Differences between True DBGrid and FlexGrid
Many customers ask about the differences between our WinForms grid components. While both are robust, easy-to-use grid controls that allow you to browse, edit, add, delete, and manipulate tabular data, there are several reasons why you may want to use one over the other.
Both components can be used in bound or unbound mode, but True DBGrid for WinForms allows you to work more easily in bound mode. True DBGrid for WinForms is better suited for data binding and, therefore, offers more features in that area, including split views and built-in hierarchical binding and grouping.
ComponentOne FlexGrid for WinForms, on the other hand, is more suited for working with unbound data; FlexGrid for WinForms includes features that allow you to customize trees and take advantage of its cell merging capabilities. You can also derive from it to create customized grids. It's extremely flexible and can be used to do almost anything special one might need from a grid control.
If you plan to work with your grids in unbound mode or need to customize the grid beyond what the object model offers, FlexGrid for WinForms is the right choice. However, if you plan to use your grids mainly in bound mode and require advanced features such as splits and hierarchical views, True DBGrid for WinForms is the better choice. FlexGrid also works great in bound mode too. See the feature-by-feature comparisons below for a better understanding.
Feature by Feature Comparison
True DBGrid supports the most common features out of the box (requires little to no coding). FlexGrid's true value lies beyond this list as it’s flexible to do so much more than just what’s considered “out of the box.”
| Autogenerate Columns |  | | |
| Row Header with Selection Indicator | | | |
| Resize Columns at Run-Time | | | |
| Resize Rows at Run-Time | | | |
| Sort by Column Header | | | |
| Sort by Multiple Columns | | | |
| Reorder Columns | | | |
| Freeze Columns | | | |
| Add New Row | | | |
| CheckBox Columns | | | |
| Masked Edit Columns | | | |
| Read Only Cells | | | |
| Display ComboBoxes in Cells | | | |
| Display Images in Cells | | | |
| Display Buttons in Cells | | | |
| Display RadioButtons in Cells | | * | |
| Display Custom Editors in Cells | | | |
| Cell Styling | | | |
| Autocomplete Data-Entry (like Excel) | | | |
| Data Validation | | | |
| Value Translation | | | |
| Multi-Column Drop-Downs | | * | |
| Hierarchical (grid inside grid) | | * | |
| Filter Bar | | * | |
| Excel-like Filtering | | | |
| Outlook-Style Grouping | | * | |
| Subtotal Grouping with Aggregates | | | |
| Grouping by Intervals | | | |
| Inverted Data View | | * | |
| Input Form Data View | | | |
| Multi-line Rows | | | |
| Merge Cells Vertically | | | |
| Merge Cells Horizontally | | | |
| Horizontal and Vertical Splits | | | |
| TreeView Functionality | | | |
| Deferred Scrolling | | | |
| Printing | | | |
| Print Preview | | | |
| Import from Excel | | | |
| Export to Excel | | | |
| Export to PDF | | | |
| Clipboard Support | | | |
| Right-to-Left Support | | | |
| Office Visual Styles | | | |
* Requires Sample