Question

For example, i have a class (User) and 30 values (properties), 10 of them i display in DataGridView as columns, but other (settings for each user (timeout to make requests for example, any other BL values)) about 20 values, i just want to store together in XML file (i could make Serialize/Deserialize).

So, i need to store anywhere this not displayed 20 values, what is the best practise for this?
Is it hidden column in DataGridView or anything else?

As i could understand, i have to store it together, but where i could do it? Should i make relationship between two block of stored data (User[10 values] + User[20 values]) to make them after that serialize in XML?

Answer 1

The best practice as I have used frequently, is to retrieve all your data in a collection like List, DataTable, EntityCollection, ... or any IEnumerable Type and bind it to your DataGridView which has AutoGenerateColumns = false. In this case you should have manually added the specific columns to the DataGridView in designer or code. The code approach would be like this:

// say this is your User class with 9 fields
public class User
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string LastName { get; set; }
    public string FatherName { get; set; }
    public string Telephone { get; set; }
    public string Mobile { get; set; }
    public string Username { get; set; }
    public string Password { get; set; }
    public bool IsActive { get; set; }
    public DateTime LastLoginDate { get; set; }
}
// and your Form1 class would be like this
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
    public Form1()
    {
        InitializeComponent();

        dataGridView1.AutoGenerateColumns = false;
        // say you want to show, only the first 5 fields of your Entity
        dataGridView1.Columns.Add(new DataGridViewTextBoxColumn { HeaderText = "Name", DataPropertyName = "Name", Width=100 });
        dataGridView1.Columns.Add(new DataGridViewTextBoxColumn { HeaderText = "Last Name", DataPropertyName = "LastName", Width = 100 });
        dataGridView1.Columns.Add(new DataGridViewTextBoxColumn { HeaderText = "Father's Name", DataPropertyName = "FatherName" });
        dataGridView1.Columns.Add(new DataGridViewTextBoxColumn { HeaderText = "Telephone", DataPropertyName = "Tel", Width = 50 });
        dataGridView1.Columns.Add(new DataGridViewTextBoxColumn { HeaderText = "Mobile", DataPropertyName = "Mobile", Width = 50 });
    }

    private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        List<User> list = new List<User>();

        list.Add(new User { Name="aaa", LastName="bbbb", FatherName="ccc", Tel="01111", Mobile="099999" });

        dataGridView1.DataSource = list.ToArray();
    }
}