Data source binding and Custom menu items
5 Jun 202424 minutes to read
Data binding
The Menu supports data source bindings such as array of JavaScript objects that can be structured as either hierarchical or self-referential data.
Hierarchical data
The Menu can be populated with hierarchical data source by assigning it to the items property, and the fields with corresponding keys can be mapped to the fields property.
JSON data
The Menu can generate its menu items through an array of complex data source by mapping fields from the fields property.
<ejs-menu id="menu" items="ViewBag.menuItems" fields="ViewBag.menuFields"></ejs-menu>
<style>
body {
margin-top: 100px;
text-align: center;
}
</style>public class Model
{
public static List<object> GetLocalData()
{
List<object> data = new List<object>()
{
new
{
continent = "Asia",
countries = new List<object>()
{
new
{
country = "China",
languages = new List<object>()
{
new { language= "Chinese"},
new { language= "Cantonese"}
}
},
new {
country = "India",
languages =new List<object>() {
new { language= "English"},
new { language= "Hindi"},
new { language= "Tamil"}
}
},
new {
country = "Japan",
languages =new List<object>() {
new { language= "Japanese"}
}
}
}
},
new
{
continent = "Africa",
countries = new List<object>()
{
new {
country = "Nigeria",
languages =new List<object>() {
new { language= "English"},
new { language= "Hausa"}
}
},
new
{
country = "Egypt",
languages =new List<object>() {
new { language= "Arabic"}
}
},
new
{
country = "South Africa",
languages =new List<object>() {
new { language= "Tswana"},
new { language= "Swati"}
}
}
}
},
new
{
continent = "North America",
countries = new List<object>()
{
new
{
country = "Canada",
languages =new List<object>() {
new { language= "French"}
}
},
new
{
country = "Mexico",
languages =new List<object>() {
new { language= "Spanish"}
}
},
new
{
country = "USA",
languages =new List<object>() {
new { language= "English"}
}
}
}
},
new
{
continent = "South America",
countries = new List<object>()
{
new
{
country = "Brazil",
languages =new List<object>() {
new { language= "Portuguese"}
}
},
new
{
country = "Colombia",
languages =new List<object>() {
new { language= "Spanish"}
}
},
new
{
country = "Argentina",
languages =new List<object>() {
new { language= "Spanish"},
}
}
}
},
new
{
continent = "Oceania",
countries = new List<object>()
{
new { country = "Australia"},
new { country = "New Zealand"},
new { country = "Samoa"}
}
}
};
return data;
}
}Self-referential data
Menu can be populated from self-referential data structure that contains array of JSON objects with parentId mapping.
You can directly assign self-referential data to the items property, and map all the field members with corresponding keys from self-referential data to fields property.
To render the root level nodes, specify the parentId as null or no need to specify the parentId in data source.
In the following example, id, pId, and text columns from self-referential data have been mapped to itemId, parentId, and text fields, respectively.
<ejs-menu id="menu" items="ViewBag.menuItems" fields="ViewBag.menuFields"></ejs-menu>
<style>
body {
margin-top: 100px;
text-align: center;
}
</style>// Self Referential Data
public ActionResult SelfReferential()
{
List<object> menuItems = new List<object>()
{
new { id = "parent1", text = "Events" },
new { id = "parent2", text = "Movies" },
new { id = "parent3", text = "Directory" },
new { id = "parent4", text = "Queries", pId = "null" },
new { id = "parent5", text = "Services", pId = "null" },
new { id = "parent6", text = "Conferences", parentId = "parent1" },
new { id = "parent7", text = "Music", parentId = "parent1" },
new { id = "parent8", text = "Workshops", parentId = "parent1" },
new { id = "parent9", text = "Now Showing", parentId = "parent2" },
new { id = "parent10", text = "Coming Soon", parentId = "parent2" },
new { id = "parent10", text = "Media Gallery", parentId = "parent3" },
new { id = "parent11", text = "Newsletters", parentId = "parent3" },
new { id = "parent12", text = "Our Policy", parentId = "parent4" },
new { id = "parent13", text = "Site Map", parentId = "parent4" },
new { id = "parent14", text = "Pop", parentId = "parent7" },
new { id = "parent15", text = "Folk", parentId = "parent7" },
new { id = "parent16", text = "Classical", parentId = "parent7" }
};
// For MenuFieldSettings type, include Syncfusion.EJ2.Navigations in the using directive section.
MenuFieldSettings menuFields = new MenuFieldSettings()
{
ItemId = "id",
Text = "text",
ParentId = "parentId"
};
ViewBag.menuItems = menuItems;
ViewBag.menuFields = menuFields;
return View();
}Custom menu items
The Menu can be customized using Essential JS2 Template engine to render the elements.
To customize menu items in your application, set your customized template string to the template property.
In the following example, the menu has been rendered with customized menu items.
<ejs-menu id="menu" items="ViewBag.data" fields="ViewBag.menuFields" template="#menuTemplate"></ejs-menu>
<!-- Template to render Menu -->
<script id="menuTemplate" type="text/x-template">
${if(category)}
${category}
${else if (value)}
<div style="width: 100%;display: flex;justify-content: space-between;">
${if(url)}
<img class="e-avatar e-avatar-small" src="@Url.Content("~/images/${url}.png")" />
${/if}
<span style="width:100%;">${value}</span>
${if(count)}
<span class="e-badge e-badge-success">${count}</span>
${/if}
</div>
${else}
<div tabindex="0" class="e-card">
<div class="e-card-header">
<div class="e-card-header-caption">
<div class="e-card-header-title">About Us</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="e-card-content">
${about.value}
</div>
<div class="e-card-actions">
<button class="e-btn e-outline" style="pointer-events: auto;">
Read More
</button>
</div>
</div>
${/if}
</script>
<style>
.menu-control {
margin-top: 45px;
text-align: center;
}
/* Common ul & li styles */
.e-bigger .e-menu-wrapper ul.e-ul,
.e-menu-wrapper ul.e-ul {
padding: 0;
}
.e-bigger .e-menu-wrapper ul.e-ul .e-menu-item,
.e-menu-wrapper ul.e-ul .e-menu-item {
display: flex;
padding: 0 10px;
outline-color: transparent;
}
/** Avatar customization */
.e-menu-wrapper ul .e-menu-item .e-avatar {
background-color: inherit;
font-size: 8px;
margin-right: 8px;
align-self: center;
width: auto;
overflow: visible;
}
.e-bigger .e-menu-wrapper ul .e-menu-item .e-avatar {
font-size: 10px;
}
/** Badge customization */
.e-menu-wrapper ul .e-menu-item .e-badge {
margin-left: 10px;
align-self: center;
overflow: visible;
}
/** Card customization */
.e-menu-wrapper ul.e-ul .e-menu-item .e-card {
width: 290px;
font-size: inherit;
background-color: inherit;
border-color: transparent;
}
.e-bigger .e-menu-wrapper ul.e-ul .e-menu-item .e-card {
width: 320px;
}
.e-menu-wrapper ul.e-ul .e-menu-item .e-card .e-card-content {
white-space: normal;
color: inherit;
padding-top: 0;
text-align: justify;
font-size: inherit;
}
.e-menu-wrapper ul.e-ul .e-menu-item#about {
height: auto;
padding: 0;
}
.e-menu-wrapper ul.e-ul .e-menu-item#about.e-focused {
background-color: transparent;
outline-color: transparent;
pointer-events: none;
}
</style>// Custom Menu Items
public ActionResult CustomMenuItems()
{
List<object> data = new List<object>() {
new {
category = "Products",
options = new List<object>(){
new { value= "JavaScript", url= "javascript" },
new { value= "Angular", url= "angular" },
new { value= "ASP.NET Core", url= "core" },
new { value= "ASP.NET MVC", url= "mvc" }
}
},
new {
category = "Services",
options = new List<object>(){
new { value= "Application Development", count= "1200+" },
new { value= "Maintenance & Support", count= "3700+" },
new { value= "Quality Assurance" },
new { value= "Cloud Integration", count= "900+" }
}
},
new {
category = "About Us",
options = new List<object>(){
new {
id = "about",
about = new List<object>() { new { value = "We are on a mission to provide world-class best software solutions for web, mobile and desktop platforms. Around 900+ applications are desgined and delivered to our customers to make digital & strengthen their businesses." } }[0]
}
}
},
new { category = "Careers" },
new { category = "Sign In" }
};
MenuFieldSettings menuFields = new MenuFieldSettings()
{
Text = new string[] { "category", "value" },
Children = new string[] { "options" }
};
ViewBag.data = data;
ViewBag.menuFields = menuFields;
return View();
}