pass datagridview row to a list

Okay...so MSDN[^] says "Application settings can be stored as any data type that is XML serializable or has a TypeConverter that implements ToString/FromString. The most common types are String, Integer, and Boolean, but you can also store values as Color, Object, or as a connection string."

I tried to use a DataGridView as a setting, but it didn't work. It must not be serializeable. However, I knew that a DataSet is serializeable. So I setup my grid so that it would be data bound to a DataSet object and saved/loaded that into a setting. It worked.

First I made a setting in the properties window called gblSettingDataSet. DataSet isn't a data type that is provided, but I clicked browse and found System.Data.DataSet and selected it. Then I added a DataGridView and two buttons. Here is the code:

Public Class Form1

    Private clsDS As New DataSet 'Class level variable

    Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        'When loading the form, check to see if the setting is there.
        If My.Settings.gblSettingDataSet IsNot Nothing Then
            clsDS = My.Settings.gblSettingDataSet
        End If
        If clsDS.Tables.Count > 0 Then
            DataGridView1.DataSource = clsDS.Tables(0)
        End If
    End Sub

    Private Sub btnInitializeGridFirstTime_Click(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnInitializeGridFirstTime.Click
        'The first time the app is run, it doesn't have any schema to allow users to add rows in the grid
        'This method is just so my test app will work.
        If clsDS.Tables.Count = 0 Then
            Dim dt As New DataTable
            dt.Columns.Add("A")
            dt.Columns.Add("B")
            dt.Columns.Add("C")
            clsDS.Tables.Add(dt)
        End If
        DataGridView1.DataSource = clsDS.Tables(0)
    End Sub

    Private Sub btnSaveGridToSettings_Click(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnSaveGridToSettings.Click
        My.Settings.gblSettingDataSet = clsDS
        My.Settings.Save()
    End Sub

End Class

This works, but again...I don't recommend this if your grid could end up with a lot of data or if you are building a program that needs to be professional. Storing large amounts of data is what databases are for.