Select cell in dataGridView by header text

Question

I'm looping through rows in a datagridview, and selecting a cell from the 3rd column each time:

Dim customer_name as String
For Each dgvr As DataGridViewRow In myDataGridView.Rows
   customer_name= dgvr.Cells(2).Value
   '....
next dgvr

However, I'd really like to make it dynamic, in case a new column gets added to the grid, so that I need the 4th column, not the 3rd.

Ideally I'd like to use the column's header text. So something like...

customer_name= dgvr.Cells("Customer").value

Can this be done?

Answer 1

This code works well for selected cells under a specific column name. Maybe you can use it for what you're looking for. The best part is, it auto scrolls to the selected column.

This basically runs from a text box and a button. User can enter a string of text and hit the button, then it will go find the column. If no column exists, it tells you.

Private Sub btnSearch_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnSearch.Click
    Dim search As String = tbSearch.Text
    Dim Found As Integer = 0

    If dgv.Rows.Count > 0 Then
        For Each col As DataGridViewColumn In dgv.Columns
            Dim colname As String = col.HeaderText

            If search = colname Then
                'MsgBox(search & " = " & colname)
                dgv.Rows.Item(0).Cells(search).Selected = True
                Found = 1
            End If
        Next

        If Found = 1 Then
            'do nothing
        Else
            MsgBox("No columns with the name " & search)
        End If
    Else
        MsgBox("No data to analyze... ")
    End If
End Sub

Answer 2

This can be done, it is possible to select by header text. You can loop through each row and find the value for the name of a column.

For Each dgvr As DataGridViewRow In myDataGridView.Rows

Dim testString As String
testString = dgvr("Customer").ToString()

This should set the value of the test string to the current cell under the column name.

Hope this helps :)