Vittix.DBGrid

Vittix.DBGrid is a modern, feature-rich replacement for Delphi's standard TDBGrid, built for professional VCL applications that need advanced data visualization, extensibility, and performance.

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Screenshot

Example showing sorting, filtering, footer aggregations, and column chooser enabled.

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Features

• Multi-column sorting engine
• Advanced filtering with popup UI and operator syntax
• Aggregation engine (SUM, COUNT, AVG, MIN, MAX)
• Footer panel with live calculations
• Runtime column chooser
• Custom in-place editors
• Export to CSV, TSV, XLSX, HTML, XML, JSON, Text and clipboard
• DUnitX regression suite (206 tests)
• Controller-based architecture
• Pure Object Pascal (Delphi VCL)

Aggregation performs a full dataset scan per recalculation and filters are re-evaluated per row — correct for tens of thousands of rows; incremental aggregation for very large datasets is on the roadmap (item 3.1).

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Package Structure

The component is delivered using Delphi runtime and design-time packages.

Runtime Package

VittixDBGridControllerR.dpk

Contains all runtime logic required by applications:

• Core TVittixDBGrid implementation
• Sorting engine
• Filtering engine
• Aggregation engine
• Footer panel logic
• Column metadata and controller logic
• Custom editors
• Export engine and dialogs

This package must be included with your application.

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Design-Time Package

VittixDBGridControllerD.dpk

Provides IDE integration and component registration:

• Registers TVittixDBGrid in the Tool Palette
• Enables design-time support
• Depends on VittixDBGridControllerR.dpk

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Main Units

• Vittix.DBGrid.pas
• Vittix.DBGrid.Controller.pas
• Vittix.DBGrid.ColumnInfo.pas
• Vittix.DBGrid.ColumnChooser.pas
• Vittix.DBGrid.Sort.Engine.pas
• Vittix.DBGrid.Filter.Engine.pas - Filtering engine
• Vittix.DBGrid.Filter.Popup.pas - Filter popup UI
• Vittix.DBGrid.Aggregation.Engine.pas - Aggregation engine
• Vittix.DBGrid.FooterPanel.pas - Footer rendering
• Vittix.DBGrid.Editors.pas - Custom editors
• Vittix.DBGrid.Export.Engine.pas - Export engine
• Vittix.DBGrid.Export.Dialog.pas - Export dialog
• Vittix.DBGrid.Reg.pas - Design-time registration

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Requirements

• Delphi 12 Athens (the supported toolchain; packages, tests and installer are built for it)
• VCL framework
• Vcl.DBGrids
• TDataSet descendants such as FireDAC, ClientDataSet, BDE, ADO, and third-party datasets

Sorting uses the dataset's IndexFieldNames mechanism. Datasets that do not publish IndexFieldNames (for example TADODataSet) raise a clear EVittixSortError when a sort is applied instead of silently doing nothing. On a header click the sort state is rolled back and the error is reported through OnSortError when a handler is assigned, or re-raised otherwise. TClientDataSet descendants get true descending indexes; other datasets use the FireDAC-style :D suffix.

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Installation

Recommended (Package Installation)

1. Open the runtime package:

VittixDBGridControllerR.dpk

Build the package.

2. Open the design-time package:

VittixDBGridControllerD.dpk

Install the package.

3. Restart Delphi.

The Vittix.DBGrid component will appear in the Tool Palette.

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Manual Installation (Source Only)

1. Add the source folder to the Library Path.
2. Add the required units to your project.
3. Compile.

Manual installation does not include design-time support.

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Basic Usage

uses
  Vittix.DBGrid;

var
  Grid: TVittixDBGrid;
begin
  Grid := TVittixDBGrid.Create(Self);
  Grid.Parent := Self;
  Grid.Align := alClient;
Grid.DataSource := DataSource1;
end;

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Export

TVittixDBGridExporter (drop it next to the grid, or use the grid's export dialog) writes the visible/selected columns of the bound dataset:

Format	Notes
vefCSV / vefTSV	RFC 4180 quoting, formula-injection neutralization for text
vefExcelXLSX	Built-in SpreadsheetML writer; numbers stored as numeric cells
vefHTML	Styled table, display formatting
vefXML / vefJSON	Typed values (numbers, true/false, null); JSON parses cleanly
vefText	Fixed-width text
vefClipboard	Any text format to the clipboard

Options (Export): ExportVisibleOnly, ExportFilteredOnly, IncludeHeaders, IncludeFooter (aggregation/footer text row), date/time/float/currency formats, delimiter/quote/encoding, and an OnProgress callback with cancellation.

Behavior worth knowing:

• Machine-readable vs display formats. CSV, TSV, XML, JSON and XLSX write numbers with full precision and an invariant decimal separator. HTML and Text keep the configured display formats (FloatFormat, CurrencyFormat). Set ExportLocaleFormat := True to make the machine formats use the locale-aware display formatting instead (for consumers who open exports in comma-decimal Excel).
• Dataset friendly. Exports preserve the current record, temporarily lift the grid's filter when ExportFilteredOnly = False, and support cancellation through OnProgress or Cancel.
• Atomic files. File exports stage a temp file and swap it over the target, so a cancelled or failed export never destroys the previous file.

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Filter Operator Syntax

Column filters accept a typed operator prefix (also selectable in the popup):

Prefix	Operator	Example
(none)	Contains	alpha
=	Equals	=Alpha
^	Starts With	^Al
$	Ends With	pha$
!	Does Not Contain	!alpha
<>	Not Equals (exact)	<>Alpha
> >= < <=	Numeric comparison	>250
..	Between (pipe-separated)	150..300 → >150 | <300
!..	Not Between	!150..300
null / !null	Is Null / Is Not Null
empty / !empty	Is Empty / Is Not Empty

Comparisons run numerically when both sides parse as numbers, otherwise as case-insensitive text. The popup persists the chosen operator per column.

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Layout Persistence

TVittixDBGrid exposes a single persistence root plus per-feature file overrides:

• PersistenceRootPath
• LayoutStorageFileName
• ChooserStateFileName
• FilterHistoryFileName

Use PersistenceRootPath when you want one folder for all saved grid state. Use the per-feature file properties when you want to direct a specific area to an explicit file.

Current behavior:

• explicit file properties take precedence when set
• PersistenceRootPath acts as the shared fallback base
• the component keeps persistence wiring internal; application code configures only TVittixDBGrid

Chooser, filter, and footer behavior

The current chooser and popup surfaces now include a few small but useful affordances:

• chooser search supports multiple terms, a live match summary, Ctrl+F focus, Esc clear, and Ctrl+Up / Ctrl+Down reorder
• filter popup supports Enter commit, Esc cancel, scoped history, distinct-value restriction, and Not Between
• footer popup exposes clear-current and clear-all actions, plus keyboard accelerators for those actions

For testability, several of these surfaces expose read-only summary helpers on the corresponding classes. They are intended for regression coverage and diagnostics, not as a new public UI contract.

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Testing

The suite is DUnitX-based and covers the export engine, filter engine and operator table, sort engine, aggregation engine, column info, layout persistence and controller lifecycle:

cd tests
build-tests.bat
VittixDBGridTests.exe

Set VITTIX_DELPHI_ROOT if your Delphi installation is not at the default C:\Program Files (x86)\Embarcadero\Studio\23.0.