This sample (download C#, download VB) derives two custom columnstyles that display buttons. One displays a pushbutton with the cell text used as the button label. The second columnstyle displays text plus a dropdown button similar to a combobox button. Both columnstyles have an event that your form can handle to respond to clicks on the buttons. The row and column of the click are passed as part of the event arguments.

Both columnstyles derive from DataGridTextBoxColumn, and override Paint and Edit. The Edit override does not call the base class to avoid allowing the cell going into the edit mode. In the Paint override, the text is drawn, and a bitmap showing the button face is drawn.

There is no mouse handling within a columnstyle. To catch the click action, the columnstyle must handle the datagrid's MouseDown and MouseUp events. In the columnstyle handlers for these events, the handler draws the depressed button as well as firing the columnstyle's ColumnButtonClick event.

Your handler for this ColumnButtonClick event should take whatever action as a result of the buttonclick. In the sample projects, the handler just displays a messagebox.

Contributed from George Shepherd's Windows Forms FAQ