DataGridView comboBox with different dataSources for each cell

Question

I am trying to create a DataGridView that holds configuration information.

The available values can change for each row within a column based on the values in a different column so I can't attach a single datasource to the comboBox column. As an example: If you select car, the availalbe colors should be limited to colors available for that model.

Car                 ColorsAvailable
Camry               {white,black}
CRV                 {white,black}
Pilot               {silver,sage}

The reason for considering the dataGridView is so that the operator can add rows for additional cars.

What is a good design to implement this type of a UI?

Answer 1

You can set the DataSource separately on each DataGridViewComboBoxCell:

private void dataGridView1_CellEndEdit(object sender, DataGridViewCellEventArgs e)
{
    if (e.ColumnIndex == 0) // presuming "car" in first column
    { // presuming "ColorsAvailable" in second column
        var cbCell = dataGridView1.Rows[e.RowIndex].Cells[1] as DataGridViewComboBoxCell;
        string[] colors = { "white", "black" };
        switch (dataGridView1.Rows[e.RowIndex].Cells[0].Value.ToString())
        {
            case "Pilot": colors = new string[] { "silver", "sage" }; break;
                // case "other": add other colors
        }

        cbCell.DataSource = colors;
    }
}

If your colors (and maybe even cars) are strong types like enumerators of course you should use those types instead of the strings I'm switching on and inserting here...