How do I determine the DataGridTableStyle MappingName that should used for a DataGrid to make sure the grid uses my tablestyle

The DataGrid looks for a DataGridTableStyle.MappingName that is the type name of its datasource. So, depending upon what datasource you are using, this may be ‘ArrayList’ for a ArrayList, ‘MyCollection[]’ for an array of MyCollection objects, or ‘MyTableName’ for a datatable, or whatever.

Here is a code snippet provide by NoiseEHC on the microsoft.public.dotnet.framework.windowsforms.controls newsgroup that you can use to see exactly what mappingname is required for your datasource.

[C#]
//usage
ShowMappingName(dataGrid1.DataSource);

//implementation
void ShowMappingName(object src) 
{
	IList list = null;
	Type type = null;
	if(src is Array) 
	{
		type = src.GetType();
		list = src as IList;
	} 
	else 
	{
		if(src is IListSource)
			src = (src as IListSource).GetList();
		if(src is IList) 
		{
			type = src.GetType();
			list = src as IList;
		} 
		else 
		{
			MessageBox.Show('error');
			return;
		}
	}
	if(list is ITypedList) 
       		MessageBox.Show((list as ITypedList).GetListName(null));
	else 
		MessageBox.Show(type.Name);
}

[VB.NET]

Private Sub ShowMappingName(ByVal src As Object)
	Dim list As IList = Nothing
	Dim t As Type = Nothing

	If TypeOf (src) Is Array Then
		t = src.GetType()
		list = CType(src, IList)
	Else
  		If TypeOf src Is IListSource Then
			src = CType(src, IListSource).GetList()
		End If
		If TypeOf src Is IList Then
			t = src.GetType()
			list = CType(src, IList)
		Else
			MessageBox.Show('Error')
			Return
		End If
	End If

	 If TypeOf list Is ITypedList Then
		 MessageBox.Show(CType(list, ITypedList).GetListName(Nothing))
	Else
		MessageBox.Show(t.Name)
	End If
End Sub