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Matrix representation

Hi everyone,

I would like to represent a 2D matrix in a graphic interface, so could someone tell me which component I can use to do this in visual studio. Than you for any help.

Regards

CardSpace

AsToni Wednesday, September 09, 2009 8:45 AM

Hi AsToni,

From my experience, we can use the DataGridView to display a matrix. We can set the RowHeadersVisible and ColumnHeadersVisible properties to false to hide the headers.If we want to show a new matrix within a cell, we need to add a child DataGridView to the main DataGridView to cover the cell region and load matrix data to it.
This is a code snippet shows how to embed a child DataGridView to the main DataGridView:

//Create and initialize the DataGridView.
DataGridView view = new DataGridView();
view.ColumnHeadersVisible = false;
view.RowHeadersVisible = false;
//Adjust the location and size of the new DataGridView to cover the cell.
view.Bounds = this.dataGridView1.GetCellDisplayRectangle(this.dataGridView1.CurrentCell.ColumnIndex, this.dataGridView1.CurrentCell.RowIndex, true);
//Load data to dataGridView here.
this.dataGridView1.Controls.Add(view);

We can also create our own control to draw the matrix data. This is a code snippet:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace MyForm.DrawSomething
{
    public partial class DrawMatrixForm : Form
    {
        public DrawMatrixForm()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private void DrawMatrixForm_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            MatrixCtrl ctrl = new MatrixCtrl();
            ctrl.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
            ctrl.Matrix = new int[][] { new int[] { 1, 2 }, new int[] { 3, 4 }, new int[] { 5, 6 } };
            this.Controls.Add(ctrl);
        }
    }

    public class MatrixCtrl : Control
    {
        //Matrix data.
        private int[][] _matrix = null;
        //The size of each cell.
        private Size _cellSize = Size.Empty;

        public int[][] Matrix
        {
            get { return _matrix; }
            set 
            { 
                _matrix = value;                
            }
        }

        protected override void OnPaint(PaintEventArgs e)
        {
            base.OnPaint(e);
            if (_matrix != null && _cellSize == Size.Empty)
             {
                //Initialize the cell size.
                _cellSize.Width = this.ClientRectangle.Width / _matrix[0].Length;
                _cellSize.Height = this.ClientRectangle.Height / _matrix.Length;
            }

            //Draw cells including cells and borders.
            if (_matrix != null && _cellSize != Size.Empty)
            {
                for (int i = 0; i < _matrix.Length; i++)
                    for (int j = 0; j < _matrix[0].Length; j++)
                    {
                        this.DrawCell(i, j, e.Graphics);
                    }
            }
        }

        private void DrawCell(int i, int j, Graphics g)
        {
            //Calculate the cell bounds.
            Rectangle rect = new Rectangle();
            rect.X = j * _cellSize.Width;
            rect.Y = i * _cellSize.Height;
            rect.Size = _cellSize;

            //Draw the data.
            using (Brush b = new SolidBrush(this.ForeColor))
            {
                g.DrawString(_matrix[i][j].ToString(), this.Font, b, rect,Format);
            }
            //Draw the borders.
            g.DrawRectangle(Pens.Black, rect);
        }
        
        private static StringFormat Format
        {
            get
            {
                if (_format == null)
                {
                    _format = new StringFormat();
                    _format.LineAlignment = StringAlignment.Center;
                    _format.Alignment = StringAlignment.Center;
                }

                return _format;
            }
        }
        private static StringFormat _format = null;
    }
}

Regards,
Aland Li

Please mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark if they don't. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Marked As Answer byAland LiMSFT, ModeratorWednesday, September 16, 2009 10:33 AM

Aland Li Friday, September 11, 2009 4:44 AM

What kind of data is it..you may use datagrid to represent it..

Bharath kumar Y.S Wednesday, September 09, 2009 8:58 AM

Yes I know this one, but I would like to know if there is another component more advance for a matrix, so I can represent different nested levels. For example, a cell can be expanded and show another matrix within itself.

CardSpace

AsToni Wednesday, September 09, 2009 9:10 AM

//Create and initialize the DataGridView.
DataGridView view = new DataGridView();
view.ColumnHeadersVisible = false;
view.RowHeadersVisible = false;
//Adjust the location and size of the new DataGridView to cover the cell.
view.Bounds = this.dataGridView1.GetCellDisplayRectangle(this.dataGridView1.CurrentCell.ColumnIndex, this.dataGridView1.CurrentCell.RowIndex, true);
//Load data to dataGridView here.
this.dataGridView1.Controls.Add(view);

We can also create our own control to draw the matrix data. This is a code snippet:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace MyForm.DrawSomething
{
    public partial class DrawMatrixForm : Form
    {
        public DrawMatrixForm()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private void DrawMatrixForm_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            MatrixCtrl ctrl = new MatrixCtrl();
            ctrl.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
            ctrl.Matrix = new int[][] { new int[] { 1, 2 }, new int[] { 3, 4 }, new int[] { 5, 6 } };
            this.Controls.Add(ctrl);
        }
    }

    public class MatrixCtrl : Control
    {
        //Matrix data.
        private int[][] _matrix = null;
        //The size of each cell.
        private Size _cellSize = Size.Empty;

        public int[][] Matrix
        {
            get { return _matrix; }
            set 
            { 
                _matrix = value;                
            }
        }

        protected override void OnPaint(PaintEventArgs e)
        {
            base.OnPaint(e);
            if (_matrix != null && _cellSize == Size.Empty)
             {
                //Initialize the cell size.
                _cellSize.Width = this.ClientRectangle.Width / _matrix[0].Length;
                _cellSize.Height = this.ClientRectangle.Height / _matrix.Length;
            }

            //Draw cells including cells and borders.
            if (_matrix != null && _cellSize != Size.Empty)
            {
                for (int i = 0; i < _matrix.Length; i++)
                    for (int j = 0; j < _matrix[0].Length; j++)
                    {
                        this.DrawCell(i, j, e.Graphics);
                    }
            }
        }

        private void DrawCell(int i, int j, Graphics g)
        {
            //Calculate the cell bounds.
            Rectangle rect = new Rectangle();
            rect.X = j * _cellSize.Width;
            rect.Y = i * _cellSize.Height;
            rect.Size = _cellSize;

            //Draw the data.
            using (Brush b = new SolidBrush(this.ForeColor))
            {
                g.DrawString(_matrix[i][j].ToString(), this.Font, b, rect,Format);
            }
            //Draw the borders.
            g.DrawRectangle(Pens.Black, rect);
        }
        
        private static StringFormat Format
        {
            get
            {
                if (_format == null)
                {
                    _format = new StringFormat();
                    _format.LineAlignment = StringAlignment.Center;
                    _format.Alignment = StringAlignment.Center;
                }

                return _format;
            }
        }
        private static StringFormat _format = null;
    }
}