[c#] How to build a DataTable from a DataGridView?

I may well be looking at this problem backwards but I am curious none the less. Is there a way to build a DataTable from what is currently displayed in the DataGridView?

To be clear, I know you can do this DataTable data = (DataTable)(dgvMyMembers.DataSource); however that includes hidden columns. I would like to build it from the displayed columns only.

Hope that makes sense.

So I ended up trying a combination of a couple of answers as that seemed best. Below is what I am trying. Basically I am creating the DataTable from the DataSource and then working backwards based on if a column is visible or not. However, after it removes a column I get a Collection was modified; enumeration operation may not execute on the next iteration of the foreach.

I am confused as I am not trying to modify the DataGridView, only the DataTable so what's up?

DataTable data = GetDataTableFromDGV(dgvMyMembers);


    private DataTable GetDataTableFromDGV(DataGridView dgv)
    {
        var dt = ((DataTable)dgv.DataSource).Copy();
        foreach (DataGridViewColumn column in dgv.Columns)
        {
            if (!column.Visible)
            {
                dt.Columns.Remove(column.Name);
            }
        }
        return dt;
    }

First convert you datagridview's data to List, then convert List to DataTable

        public static DataTable ToDataTable<T>( this List<T> list) where T : class {
        Type type = typeof(T);
        var ps = type.GetProperties ( );
        var cols = from p in ps
                   select new DataColumn ( p.Name , p.PropertyType );

        DataTable dt = new DataTable();
        dt.Columns.AddRange(cols.ToArray());

        list.ForEach ( (l) => {
            List<object> objs = new List<object>();
            objs.AddRange ( ps.Select ( p => p.GetValue ( l , null ) ) );
            dt.Rows.Add ( objs.ToArray ( ) );
        } );

        return dt;
    }

I don't know anything provided by the Framework (beyond what you want to avoid) that would do what you want but (as I suspect you know) it would be pretty easy to create something simple yourself:

private DataTable GetDataTableFromDGV(DataGridView dgv) {
    var dt = new DataTable();
    foreach (DataGridViewColumn column in dgv.Columns) {
        if (column.Visible) {
            // You could potentially name the column based on the DGV column name (beware of dupes)
            // or assign a type based on the data type of the data bound to this DGV column.
            dt.Columns.Add();
        }
    }

    object[] cellValues = new object[dgv.Columns.Count];
    foreach (DataGridViewRow row in dgv.Rows) {
        for (int i = 0; i < row.Cells.Count; i++) {
            cellValues[i] = row.Cells[i].Value;
        }
        dt.Rows.Add(cellValues);
    }

    return dt;
}

one of best solution enjoyed it ;)

  public DataTable GetContentAsDataTable(bool IgnoreHideColumns=false)
        {
            try
            {
                if (dgv.ColumnCount == 0) return null;
                DataTable dtSource = new DataTable();
                foreach (DataGridViewColumn col in dgv.Columns)
                {
                    if (IgnoreHideColumns & !col.Visible) continue;
                    if (col.Name == string.Empty) continue;
                    dtSource.Columns.Add(col.Name, col.ValueType);
                    dtSource.Columns[col.Name].Caption = col.HeaderText;
                }
                if (dtSource.Columns.Count == 0) return null;
                foreach (DataGridViewRow row in dgv.Rows)
                {
                    DataRow drNewRow = dtSource.NewRow();
                    foreach (DataColumn  col in dtSource .Columns)
                    {
                        drNewRow[col.ColumnName] = row.Cells[col.ColumnName].Value;
                    }
                    dtSource.Rows.Add(drNewRow);
                }
                return dtSource;
            }
            catch { return null; }
        }