Chat window user interface using EJ2 TypeScript ListView control

10 Mar 202515 minutes to read

ListView can be customized to function as a chat window. To achieve this, use the ListView template property alongside the Avatar control.

  • The ListView template property is used to showcase the ListView as chat window.
  • Avatar control is used to design the image of contact person.

Refer to the template code snippet below for a chat window implementation:

let template =
  '<div class="settings">' +
  '${if(chat!=="receiver")}' +
  '<div id="content">' +
  '<div class="name">${text}</div>' +
  '<div id="info">${contact}</div></div>' +
  '${if(avatar!=="")}' +
  '<div id="image"><span class="e-avatar img1 e-avatar-circle">${avatar}</span></div>' +
  "${else}" +
  '<div id="image"><span class="${pic} img1 e-avatar e-avatar-circle"> </span></div>' +
  "${/if}" +
  "${else}" +
  '${if(avatar!=="")}' +
  '<div id="image2"><span class="e-avatar img2 e-avatar-circle">${avatar}</span></div>' +
  "${else}" +
  '<div id="image2"><span class="${pic} img2 e-avatar e-avatar-circle"> </span></div>' +
  "${/if}" +
  '<div id="content1">' +
  '<div class="name1">${text}</div>' +
  '<div id="info1">${contact}</div>' +
  "</div>" +
  "${/if}" +
  "</div>";

Chat order in template

The ListView template is rendered with list items based on sender and receiver information from the ListView’s data source.

Adding messages to chat window

  • Use textbox to get message from user.
  • Add the textbox message to ListView dataSource using addItem method.
document.getElementById("btn").addEventListener("click", e => {
  var value = document.getElementById("name").value;
  document
    .getElementById("List")
    .ej2_instances[0].addItem([
      {
        text: "Amenda",
        contact: value,
        id: "2",
        avatar: "A",
        pic: "",
        chat: "receiver"
      }
    ]);
});
import { ListView } from "@syncfusion/ej2-lists";
import { Button } from "@syncfusion/ej2-buttons";

let template: any =
  '<div class="settings">' +
  '${if(chat!=="receiver")}' +
  '<div id="content">' +
  '<div class="name">${text}</div>' +
  '<div id="info">${contact}</div></div>' +
  '${if(avatar!=="")}' +
  '<div id="image"><span class="e-avatar img1 e-avatar-circle">${avatar}</span></div>' +
  "${else}" +
  '<div id="image"><span class="${pic} img1 e-avatar e-avatar-circle"> </span></div>' +
  "${/if}" +
  '${else}' +
  '${if(avatar!=="")}' +
  '<div id="image2"><span class="e-avatar img2 e-avatar-circle">${avatar}</span></div>' +
  "${else}" +
  '<div id="image2"><span class="${pic} img2 e-avatar e-avatar-circle"> </span></div>' +
  "${/if}" +
  '<div id="content1">' +
  '<div class="name1">${text}</div>' +
  '<div id="info1">${contact}</div>' +
  "</div>" +
  '${/if}' +
  "</div>";

//Define an array of JSON data
let dataSource: any = [
  { text: "Jenifer", contact: "Hi", id: "1", avatar: "", pic: "pic01", chat: "sender" },
  { text: "Amenda", contact: "Hello", id: "2", avatar: "A", pic: "", chat: "receiver" },
  { text: "Jenifer", contact: "What kind of application going to launch", id: "4", avatar: "", pic: "pic02", chat: "sender" },
  { text: "Amenda", contact: "A kind of Emergency broadcast App", id: "5", avatar: "A", pic: "", chat: "receiver" },
  { text: "Jacob", contact: "Can you please elaborate", id: "6", avatar: "", pic: "pic04", chat: "sender" }
];

// Initialize the ListView component
let listObj: ListView = new ListView({
  //Set the defined data to the dataSource property
  dataSource: dataSource,
  //Map the appropriate columns to the fields property
  fields: { text: "Name" },
  //Set the width of the ListView
  width: "350px",
  //Enable the header of the ListView
  showHeader: true,
  //Set the header title
  headerTitle: "Chat",
  //Set the customized template
  template: template,
});

//Render the initialized ListView component
listObj.appendTo("#List");

let button: Button = new Button();

// Render initialized button.
button.appendTo('#btn');

(document.getElementById('btn') as HTMLElement).addEventListener('click', (e) => {
  let value = (document.getElementById('name') as HTMLInputElement).value;
  listObj.addItem([{ text: "Amenda", contact: value, id: "2", avatar: "A", pic: "", chat: "receiver" }]);
  (document.getElementById('name') as HTMLInputElement).value = "";
});
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">

<head>
    <title>Essential JS 2 for ListView </title>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <meta name="description" content="Essential JS 2 for ListView UI Control" />
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion" />
    <link href="index.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/30.1.37/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/30.1.37/ej2-lists/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/30.1.37/ej2-buttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/30.1.37/ej2-layouts/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/30.1.37/ej2-inputs/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>
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/syncfusion-helper.js" type ="text/javascript"></script>
</head>

<body>
    <div id='loader'>Loading....</div>
    <div id='container'>
        <div id="List" tabindex="1"></div>
        <div style="width: 350px;margin: 0 auto;"><input id="name" style="width: 275px" class="e-input" type="text"
                placeholder="Type your message" />
            <button id="btn" style="float:right">Send</button>
        </div>
    </div>
    <style>
        #List {
            margin: 0 auto;
            border: 1px solid #ccc;
        }

        #List .e-list-item {
            height: auto;
            cursor: pointer;
        }

        #List .e-list-header .e-text {
            font-family: sans-serif;
            font-size: 18px;
            line-height: 26px;
        }

        #List #info,
        #List .name {
            font-size: 11px;
            line-height: 20px;
        }

        #List .name {
            padding-top: 3px;
            font-weight: 500;
            padding-left: 150px;
        }

        #List #info {
            float: right;
            margin-right: 10px;
        }

        .pic01 {
            background-image: url("https://ej2.syncfusion.com/demos/src/grid/images/1.png");
        }

        .pic02 {
            background-image: url("https://ej2.syncfusion.com/demos/src/grid/images/3.png");
        }

        .pic03 {
            background-image: url("https://ej2.syncfusion.com/demos/src/grid/images/5.png");
        }

        .pic04 {
            background-image: url("https://ej2.syncfusion.com/demos/src/grid/images/2.png");
        }

        /* csslint ignore:start */
        .img2 {
            margin-left: 10px;
            margin-top: 2px !important;
            font-size: 13px;
        }

        #List #content1 {
            width: 200px;
            background-color: aliceblue;
            display: inline-block;
            margin: 5px;

        }

        #List #info1,
        #List .name1 {
            font-size: 11px;
            line-height: 20px;
            margin-left: 10px;
        }

        #List .name1 {
            padding-top: 3px;
            font-weight: 500;
        }

        #List #content {
            margin: 5px;
            width: 200px;
            margin-left: 87px;
            background-color: aliceblue;
            display: inline-block
        }

        #image {
            float: right;
            display: inline-block;

        }

        #image2 {
            float: left;
            display: inline-block;

        }

        .img1 {
            margin-right: 10px;
            margin: 5px;
            font-size: 13px;
        }

        .e-listview .e-list-item {
            padding: 0 !important;
        }

        .e-listview .e-list-header {
            color: white !important;
        }

        .e-listview .e-list-header {
            background: rgb(2, 120, 215) !important;
        }

        #List.e-listview .e-hover {
            background-color: transparent;
        }

        /* csslint ignore:end */
    </style>
</body>

</html>
#container {
  visibility: hidden;
}

#loader {
  color: #008cff;
  height: 40px;
  width: 30%;
  position: absolute;
  font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "calibiri";
  font-size: 14px;
  top: 45%;
  left: 45%;
}