This has probably been mentioned before, but just in case it hasn't I thought I'd share.

Whilst looking for ways to waste time, I randomly stumbled upon the "Add New Data Source" screen under the Data menu. It contains not only the usual database and webservice sources, but a much more interesting one called "Object". Selecting this allows you to mark your domain objects as standard datasources for use in databinding.

Once you’ve marked your objects, you can simply drag and drop fields onto a form using the "Data Sources" window (Ctrl-Alt-D). A BindingSource component will be automatically added for each distinct source used and all you have to do is remember to set the DataSource property on the BindingSource when loading the form (eg, blogBindingSource.DataSource = blogObj).

You'll also notice that you can traverse through parent properties and easily bind to properties on those also (eg, "Parent.Name" or even "Suburb.State.Country.Name”).

If you already have controls on the form that you want to bind to, you can drag and drop from the "Data Sources" window on top of those existing fields to databind to the default property.

I was a little worried about using NHibernate at first, thinking that databinding would be so tedious compared to using typed datasets. This has just made my day.


Nathan

Are you sure about this? Many people already complained that it isn't possible to bind to to properties like 'Parent.Name' with the new 2.0 binding features.

Sure am! But only if you use the "Data Sources" window (Ctrl-Alt-D). It doesn't give you the option when using the combobox in the propertygrid under "(DataBindings)" on the control your binding (although you are able to type it in).

After binding a property, it will say something like "bindingSource1 - Parent.Name".

Works for WebControls too... I can use a method on a BusinessService class to populate the control via my ObjectDataSource and therefore do the whole thing declaratively.

I did find, however, that I didn't have enough control over the process so did decide to do it programatically anyway.

The main thing is that I can bind to objects and collections and this is the first step away from DataSet driven design that MS has given us.

Welcome to the world of Domain Driven Design!

Yes many of us are aware of this godsend in 2.0. If only we could find a way to get similar functionality in .Net 1.1

There is a project underway, but I'm not sure how much progress has been made...

http://sourceforge.net/projects/objectviews

The internals are fully functional, but the designer support has slowed down things a bit.

Is there a list of differences between the ObjectView and BindingSource (from .net2) components anywhere?

The .NET 2.0 BindingSource does a lot that ObjectViews does. The only difference, I thought, was mapping 'deeper properties' like object.Parent.Name wasn't possible with the BindingSource, but earlier this thread it's mentioned that this seems possible. Therefore, if you're on .NET 2.0, it might be wise to stick to the available framework functionality.

I'm playing with this right now. But...

When I put a datagridview on the screen and use your method to put put these fields in the grid
-Artikel.Name
-Artikel.Price

The grid is displaying the data so far so good.

Now I want to add a object property to the grid.
-Artikel.Country.Name

I can not do this. Do you know why?

I can drag Artikel.Country.Name to the form and an editbox is put on the screen and it refreshes so that part works.