XAF: Property Editors & List Editors

Built-in Property Editors

XAF automatically selects a property editor based on the .NET type.

Data Type	Editor Alias	WinForms Class	Blazor Class
string	StringPropertyEditor	StringPropertyEditor	StringPropertyEditor
int, long, short	IntegerPropertyEditor	IntPropertyEditor	IntPropertyEditor
decimal	DecimalPropertyEditor	DecimalPropertyEditor	DecimalPropertyEditor
double	DoublePropertyEditor	DoublePropertyEditor	DoublePropertyEditor
bool	BooleanPropertyEditor	BooleanPropertyEditor	BooleanPropertyEditor
DateTime	DateTimePropertyEditor	DateTimePropertyEditor	DateTimePropertyEditor
TimeSpan	TimeSpanPropertyEditor	TimeSpanPropertyEditor	TimeSpanPropertyEditor
enum	EnumPropertyEditor	EnumPropertyEditor	EnumPropertyEditor
reference (FK)	LookupPropertyEditor	LookupPropertyEditor	LookupPropertyEditor
reference (inline)	ObjectPropertyEditor	ObjectPropertyEditor	ObjectPropertyEditor
byte[] / image	ImagePropertyEditor	ImagePropertyEditor	ImagePropertyEditor
Color	ColorPropertyEditor	ColorPropertyEditor	ColorPropertyEditor
file attachment	FileDataPropertyEditor	FileDataPropertyEditor	FileDataPropertyEditor
criteria	CriteriaPropertyEditor	CriteriaPropertyEditor	CriteriaPropertyEditor
HTML string	HtmlPropertyEditor	RichTextPropertyEditor	HtmlPropertyEditor

All alias constants: DevExpress.ExpressApp.Editors.EditorAliases

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[EditorAlias] Attribute

Apply on a business class property to explicitly assign an editor:

using DevExpress.ExpressApp.Editors;

public class Product {
    // Force Lookup instead of default ObjectPropertyEditor
    [EditorAlias(EditorAliases.LookupPropertyEditor)]
    public virtual Category Category { get; set; }

    // Use a custom registered alias
    [EditorAlias("MyCustomRatingEditor")]
    public virtual int Rating { get; set; }
}

Common EditorAliases constants:

• EditorAliases.StringPropertyEditor
• EditorAliases.LookupPropertyEditor
• EditorAliases.ObjectPropertyEditor
• EditorAliases.ImagePropertyEditor
• EditorAliases.BooleanPropertyEditor
• EditorAliases.DateTimePropertyEditor
• EditorAliases.CriteriaPropertyEditor
• EditorAliases.IntegerPropertyEditor
• EditorAliases.DecimalPropertyEditor
• EditorAliases.EnumPropertyEditor

You can also override per-property in the Application Model: BOModel > <Class> > OwnMembers > <Property> > PropertyEditorType

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DisplayFormat / EditMask

Configure via [ModelDefault] attribute:

using DevExpress.ExpressApp.Model;

public class Invoice {
    [ModelDefault("DisplayFormat", "{0:C2}")]
    [ModelDefault("EditMask", "c2")]
    [ModelDefault("EditMaskType", "Numeric")]
    public virtual decimal Total { get; set; }

    [ModelDefault("DisplayFormat", "{0:dd MMM yyyy}")]
    [ModelDefault("EditMask", "d")]
    [ModelDefault("EditMaskType", "DateTime")]
    public virtual DateTime InvoiceDate { get; set; }
}

EditMaskType values: Simple, RegEx, DateTime, Numeric

Alternative: set in Model Editor at Views > <View> > Items > <Property> > DisplayFormat / EditMask

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Inline Detail View (ObjectPropertyEditor)

Display a related object as an embedded sub-form instead of a popup/lookup:

[EditorAlias(EditorAliases.ObjectPropertyEditor)]
public virtual Address ShippingAddress { get; set; }

In the Application Model, set the View property on the nested item to choose which DetailView template to embed.

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List Editors

Editor	Platform	Use Case
GridListEditor	WinForms	Default tabular grid (XtraGrid)
DxGridListEditor	Blazor	Default tabular grid (DxGrid)
TreeListEditor	WinForms	Hierarchical tree
DxTreeListEditor	Blazor	Hierarchical table
ChartListEditor	WinForms	Chart visualization
DxChartListEditor	Blazor	Chart visualization
PivotGridListEditor	WinForms	Pivot table
SchedulerListEditor	WinForms	Calendar/scheduling
CategorizedListEditor	WinForms	Grid + category tree

Change List Editor for a View

In Application Model: Views > <ClassName>_ListView > EditorType

Or via attribute on custom editor:

[ListEditor(typeof(MyObject), isDefault: true)]
public class MyCustomListEditor : ListEditor { ... }

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Customizing GridListEditor (WinForms)

using DevExpress.ExpressApp.Win.Editors;
using DevExpress.XtraGrid.Views.Grid;

public class CustomizeGridController : ObjectViewController<ListView, MyObject> {
    protected override void OnViewControlsCreated() {
        base.OnViewControlsCreated();
        if (View.Editor is GridListEditor gridEditor) {
            GridView gridView = gridEditor.GridView;
            gridView.OptionsView.ShowGroupPanel = false;
            gridView.OptionsBehavior.Editable = false;
            gridView.Columns["Name"].Width = 200;
            gridView.Columns["Name"].Fixed = DevExpress.XtraGrid.Columns.FixedStyle.Left;
            gridView.Columns["Name"].SortOrder = DevExpress.Data.ColumnSortOrder.Ascending;
        }
    }
}

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Customizing DxGridListEditor (Blazor)

using DevExpress.ExpressApp.Blazor.Editors;

public class CustomizeBlazorGridController : ObjectViewController<ListView, MyObject> {
    protected override void OnViewControlsCreated() {
        base.OnViewControlsCreated();
        if (View.Editor is DxGridListEditor gridEditor) {
            gridEditor.GridModel.ShowGroupPanel = false;
            gridEditor.GridModel.PageSize = 50;
            gridEditor.GridModel.ShowFilterRow = true;
        }
    }
}

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ListView Customization via Application Model

IModelListView key properties:

Property	Description
EditorType	Which list editor class to use
DefaultSorting	Default sort, e.g. Name Asc
Criteria	Default filter criteria
AllowEdit	Enable inline editing
MasterDetailMode	How detail views open
Columns	Per-column settings

IModelColumn key properties:

Property	Description
Caption	Column header text
Width	Column width in pixels
Index	Display order (0-based)
Visible	Show/hide column
SortOrder	Ascending / Descending
GroupIndex	Group row index (≥0 to group)
Format	Display format string
PropertyEditorType	Override editor for this column

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Source Links

• Property Editors: https://docs.devexpress.com/eXpressAppFramework/113014/ui-construction/view-items-and-property-editors/property-editors
• View Items and Property Editors: https://docs.devexpress.com/eXpressAppFramework/113610/ui-construction/view-items-and-property-editors
• List Editors: https://docs.devexpress.com/eXpressAppFramework/113189/ui-construction/list-editors
• EditorAliases API: https://docs.devexpress.com/eXpressAppFramework/DevExpress.ExpressApp.Editors.EditorAliases._members
• PropertyEditorAttribute: https://docs.devexpress.com/eXpressAppFramework/DevExpress.ExpressApp.Editors.PropertyEditorAttribute
• ListEditorAttribute: https://docs.devexpress.com/eXpressAppFramework/DevExpress.ExpressApp.Editors.ListEditorAttribute