The ASPxGridLookup editor combines the functionality of the ASPxDropDownEdit and ASPxGridView controls to allow end-users to easily select values from a dropdown grid containing lookup items. The ASPxGridView control is seamlessly embedded into the editor's dropdown window, providing the editor with a powerful customizable data-processing and data-representation functionality. The ASPxGridLookup emulates a combo box that allows end-users to select multiple items within its dropdown list in the demo.
One of the major data-processing features adopted from the ASPxGridView is allowing end-users to select multiple list items within the dropdown grid. The selection behavior is controlled by the editor's SelectionMode property that can be set to Single (only one item can be selected within the editor) or Multiple (multiple items can be selected within the editor) value. This demo illustrates how item multi-selection can be easily implemented within the ASPxGridLookup using the corresponding functionality of a built-in grid.
In this demo, the SelectionMode property is set to Multiple. End-users can select items by clicking check boxes within the dropdown grid or by entering tag names separated with a comma into the editor's edit box.
To display check boxes within a dropdown grid, a specific command column is created and its ShowSelectCheckbox property is set to true. In addition, end-users are allowed to filter items within the dropdown grid because to the editor's GridSettings.ShowFilterRow property is set to true.
As for entering tag names into the editor's edit box directly, this functionality is controlled by the TextFormatString property that defines a column ("TagName") whose values should be entered and represented within the edit box. By default, a semicolon symbol is used as a value separator. List items (grid rows) that correspond to the entered tag names become selected automatically on submitting the entered value (for instance, pressing the ENTER key or invoking the dropdown window).
When used together, all these features provide end-users with easy-to-use capabilities of searching and selecting the required data.