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

[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

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

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.

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 { ... }

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;
        }
    }
}

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;
        }
    }
}

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

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

xaf-editors