Columns in ASP.NET MVC Grid Component

26 Aug 202416 minutes to read

The column definitions are used as the DataSource schema in the Grid. This plays a vital role in rendering column values in the required format.

The grid operations such as sorting, filtering and grouping etc. are performed based on column definitions. The Field property of the Columns is necessary to map the data source values in Grid columns.

NOTE

1. If the column Field is not specified in the dataSource, the column values will be empty.
   
   2. If the Field name contains “dot” operator, it is considered as complex binding.

Column types

Column type can be specified using the Type property of Columns. It specifies the type of data the column binds.

If the Format is defined for a column, the column uses Type to select the appropriate format option number or date.

Grid column supports the following types:

• string
• number
• boolean
• date
• datetime

NOTE

If the Type is not defined, it will be determined from the first record of the DataSource.

Incase if the first record of the DataSource is null/blank value for a column then it is necessary to define the Type for that column.

Format

To format cell values based on specific culture, use the Format property of Columns. The grid uses Internalization library to format number and date values.

CSHTML

@Html.EJS().Grid("Format").DataSource((IEnumerable<object>)ViewBag.DataSource).Columns(col =>
{
    col.Field("OrderID").HeaderText("Order ID").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).Width("120").Add();
    col.Field("CustomerID").HeaderText("Customer Name").Width("150").Add();
    col.Field("OrderDate").HeaderText("Order Date").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).Width("130").Format("yMd").Add();
    col.Field("Freight").HeaderText("Freight").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).Width("120").Format("C2").Add();

}).AllowPaging().Render()

Format.cs

public IActionResult Index()
{
    var Order = OrderDetails.GetAllRecords();
    ViewBag.DataSource = Order;
    return View();
}

NOTE

By default, the number and date values are formatted in en-US locale.

Number formatting

The number or integer values can be formatted using the below format strings.

Format	Description	Remarks
N	Denotes numeric type.	The numeric format is followed by integer value as N2, N3. etc which denotes the number of precision to be allowed.
C	Denotes currency type.	The currency format is followed by integer value as C2, C3. etc which denotes the number of precision to be allowed.
P	Denotes percentage type	The percentage format expects the input value to be in the range of 0 to 1. For example the cell value 0.2 is formatted as 20%. The percentage format is followed by integer value as P2, P3. etc which denotes the number of precision to be allowed.

Date formatting

You can format date values either using built-in date format string or custom format string.

For built-in date format you can specify Format property as string(Example: yMd).

You can also use custom format string to format the date values. Some of the custom formats and the formatted date values are given in the below table.

Format	Formatted value
{ type:’date’, format:’dd/MM/yyyy’ }	04/07/1996
{ type:’date’, format:’dd.MM.yyyy’ }	04.07.1996
{ type:’date’, skeleton:’short’ }	7/4/96
{ type: ‘dateTime’, format: ‘dd/MM/yyyy hh:mm a’ }	04/07/1996 12:00 AM
{ type: ‘dateTime’, format: ‘MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss a’ }	07/04/1996 12:00:00 AM

CSHTML

@Html.EJS().Grid("Format").DataSource((IEnumerable<object>)ViewBag.DataSource).Columns(col =>
{
    col.Field("OrderID").HeaderText("Order ID").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).Width("120").Add();
    col.Field("CustomerID").HeaderText("Customer Name").Width("150").Add();
    col.Field("OrderDate").HeaderText("Order Date").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).Width("130").Format("yMd").Add();
    col.Field("Freight").HeaderText("Freight").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).Width("120").Format("C2").Add();
    col.Field("Price").HeaderText("Price").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).Width("120").Format("P2").Add();

}).AllowPaging().Render()

Format.cs

public IActionResult Index()
{
    var Order = OrderDetails.GetAllRecords();
    ViewBag.DataSource = Order;
    return View();
}

Render boolean value as checkbox

To render boolean values as checkbox in columns, you need to set DisplayAsCheckBox property as true.

CSHTML

@Html.EJS().Grid("Grid").DataSource((IEnumerable<object>)ViewBag.dataSource).Columns(col =>
{
    col.Field("OrderID").HeaderText("Order ID").Width("120").ValidationRules(new { required = "true" }).TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).Add();
    col.Field("CustomerID").HeaderText("Customer Name").Width("150").ValidationRules(new { required = "true", minLength = 3 }).Add();
    col.Field("Freight").HeaderText("Freight").Width("120").Format("C2").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).Add();
    col.Field("ShipName").HeaderText("Ship Name").Width("150").Add();
    col.Field("Verified").HeaderText("Verified").DisplayAsCheckBox(true).Width("150").Add();

}).AllowPaging().Render()

Booleanascheckbox.cs

public IActionResult Index()
 {
    var orders = OrdersDetails.GetAllRecords();
    ViewBag.DataSource = orders;            
    return View();
  }

Visibility

You can hide any particular column in Grid before rendering by defining Visible property as false. In the below sample ShipCity column is defined as visible false.

CSHTML

@Html.EJS().Grid("Visibility").DataSource((IEnumerable<object>)ViewBag.DataSource).Columns(col =>
{
    col.Field("OrderID").HeaderText("Order ID").Width("120").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).Add();
    col.Field("CustomerID").HeaderText("Customer Name").Width("150").Add();
    col.Field("ShippedDate").HeaderText("Shipped Date").Width("140").Format("yMd").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).Add();
    col.Field("ShipCity").Visible(false).HeaderText("Ship City").Width("150").Add();

}).AllowPaging().Render()

Visibility.cs

public IActionResult Index()
{
    var Order = OrderDetails.GetAllRecords();
    ViewBag.DataSource = Order;
    return View();
}

Lock columns

You can lock columns by using LockColumn property. The locked columns will be moved to the first position. Also you cannot reorder its position.

In the below example, Ship City column is locked and its reordering functionality is disabled.

CSHTML

@Html.EJS().Grid("Reorder").DataSource((IEnumerable<object>)ViewBag.dataSource).AllowReordering().Columns(col =>
{
  col.Field("OrderID").HeaderText("Order ID").Width("120").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).Add();
  col.Field("CustomerID").HeaderText("Customer ID").Width("150").Add();
  col.Field("ShipCity").Width("130").LockColumn(true).Add();
  col.Field("ShipName").Width("150").Add();
  col.Field("ShipPostalCode").Width("125").Add();
  col.Field("ShipRegion").Width("120").Add();

}).Render()

Lock.cs

public IActionResult Index()
{
    var order = OrderDetails.GetAllRecords();
    ViewBag.DataSource = order;
    return View();
}

Controlling Grid actions

You can enable or disable grid action for a particular column by setting the AllowFiltering, AllowGrouping, AllowEditing,AllowReordering, and AllowSorting properties.

CSHTML

@Html.EJS().Grid("ControlGridAction").DataSource((IEnumerable<object>)ViewBag.DataSource).Columns(col =>
{
    col.Field("OrderID").HeaderText("Order ID").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).AllowGrouping(false).Width("120").Add();
    col.Field("CustomerID").HeaderText("Customer Name").Width("150").AllowFiltering(false).AllowEditing(false).AllowReordering(false).Add();
    col.Field("OrderDate").HeaderText("Order Date").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).Width("130").Format("yMd").Add();
    col.Field("Freight").HeaderText("Freight").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).Width("120").AllowSorting(false).Format("C2").Add();

}).AllowPaging().AllowGrouping().AllowFiltering().AllowSorting().AllowReordering().EditSettings(edit => { edit.AllowAdding(true).AllowEditing(true).AllowDeleting(true); }).Render()

Controllingactions.cs

public IActionResult Index()
{
    var Order = OrderDetails.GetAllRecords();
    ViewBag.DataSource = Order;
    return View();
}

Show or hide columns by external button

You can show or hide grid columns dynamically using external buttons by invoking the showColumns or hideColumns method.

CSHTML

@Html.EJS().Button("Show").Content("Show").IsPrimary(true).Render()
@Html.EJS().Button("Hide").Content("Hide").IsPrimary(true).Render()

@Html.EJS().Grid("ShowHide").DataSource((IEnumerable<object>)ViewBag.DataSource).Columns(col =>
{
    col.Field("OrderID").HeaderText("Order ID").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).Width("120").Add();
    col.Field("CustomerID").HeaderText("Customer Name").Width("150").Add();
    col.Field("OrderDate").HeaderText("Order Date").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).Width("130").Format("yMd").Add();
    col.Field("Freight").HeaderText("Freight").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).Width("120").Format("C2").Add();

}).AllowPaging().Render()


<script>

    document.getElementById("Show").addEventListener("click", () => {
        var grid = document.getElementById("ShowHide").ej2_instances[0];
        grid.showColumns(['Customer Name', 'Order Date']); //show by HeaderText
    });

    document.getElementById("Hide").addEventListener("click", () => {
        var grid = document.getElementById("ShowHide").ej2_instances[0];
        grid.hideColumns(['Customer Name', 'Order Date']); //hide by HeaderText
    })

</script>

Showhide.cs

public IActionResult Index()
{
    var Order = OrderDetails.GetAllRecords();
    ViewBag.DataSource = Order;
    return View();
}

Customize column styles

You can customize the appearance of the header and content of a particular column using the customAttributes property.

To customize the grid column, follow the given steps:

Step 1: Create a CSS class with custom style to override the default style for rowcell and headercell.

.e-grid .e-rowcell.customcss{
    background-color: #ecedee;
    color: 'red';
    font-family: 'Bell MT';
    font-size: 20px;
}

.e-grid .e-headercell.customcss{
    background-color: #2382c3;
    color: white;
    font-family: 'Bell MT';
    font-size: 20px;
}

Step 2: Add the custom CSS class to the specified column by using the customAttributes property.

col.Field("Freight").HeaderText("Freight").Width("120").Format("C2").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).CustomAttributes(new { @class = "customcss" }).Add();

CSHTML

@Html.EJS().Grid("Grid").DataSource((IEnumerable<object>)ViewBag.DataSource).Columns(col =>
{
    col.Field("OrderID").HeaderText("Order ID").Width("120").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).Add();
    col.Field("CustomerID").HeaderText("Customer Name").Width("150").Add();
    col.Field("OrderDate").HeaderText("Order Date").Width("130").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).Format("yMd").Add();
    col.Field("Freight").HeaderText("Freight").Width("120").Format("C2").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).CustomAttributes(new { @class = "customcss" }).Add();
    col.Field("ShipCountry").HeaderText("Ship Country").Width("120").Add();
}).AllowPaging().Render()

<style>

    .e-grid .e-rowcell.customcss {
        background-color: #ecedee;
        color: red;
        font-family: 'Bell MT';
        font-size: 20px;
    }

    .e-grid .e-headercell.customcss {
        background-color: #2382c3;
        color: white;
        font-family: 'Bell MT';
        font-size: 20px;
    }

</style>

Custom-column-style.cs

public IActionResult Index()
{
    ViewBag.DataSource = OrderDetails.GetAllRecords();
    return View();
}

Display custom tooltip for columns

To display a custom ToolTip (EJ2 Tooltip), you can render the Grid control inside the Tooltip component and set the target as “.e-rowcell”. The tooltip is displayed when hovering the grid cells.

Change the tooltip content for the grid cells by using the following code in the (beforeRender) event.

function beforeRender(args) {
        // event triggered before render the tooltip on target element.
        var tooltip = document.getElementById("Tooltip").ej2_instances[0]
        tooltip.content = args.target.closest("td").innerText;
}

CSHTML

@Html.EJS().Tooltip("Tooltip").Target(".e-rowcell").ContentTemplate(@<div>
    @Html.EJS().Grid("Grid").DataSource((IEnumerable<object>)ViewBag.DataSource).Columns(col =>
    {
       col.Field("OrderID").HeaderText("Order ID").Width("120").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).Add();
       col.Field("CustomerID").HeaderText("Customer Name").Width("150").Add();
       col.Field("OrderDate").HeaderText("Order Date").Width("130").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).Format("yMd").Add();
       col.Field("Freight").HeaderText("Freight").Width("120").Format("C2").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).Add();
       col.Field("ShipCountry").HeaderText("Ship Country").Width("120").Add();

    }).Render()
</div>).BeforeRender("beforeRender").Render()

<script>
    function beforeRender(args) {
        // event triggered before render the tooltip on target element.
        var tooltip = document.getElementById("Tooltip").ej2_instances[0]
        tooltip.content = args.target.closest("td").innerText;
    }
</script>

Custom-tooltip.cs

public IActionResult Index()
{
    ViewBag.DataSource = OrderDetails.GetAllRecords();
    return View();
}

Align the text of Grid content and header

For aligning the text of Grid content and header part, use TextAlign and HeaderTextAlign properties.

Grid column supports the following alignments:

• Left
• Right
• Center
• Justify

CSHTML

@Html.EJS().Grid("Grid").DataSource((IEnumerable<object>)ViewBag.DataSource).Columns(col =>
{
   col.Field("OrderID").HeaderText("Order ID").Width("120").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).HeaderTextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).Add();
   col.Field("CustomerID").HeaderText("Customer Name").Width("150").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Left).HeaderTextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Left).Add();
   col.Field("OrderDate").HeaderText("Order Date").Width("130").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Center).HeaderTextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Center).Format("yMd").Add();
   col.Field("Freight").HeaderText("Freight").Width("120").Format("C2").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Justify).HeaderTextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Justify).Add();

}).Render()

Alignment.cs

public IActionResult Index()
{
    var Order = OrderDetails.GetAllRecords();
    ViewBag.DataSource = Order;
    return View();
}

How to prevent checkbox in the blank row

By default, cells in the grid will be blank if the corresponding column values in the data source are null or undefined. The grid also has the option to prevent the rendering of checkboxes in such cases, even if the DisplayAsCheckBox property is set to true for that column, by using the RowDataBound event of the Grid.

In the following sample, the RowDataBound event of the Grid is used to set the innerHTML of the checkbox element to empty.

CSHTML

@Html.EJS().Grid("Grid").DataSource((IEnumerable<object>)ViewBag.DataSource).Columns(col =>
{
   col.Field("OrderID").HeaderText("Order ID").Width("120").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).Add();
   col.Field("CustomerID").HeaderText("Customer Name").Width("150").Add();
   col.Field("OrderDate").HeaderText("Order Date").Width("130").TextAlign(Syncfusion.EJ2.Grids.TextAlign.Right).Format("yMd").Add();
   col.Field("Verified").HeaderText("Verified").Width("120").DisplayAsCheckBox(true).Add();

}).RowDataBound("rowBound").Render()

<script>
    function rowBound(args) {
        let grid = document.getElementById('Grid').ej2_instances[0];
        let count = 0;
        let keys = Object.keys(args.data);
        for (let i = 0; i < keys.length; i++) {
            if (args.data[keys[i]] == null || args.data[keys[i]] == '' || args.data[keys[i]] == undefined) {
                count++;
            }
        }
        if (count == keys.length) {
            for (let i = 0; i < grid.columns.length; i++) {
                if (grid.columns[i].displayAsCheckBox) {
                    args.row.children[i].innerHTML = '';
                }
            }
        }
    }
</script>

Blank-row.cs

public IActionResult Index()
{
    var orders = OrdersDetails.GetAllRecords();
    ViewBag.DataSource = orders;            
    return View();
}

See Also

• Group Column by Format
• How to set complex column as Foreignkey column
• Complex Data Binding with list of Array Of Objects
• How to add primaryKey after column rendered in ASP.NET MVC Grid
• Drag and drop between two Grids in ASP.NET MVC Grid
• How can I put a Sparkline in a child grid that is on a Grid with hierarchy in ASP.NET MVC Grid
• How can I enable or disable a menu option that is inside a template in ASP.NET MVC Grid
• How to change the data source or columns dynamically