ListViewSubItem = New ListViewItem.ListViewSubItem(lviAustralia, "7,686,850")
        lviAustralia.SubItems.Add(subAustralia)
        subAustralia = New ListViewItem.ListViewSubItem(lviAustralia, "19,731,984")
        lviAustralia.SubItems.Add(subAustralia)
        subAustralia = New ListViewItem.ListViewSubItem(lviAustralia, "Canberra")
        lviAustralia.SubItems.Add(subAustralia)
        subAustralia = New ListViewItem.ListViewSubItem(lviAustralia, "au")
        lviAustralia.SubItems.Add(subAustralia)
        lvwCountries.Items.Add(lviAustralia)

        Dim lviMali As ListViewItem = New ListViewItem("Mali")
        Dim subMali As ListViewItem.ListViewSubItem = New ListViewItem.ListViewSubItem(lviMali, "1.24 millions")
        lviMali.SubItems.Add(subMali)
        subMali = New ListViewItem.ListViewSubItem(lviMali, "11,626219")
        lviMali.SubItems.Add(subMali)
        subMali = New ListViewItem.ListViewSubItem(lviMali, "Bamako")
        lviMali.SubItems.Add(subMali)
        subMali = New ListViewItem.ListViewSubItem(lviMali, "ml")
        lviMali.SubItems.Add(subMali)
        lvwCountries.Items.Add(lviMali)

        Dim lviSweden As ListViewItem = New ListViewItem("Sweden")
        Dim subSweden As ListViewItem.ListViewSubItem = New ListViewItem.ListViewSubItem(lviSweden, "449,964")
        lviSweden.SubItems.Add(subSweden)
        subSweden = New ListViewItem.ListViewSubItem(lviSweden, "8,878,085")
        lviSweden.SubItems.Add(subSweden)
        subSweden = New ListViewItem.ListViewSubItem(lviSweden, "Stockholm")
        lviSweden.SubItems.Add(subSweden)
        subSweden = New ListViewItem.ListViewSubItem(lviSweden, "se")
        lviSweden.SubItems.Add(subSweden)
        lvwCountries.Items.Add(lviSweden)
    End Sub

If you call the ListViewItem.ListViewSubItemCollection.Add() method to create a sub-item, the new one would be added to end of the list. If you want, you can insert the new sub-item somewhere inside the collection. To do this, you would call the ListViewItem.ListViewSubItemCollection.Insert() method. Its syntax is: 

Public Sub Insert(ByVal index As Integer, ByVal item As ListViewItem.ListViewSubItem)

The first argument is the index that the new sub-item will occupy after being inserted. The second argument is the sub-item to create.

Practical LearningPractical Learning: Creating Sub-Items

  1. Display the New Store Item form and change its design as follows:
     
    Control Name Text Other Properties
    Label   Category:  
    ComboBox cboCategories Miscellaneous Modifiers: Public
    Items: Babies, Teens, Women, Men, Miscellaneous
    Label   Item Name:  
    TextBox txtItemName    
    Label   Item Size:  
    TextBox txtItemSize    
    Label   Quantity:  
    TextBox txtQuantity    
    Label   Unit Price:  
    TextBox txtUnitPrice   TextAlign: Right
    Label   Item #:  
  2. Display the first form and double-click its New Item button
  3. Change its Click event as follows:
      
    Private Sub btnNewItem_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnNewItem.Click
        Dim frmItem As NewStoreItem = New NewStoreItem
        Dim icoSelected As Integer = 4

        Dim rndNumber As Random = New Random(DateTime.Now.Millisecond)
        Dim number1 As Integer = rndNumber.Next(100, 999)
        Dim number2 As Integer = rndNumber.Next(100, 999)
        Dim itemNumber As String = CStr(number1) & "-" & CStr(number2)

        frmItem.txtItemNumber.Text = itemNumber
        If frmItem.ShowDialog() = DialogResult.OK Then
            Dim strCatSelected As String = frmItem.cboCategories.Text
            Dim strItemName As String = frmItem.txtItemName.Text
            Dim strItemSize As String = frmItem.txtItemSize.Text
            Dim strQuantity As String = frmItem.txtQuantity.Text
            Dim strUnitPrice As String = frmItem.txtUnitPrice.Text
            Dim strItemNumber As String = frmItem.txtItemNumber.Text

            ' If the user didn't provide a name for the item,
            ' don't do anything
            If strItemName = "" Then Exit Sub

            ' Make sure the user entered a unit price
            If strItemNumber = "" Then Exit Sub

            If strCatSelected = "Babies" Then
                icoSelected = 0
            ElseIf strCatSelected = "Teens" Then
                icoSelected = 1
            ElseIf strCatSelected = "Women" Then
                icoSelected = 2
            ElseIf strCatSelected = "Men" Then
                icoSelected = 3
            End If

            Dim lviStoreItem As ListViewItem = New ListViewItem(strItemNumber, icoSelected)
            lviStoreItem.SubItems.Add(strCatSelected)
            lviStoreItem.SubItems.Add(strItemName)
            lviStoreItem.SubItems.Add(strItemSize)
            lviStoreItem.SubItems.Add(strUnitPrice)
            lviStoreItem.SubItems.Add(strQuantity)
            lvwStoreItems.Items.Add(lviStoreItem)
        End If
End Sub
  4. Execute the application and create a few items as follows (let the computer generate store numbers):
      
    Category Item Name Size Unit Price Qty
    Women Cashmere Lined Glove 8 115.95 12
    Miscellaneous Chocolate Gift Box Medium 45.00 5
    Men Trendy Jacket Medium 45.85 8
    Women Stretch Flare Jeans Petite 27.75 6
    Women Belted Sweater L 15.95 10
    Teens Girls Classy Handbag One Size 95.95 4
    Women Casual Dress Shoes 9.5M 45.95 16
    Babies Infant Girls Ballerina Dress 12M 22.85 14
    Teens Girls Velour Dress 10 12.55 8
    Women Lace Desire Panty M 7.15 22
    Teens Boys Hooded Sweatshirt M (7/8) 15.95 6
    Men Classic Pinstripe Suit 38 145.95 8
     
  5. Close the form and return to your programming environment

Managing Sub Items

When you create a new sub-item, it uses a default font and a black color on a white background. If you want, you can change the way a sub-item aesthetically displays. To allow these changes, the ListViewItem class is equipped with the UseItemStyleForSubItems Boolean property, whose default value is true. When this property is set to true, the compiler refers to the item that "owns" the current sub-item to paint the sub-item, as we will see in the next section. If you plan to change these aspects, you must first set this property to false.

After setting the ListViewItem.UseItemStyleForSubItems property to false, you can set the following properties of the ListViewSubItem class as you wish:

To restore these settings on the sub-item, you can call the ListViewItem.ListViewSubItem.ResetStyle() method. Its syntax is: 

Public Sub ResetStyle()

When called, this method resets the font, the text color, and the background color.

Managing Items of a List View
 

The Font, Text Color, and Background of an Item

After adding an item to a list view, the new item assumes some default styles involving the font, the color, and the background. To enhance the appearance of the items, you can change these characteristics that are primarily controlled by the ListViewItem.UseItemStyleForSubItems Boolean property. Its default value is true. You can use it to change the properties of an item as follows:

Practical LearningPractical Learning: Applying Aesthetic Effects
  1. To apply aesthetic effects, change the Click event of the New Item button as follows:
      
    Private Sub btnNewItem_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnNewItem.Click
        Dim frmItem As NewStoreItem = New NewStoreItem
        Dim icoSelected As Integer = 4
        Static rowCurrent As Integer = 2

        Dim rndNumber As Random = New Random(DateTime.Now.Millisecond)
        Dim number1 As Integer = rndNumber.Next(100, 999)
        Dim number2 As Integer = rndNumber.Next(100, 999)
        Dim itemNumber As String = CStr(number1) & "-" & CStr(number2)

        frmItem.txtItemNumber.Text = itemNumber
        If frmItem.ShowDialog() = DialogResult.OK Then
            Dim strCatSelected As String = frmItem.cboCategories.Text
            Dim strItemName As String = frmItem.txtItemName.Text
            Dim strItemSize As String = frmItem.txtItemSize.Text
            Dim strQuantity As String = frmItem.txtQuantity.Text
            Dim strUnitPrice As String = frmItem.txtUnitPrice.Text
            Dim strItemNumber As String = frmItem.txtItemNumber.Text

            ' If the user didn't provide a name for the item,
            ' don't do anything
            If strItemName = "" Then Exit Sub

            ' Make sure the user entered a unit price
            If strItemNumber = "" Then Exit Sub

            If strCatSelected = "Babies" Then
                icoSelected = 0
            ElseIf strCatSelected = "Teens" Then
                icoSelected = 1
            ElseIf strCatSelected = "Women" Then
                icoSelected = 2
            ElseIf strCatSelected = "Men" Then
                icoSelected = 3
            End If

            Dim lviStoreItem As ListViewItem = New ListViewItem(strItemNumber, icoSelected)
            If rowCurrent Mod 2 = 0 Then
                lviStoreItem.BackColor = Color.FromArgb(255, 155, 0)
                lviStoreItem.ForeColor = Color.White
            Else
                lviStoreItem.BackColor = Color.FromArgb(255, 215, 150)
                lviStoreItem.ForeColor = Color.Black
            End If

            lviStoreItem.SubItems.Add(strCatSelected)
            lviStoreItem.SubItems.Add(strItemName)
            lviStoreItem.SubItems.Add(strItemSize)
            lviStoreItem.SubItems.Add(strUnitPrice)
            lviStoreItem.SubItems.Add(strQuantity)
            lvwStoreItems.Items.Add(lviStoreItem)

            rowCurrent = rowCurrent + 1
        End If
End Sub
  2. Execute the application and test the form by creating four different records
     
  3. Close the form and return to your programming environment

Locating a List View Item

The items of a list view are stores in a collection represented by the ListView.Items property. To know the number of items in the list, you can retrieve the value of the ListViewItemCollection.Count property. Each member of this collection has an index represented by the ListViewItemCollection.Index property.

You can also locate an item using the coordinates of a point inside its bounding area. To use this technique, you can call the GetItemAt() method of the ListView class. Its syntax is:

Public Function GetItemAt(ByVal x As Integer, ByVal y As Integer) As ListViewItem

This method expects the coordinates (x, y) of a point. If an item is found at that point, this method returns it. If there is no item at that point, the method returns 0.

Deleting Items

To delete an item from a list view, you can call the ListView.ListViewItemCollection.Remove() method. Its syntax is:

Public Overridable Sub Remove(ByVal item As ListViewItem)

This method takes as argument the ListViewItem object to be deleted. If you are already positioned at that item, you can call its own ListViewItem.Remove() method. Its syntax is:

Public Overridable Sub Remove()

To delete an item based on its index, you can call the ListViewItemCollection.RemoveAt() method whose syntax is:

Public Overridable Sub RemoveAt(ByVal index As Integer) Implements IList.RemoveAt

When calling this method, you must pass the index of the undesired item. If the item is found, it would be deleted. If you provide a negative index or one that is higher than the ListViewItemCollection.Count property, the compiler would throw an ArgumentOutOfRangeException exception.

To delete all items from a list view, you can call the ListViewItemCollection.Clear() method. Its syntax is:

Public Overridable Sub Clear() Implements IList.Clear

When called, this method removes all items of the list view.

 

Characteristics of a List View
 

Column Header Style

If you create columns for your list view, when the user displays the detail view, the column headers appear and behave like regular buttons. This also means that the user can click a column header and you can take action. If you don't want this appearance and this behavior, you can make the columns appear flat. This characteristics is controlled by the HeaderStyle property of the ListView class. This property is based on the ColumnHeaderStyle enumerator. Its members are:

Selecting Items in a List View

To select an item in the list, the user can click it. The selected item indicates this by being highlighted. To select another item, the user can click it and this automatically dismisses the previous selection. If you want, you can give the user the ability to select more than one item or you can prevent the user from selecting more than one item. This characteristic is controlled by the MultiSelect property of the ListView class. Its default value is true, which allows the user to select one or more items. If you set it to false, the user can select only one item at a time.

You can also allow the user to select an item by positioning the mouse over it. This characteristic is controlled by the HoverSelection property of the ListView class.

When an item has been selected or more than one item are selected, the selected items are stored in a list represented by the SelectedItems property of the ListView class. The ListView.SelectedItems property is an object based on the ListView.SelectedListViewItemCollection class. If the ListView.MultiSelect property is set to false, this collection would contain only one item.

The number of items selected in the control is known as the Count property of the SelectedListViewItemCollection class. Each item selected can be identified through the Item indexed property of the SelectedListViewItemCollection class.

The SelectedListViewItemCollection class holds a list of the objects that are selected and each is identified as a ListViewItem. If you are more interested in the positions of the items selected and not necessarily their references, you can use the SelectedIndices property of the ListView class. Each item selected has its index stored in this list. The ListView.SelectedIndices property is based on the ListView.SelectedIndexCollection class.

After selecting an item, if the user clicks another control, the item that was selected would not be highlighted anymore. If you want the control to continue showing the current selection even when the list view loses focus, set the value of the HideSelection Boolean property of the ListView class accordingly.

 

Practical LearningPractical Learning: Managing List View Items
  1. In the Class Name, select lvwStoreItems
  2. In the Method Name, select DoubleClick and implement the event as follows:
      
    Private Sub lvwStoreItems_DoubleClick(ByVal sender As Object, _
		ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles lvwStoreItems.DoubleClick
        If lvwStoreItems.SelectedItems.Count = 0 Or _
                    lvwStoreItems.SelectedItems.Count > 1 Then Exit Sub

        Dim lviCurrent As ListViewItem = lvwStoreItems.SelectedItems.Item(0)

        Dim frmItem As NewStoreItem = New NewStoreItem

        frmItem.txtItemNumber.Text = lviCurrent.Text
        frmItem.cboCategories.Text = lviCurrent.SubItems.Item(1).Text
        frmItem.txtItemName.Text = lviCurrent.SubItems.Item(2).Text
        frmItem.txtItemSize.Text = lviCurrent.SubItems.Item(3).Text
        frmItem.txtUnitPrice.Text = lviCurrent.SubItems.Item(4).Text
        frmItem.txtQuantity.Text = lviCurrent.SubItems.Item(5).Text

        If frmItem.ShowDialog() = DialogResult.OK Then
            lvwStoreItems.SelectedItems.Item(0).Text = frmItem.txtItemNumber.Text
            lvwStoreItems.SelectedItems.Item(0).SubItems.Item(1).Text = frmItem.cboCategories.Text
            lvwStoreItems.SelectedItems.Item(0).SubItems.Item(2).Text = frmItem.txtItemName.Text
            lvwStoreItems.SelectedItems.Item(0).SubItems.Item(3).Text = frmItem.txtItemSize.Text
            lvwStoreItems.SelectedItems.Item(0).SubItems.Item(4).Text = frmItem.txtUnitPrice.Text
            lvwStoreItems.SelectedItems.Item(0).SubItems.Item(5).Text = frmItem.txtQuantity.Text
        End If
End Sub
  3. In the Class name combo box, select mnuDelItem
  4. In the Method Name combo box, select Click and implement its event as follows:
      
    Private Sub mnuDelItem_Click(ByVal sender As Object, _
		ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles mnuDelItem.Click
        If lvwStoreItems.SelectedItems.Count = 0 Then Exit Sub

        Dim answer As System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult
        answer = MsgBox("Are you sure you want to remove this item from the inventory?", _
                                             MsgBoxStyle.YesNo, "Deletion Warning")
        If answer = DialogResult.Yes Then
            lvwStoreItems.SelectedItems.Item(0).Remove()
        End If
End Sub
  5. In the Class name combo box, select mnuDeleteAll
  6. In the Method Name combo box, select Click and implement its event as follows:
      
    Private Sub mnuDeleteAll_Click(ByVal sender As Object, _
		ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles mnuDeleteAll.Click
        lvwStoreItems.Items.Clear()
End Sub
  7. Save all

Full Row Selection

By default, to select an item, the user must click the item itself and not one of its sub-items. If you want an item and its sub-items to be selected when the user clicks anything on their line, you can change the value of the ListView.FullRowSelect Boolean property. Its default value is set to false, which obliges the user to click the item itself. If you set this property to true, the whole row would be highlighted when either you or the user selects it.

 

Practical Learning Practical Learning: Allowing Full Row Selection
  1. To allow the user to select a whole when clicking an item, set the list view's FullRowSelect property to True
  2. Save all

Grid Lines

When using the detail view, to make a list view more indicative, you can underline each row. This characteristic is controlled by the GridLines Boolean property of the ListView class. The default value of this property is false. If you set it to true, horizontal grid lines would appear among items throughout the list view, including empty rows:

 
Private Sub btnCreate_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
                                ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnCreate.Click
        Dim lvwCountries As ListView = New ListView
        lvwCountries.Location = New Point(10, 40)
        lvwCountries.Width = 420
        lvwCountries.Height = 100
        lvwCountries.View = View.Details
        lvwCountries.GridLines = true

        Controls.Add(lvwCountries)

        . . .

End Sub
 

Practical Learning Practical Learning: Writing Code For a Toolbar
  1. To display grid lines, set the list view's GridLines property to true
  2. Execute the application and create the list of items we had earlier
     
  3. Close the form(s)

List Items and Check Boxes

Besides, or instead of, icons, you can display check boxes with the items of a list view. This characteristic is controlled by the CheckBoxes property. Its default value is false, which omits displaying the check boxes. If you set it to true, a check box would appear on the left of each item of the list view:

 
Private Sub btnCreate_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
                                ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnCreate.Click
        Dim lvwCountries As ListView = New ListView
        lvwCountries.Location = New Point(10, 40)
        lvwCountries.Width = 420
        lvwCountries.Height = 100
        lvwCountries.View = View.Details
        lvwCountries.GridLines = true
        lvwCountries.CheckBoxes = true

        Controls.Add(lvwCountries)

        . . .

End Sub
 

 
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