Getting Started with Syncfusion JavaScript (Essential JS 2) library from a seed application

08 May 2023 / 5 minutes to read

This article provides a step-by-step guide to configuring the Syncfusion JavaScript (Essential JS 2) library and building a simple JavaScript web application using the GitHub quickstart seed repository.

This application is integrated with the webpack.config.js configuration and uses the latest version of the webpack-cli. It requires node v14.15.0 or higher. For more information about webpack and its features, refer to the webpack documentation.

Prerequisites

To get started with application, ensure the following software to be installed in the machine.

Set up development environment

Open the command prompt from the required directory, and run the following command to clone the Syncfusion JavaScript (Essential JS 2) quickstart project from GitHub.

git clone https://github.com/SyncfusionExamples/ej2-quickstart-webpack- ej2-quickstart

After cloning the application in the ej2-quickstart folder, run the following command line to navigate to the ej2-quickstart folder.

cd ej2-quickstart

Add Syncfusion JavaScript packages

Syncfusion JavaScript (Essential JS 2) packages are available on the npmjs.com public registry. You can install all Syncfusion JavaScript (Essential JS 2) controls in a single @syncfusion/ej2 package or individual packages for each control.

The quickstart application is preconfigured with the dependent @syncfusion/ej2 package in the ~/package.json file. Use the following command to install the dependent npm packages from the command prompt.

npm install

ej2 typescript seed local setup

To learn more about the individual packages and different ways to install them, refer here.

Import the Syncfusion CSS styles

Syncfusion JavaScript controls come with built-in themes, which are available in the installed packages. It’s easy to adapt the Syncfusion JavaScript controls to match the style of your application by referring to one of the built-in themes.

The quickstart application is preconfigured to use the Material theme in the ~/src/styles/styles.css file, as shown below:

  @import "../../node_modules/@syncfusion/ej2/material.css";

You can check out the themes section to know more about built-in themes and CSS reference for individual controls.

Add Syncfusion control to the application

Open the application in Visual Studio Code and add the Syncfusion JavaScript UI controls.

In this article, the Grid control is used as an example. Add the following Grid element to the ~/src/index.html file.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">

<head>
    <title>Essential JS 2</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=no" />
    ....
    ....
</head>

<body>
    <div>
        <!--HTML grid element, which is going to render as Essential JS 2 Grid-->
        <div id="Grid"></div>
    </div>
</body>

</html>

To render the Grid control, add the following JavaScript code to the ~/src/app/app.ts file

import { Grid } from '@syncfusion/ej2-grids';

// Grid data
const data: Object[] = [
    {
        OrderID: 10248, CustomerID: 'VINET', EmployeeID: 5, OrderDate: new Date(8364186e5),
        ShipName: 'Vins et alcools Chevalier', ShipCity: 'Reims', ShipAddress: '59 rue de l Abbaye',
        ShipRegion: 'CJ', ShipPostalCode: '51100', ShipCountry: 'France', Freight: 32.38, Verified: !0
    },
    {
        OrderID: 10249, CustomerID: 'TOMSP', EmployeeID: 6, OrderDate: new Date(836505e6),
        ShipName: 'Toms Spezialitäten', ShipCity: 'Münster', ShipAddress: 'Luisenstr. 48',
        ShipRegion: 'CJ', ShipPostalCode: '44087', ShipCountry: 'Germany', Freight: 11.61, Verified: !1
    },
    {
        OrderID: 10250, CustomerID: 'HANAR', EmployeeID: 4, OrderDate: new Date(8367642e5),
        ShipName: 'Hanari Carnes', ShipCity: 'Rio de Janeiro', ShipAddress: 'Rua do Paço, 67',
        ShipRegion: 'RJ', ShipPostalCode: '05454-876', ShipCountry: 'Brazil', Freight: 65.83, Verified: !0
    }
];

// initialize grid control
let grid: Grid = new Grid({
    dataSource: data,
    columns: [
            { field: 'OrderID', headerText: 'Order ID', textAlign: 'Right', width: 120, type: 'number' },
            { field: 'CustomerID', width: 140, headerText: 'Customer ID', type: 'string' },
            { field: 'EmployeeID', width: 140, headerText: 'Employee ID', textAlign: 'Right', type: 'string' },
            { field: 'Freight', headerText: 'Freight', textAlign: 'Right', width: 120, format: 'C' },
            { field: 'OrderDate', headerText: 'Order Date', width: 140, format: 'yMd' }
    ]
});

// render initialized grid
grid.appendTo('#Grid');

Run the application

Now, run the application in the browser using the following command.

npm start

Source

Preview

index.ts

index.html

import { Grid } from '@syncfusion/ej2-grids';

    // Grid data
    const data: Object[] = [
        {
            OrderID: 10248, CustomerID: 'VINET', EmployeeID: 5, OrderDate: new Date(8364186e5),
            ShipName: 'Vins et alcools Chevalier', ShipCity: 'Reims', ShipAddress: '59 rue de l Abbaye',
            ShipRegion: 'CJ', ShipPostalCode: '51100', ShipCountry: 'France', Freight: 32.38, Verified: !0
        },
        {
            OrderID: 10249, CustomerID: 'TOMSP', EmployeeID: 6, OrderDate: new Date(836505e6),
            ShipName: 'Toms Spezialitäten', ShipCity: 'Münster', ShipAddress: 'Luisenstr. 48',
            ShipRegion: 'CJ', ShipPostalCode: '44087', ShipCountry: 'Germany', Freight: 11.61, Verified: !1
        },
        {
            OrderID: 10250, CustomerID: 'HANAR', EmployeeID: 4, OrderDate: new Date(8367642e5),
            ShipName: 'Hanari Carnes', ShipCity: 'Rio de Janeiro', ShipAddress: 'Rua do Paço, 67',
            ShipRegion: 'RJ', ShipPostalCode: '05454-876', ShipCountry: 'Brazil', Freight: 65.83, Verified: !0
        }
    ];

    // initialize grid control
    let grid: Grid = new Grid({
        dataSource: data,
        columns: [
            { field: 'OrderID', headerText: 'Order ID', textAlign: 'Right', width: 120, type: 'number' },
            { field: 'CustomerID', width: 140, headerText: 'Customer ID', type: 'string' },
            { field: 'Freight', headerText: 'Freight', textAlign: 'Right', width: 120, format: 'C' },
            { field: 'OrderDate', headerText: 'Order Date', width: 140, format: 'yMd' }
        ]
    });

    // render initialized grid
    grid.appendTo('#Grid');

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">

<head>
            
    <title>Button</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion" />
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/21.2.3/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/21.2.3/ej2-buttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/21.2.3/ej2-calendars/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/21.2.3/ej2-dropdowns/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/21.2.3/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/21.2.3/ej2-navigations/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/21.2.3/ej2-popups/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/21.2.3/ej2-splitbuttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/21.2.3/ej2-grids/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/systemjs/0.19.38/system.js"></script>
    <script src="systemjs.config.js"></script>
</head>

<body>
    <div id='loader'>LOADING....</div>
    <div id='container' style="margin: 50px;">
        <!--element which is going to render-->
        <div id="Grid"></div>
    </div>
</body>

</html>

To learn more about the functionality of the Grid control, refer to the documentation.