AdvancedDataGrid Flex class

The AdvancedDataGrid is a new class available in Flex 3 as part of the data visualization package. You can experiment with the AdvancedDataGrid without owning the correct license, but you'll get a watermark above every grid.

The AdvancedDataGrid adds many features to the DataGrid. Actually, the AdvancedDataGrid is so different, it does not inherit from DataGrid, as you might expect. The DataGrid inheritance is DataGrid < DataGridBase < ListBase < ScrollControlBase. For the AdvancedDataGrid it goes AdvancedDataGrid < AdvancedDataGridBaseEx < AdvancedDataGridBase < AdvancedListBase < ScrollControlBase. Just as ListBase is the basis for the basic lists such as List, DataGrid, and TileList, AdvancedListBase serves as the base class for AdvancedDataGrid and OLAPDataGrid.

The AdvancedDataGrid exposes a property called hierarchicalCollectionView which is a HierarchicalCollectionView. This is typically identical to the dataProvider property (except in cases where you set the dataProvider to a HierarchicalCollectionView yourself). Internally, the AdvancedDataGrid accesses its dataProvider by casting its protected collection:ICollectionView property (from AdvancedListBase) to an IHierarchicalCollectionView.

If you want to filter the data, you need to apply your filter to this property. Filters applied to the source of the HierarchicalData will not work as expected. There is a Solution about Filtering HierarchicalCollectionViews that will help, as will reading the article on HierarchicalCollectionView.

More to come...