Getting started in EJ2 TypeScript MultiColumn ComboBox control

28 Jul 202618 minutes to read

This section explains the steps to create a simple MultiColumn ComboBox and demonstrates the basic usage of the MultiColumn ComboBox component, using Essential^® JS 2 quickstart seed repository. This seed repository is pre-configured with the Essential^® JS 2 package.

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

Ensure the following tools are installed on your machine:

Set up the development environment

Clone the Syncfusion^® TypeScript (Essential^® JS 2) quickstart project from GitHub in the command prompt:

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

Navigate to the project folder in the command prompt:

cd ej2-quickstart

Install Syncfusion^® MultiColumn ComboBox package

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

Use the following command to install the @syncfusion/ej2-multicolumn-combobox package:

npm install @syncfusion/ej2-multicolumn-combobox --save

Then, install the remaining dependent npm packages using the following command:

npm install

Import Syncfusion^® MultiColumn ComboBox CSS styles

Syncfusion^® JavaScript controls provide built-in themes, which are available from the npm theme packages. Additionally, themes can be loaded via CDN or customized using the Theme Studio. For more information, refer to the themes documentation.

The quickstart application is preconfigured to use the Fluent2 theme. To install the Fluent2 theme package, use the following command:

npm install @syncfusion/ej2-fluent2-theme --save

The required styles are imported in the ~/src/styles/styles.css file, as shown below:

styles.css

@import "../../node_modules/@syncfusion/ej2-fluent2-theme/styles/multicolumn-combobox/index.css";

Learn more about built-in themes and individual control CSS references.

Add Syncfusion^® MultiColumn ComboBox control to the application

The MultiColumn ComboBox can be initialized through three different tags select, UL and input element.

Open the application in Visual Studio Code and add the Syncfusion^® TypeScript UI controls.

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

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

<head>
    <title>Essential JS 2 MultiColumn ComboBox control</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=no" />
    <meta name="description" content="Essential JS 2" />
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion" />
    <link href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.7/css/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet" />
</head>

<body>
    <div id='container' style="margin:50px 0 auto; width:500px;">
        <!--element which is going to render the MultiColumn ComboBox-->
        <input type="text" tabindex="1" id='multicolumn' />
    </div>

</body>

</html>

Now, to render the MultiColumn ComboBox control, add the following TypeScript code to the ~/src/app/app.ts file.

import { MultiColumnComboBox, ColumnModel } from '@syncfusion/ej2-multicolumn-combobox';

// define the array of object data for datasource
let employeeData: {[key: string]: Object}[] = [
    { "EmpID": 1001, "Name": "Andrew Fuller", "Designation": "Team Lead", "Country": "England" },
    { "EmpID": 1002, "Name": "Robert", "Designation": "Developer", "Country": "USA" },
    { "EmpID": 1003, "Name": "John", "Designation": "Tester", "Country": "Germany" },
    { "EmpID": 1004, "Name": "Robert King", "Designation": "Product Manager", "Country": "India" },
    { "EmpID": 1005, "Name": "Steven Buchanan", "Designation": "Developer", "Country": "Italy" },
    { "EmpID": 1006, "Name": "Jane Smith", "Designation": "Developer", "Country": "Europe" },
    { "EmpID": 1007, "Name": "James Brown", "Designation": "Developer", "Country": "Australia" },
    { "EmpID": 1008, "Name": "Laura Callahan", "Designation": "Developer", "Country": "Africa" },
    { "EmpID": 1009, "Name": "Mario Pontes", "Designation": "Developer", "Country": "Russia" },
];

// define the column values for data columns
let columnsData: ColumnModel[] = [
    { field: 'EmpID', header: 'Employee ID', width: 120 },
    { field: 'Name', width: 120, header: 'Name' },
    { field: 'Designation', header: 'Designation', width: 120 },
    { field: 'Country', header: 'Country', width: 100 }
];

// initialize MultiColumn ComboBox component
let multiComboBoxObject: MultiColumnComboBox = new MultiColumnComboBox({
    //set the data to dataSource property
    dataSource: employeeData,
    //set the column data to the columns property
    columns: columnsData,
    //set the fields of the multicolumn combobox
    fields: { text: 'Name', value: 'EmpID' }
});

// render initialized MultiColumn ComboBox
multiComboBoxObject.appendTo('#multicolumn');

Run the application

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

npm run start

The following example illustrates the output in your browser.

index.ts
index.html
import { MultiColumnComboBox, ColumnModel } from '@syncfusion/ej2-multicolumn-combobox';

// defined the array of object data
let empData: { [key: string]: Object }[] = [ 
    { "EmpID": 1001, "Name": "Andrew Fuller", "Designation": "Team Lead", "Country": "England" },
    { "EmpID": 1002, "Name": "Robert", "Designation": "Developer", "Country": "USA" },
    { "EmpID": 1003, "Name": "Michael", "Designation": "HR", "Country": "Russia" },
    { "EmpID": 1004, "Name": "Steven Buchanan", "Designation": "Product Manager", "Country": "Ukraine" },
    { "EmpID": 1005, "Name": "Margaret Peacock", "Designation": "Developer", "Country": "Egypt" },
    { "EmpID": 1006, "Name": "Janet Leverling", "Designation": "Team Lead", "Country": "Africa" },
    { "EmpID": 1007, "Name": "Alice", "Designation": "Product Manager", "Country": "Australia" },
    { "EmpID": 1008, "Name": "Bob", "Designation": "Developer", "Country": "India" },
    { "EmpID": 1009, "Name": "John", "Designation": "Product Manager", "Country": "Ireland"},
    { "EmpID": 1010, "Name": "Mario Pontes", "Designation": "Team Lead", "Country": "South Africa" },
    { "EmpID": 1011, "Name": "Yang Wang", "Designation": "Developer", "Country": "Russia" },
    { "EmpID": 1012, "Name": "David", "Designation": "Product Manager", "Country": "Egypt" },
    { "EmpID": 1013, "Name": "Antonio Bianchi", "Designation": "Team Lead", "Country": "USA" },
    { "EmpID": 1014, "Name": "Laura", "Designation": "Developer", "Country": "England" },
    { "EmpID": 1015, "Name": "Carlos Hernandez", "Designation": "Developer", "Country": "Canada" },
    { "EmpID": 1016, "Name": "Lily", "Designation": "Product Manager", "Country": "France" },
    { "EmpID": 1017, "Name": "Tom Williams", "Designation": "Developer", "Country": "Ukraine" },
    { "EmpID": 1018, "Name": "Grace", "Designation": "Developer", "Country": "Australia" },
    { "EmpID": 1019, "Name": "Olivia", "Designation": "Team Lead", "Country": "Ireland" },
    { "EmpID": 1020, "Name": "James", "Designation": "Developer", "Country": "China" },
];

let columnsData: ColumnModel[] = [
    { field: 'EmpID', header: 'Employee ID', width: 120 },
    { field: 'Name', header: 'Name', width: 120 },
    { field: 'Designation', header: 'Designation', width: 120 },
    { field: 'Country', header: 'Country', width: 100 }
];

// initialize MultiColumn Combobox component
let multiComboBoxObject: MultiColumnComboBox = new MultiColumnComboBox({
    //set the data to dataSource property
    dataSource: empData,
    //set the column of the multicolumn combobox
    columns: columnsData,
    //set the fields of the multicolumn combobox
    fields: { text: 'Name', value: 'EmpID' },
    // set placeholder to ComboBox input element
    placeholder: "Select a employee",
});

// render initialized MultiColumn ComboBox
multiComboBoxObject.appendTo('#multicolumn');
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">

<head>
    <title>EJ2 MultiColumn Combobox</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <meta name="description" content="Typescript UI Controls" />
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion" />
    <link href="styles.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/34.2.2/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 auto 0; width:500px;">
        <br>
        <input type="text" tabindex="1" id='multicolumn' />
    </div>
</body>

</html>

By default, the width of the popup list automatically adjusts according to the MultiColumn ComboBox input element’s width, and the height of the popup list has 300px.

The height and width of the popup list can also be customized using the popupHeight and popupWidth properties respectively.

In the following sample, popup list’s width and height are configured.

index.ts
index.html
import { MultiColumnComboBox, ColumnModel } from '@syncfusion/ej2-multicolumn-combobox';

// defined the array of object data
let empData: { [key: string]: Object }[] = [ 
    { "EmpID": 1001, "Name": "Andrew Fuller", "Designation": "Team Lead", "Country": "England" },
    { "EmpID": 1002, "Name": "Robert", "Designation": "Developer", "Country": "USA" },
    { "EmpID": 1003, "Name": "Michael", "Designation": "HR", "Country": "Russia" },
    { "EmpID": 1004, "Name": "Steven Buchanan", "Designation": "Product Manager", "Country": "Ukraine" },
    { "EmpID": 1005, "Name": "Margaret Peacock", "Designation": "Developer", "Country": "Egypt" },
    { "EmpID": 1006, "Name": "Janet Leverling", "Designation": "Team Lead", "Country": "Africa" },
    { "EmpID": 1007, "Name": "Alice", "Designation": "Product Manager", "Country": "Australia" },
    { "EmpID": 1008, "Name": "Bob", "Designation": "Developer", "Country": "India" },
    { "EmpID": 1009, "Name": "John", "Designation": "Product Manager", "Country": "Ireland"},
    { "EmpID": 1010, "Name": "Mario Pontes", "Designation": "Team Lead", "Country": "South Africa" },
    { "EmpID": 1011, "Name": "Yang Wang", "Designation": "Developer", "Country": "Russia" },
    { "EmpID": 1012, "Name": "David", "Designation": "Product Manager", "Country": "Egypt" },
    { "EmpID": 1013, "Name": "Antonio Bianchi", "Designation": "Team Lead", "Country": "USA" },
    { "EmpID": 1014, "Name": "Laura", "Designation": "Developer", "Country": "England" },
    { "EmpID": 1015, "Name": "Carlos Hernandez", "Designation": "Developer", "Country": "Canada" },
    { "EmpID": 1016, "Name": "Lily", "Designation": "Product Manager", "Country": "France" },
    { "EmpID": 1017, "Name": "Tom Williams", "Designation": "Developer", "Country": "Ukraine" },
    { "EmpID": 1018, "Name": "Grace", "Designation": "Developer", "Country": "Australia" },
    { "EmpID": 1019, "Name": "Olivia", "Designation": "Team Lead", "Country": "Ireland" },
    { "EmpID": 1020, "Name": "James", "Designation": "Developer", "Country": "China" },
];

let columnsData: ColumnModel[] = [
    { field: 'EmpID', header: 'Employee ID', width: 90 },
    { field: 'Name', width: 90, header: 'Name' },
    { field: 'Designation', header: 'Designation', width: 90 },
    { field: 'Country', header: 'Country', width: 70 }
];

// initialize MultiColumn Combobox component
let multiComboBoxObject: MultiColumnComboBox = new MultiColumnComboBox({
    //set the data to dataSource property
    dataSource: empData,
    //set the column of the multicolumn combobox
    columns: columnsData,
    //set the fields of the multicolumn combobox
    fields: { text: 'Name', value: 'EmpID' },
    // set placeholder to ComboBox input element
    placeholder: "Select a employee",
     // set the height of the popup element
     popupHeight: '250px',
     // set the width of the popup element
     popupWidth: '550px',
});

// render initialized MultiColumn ComboBox
multiComboBoxObject.appendTo('#multicolumn');
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">

<head>
    <title>EJ2 MultiColumn Combobox</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <meta name="description" content="Typescript UI Controls" />
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion" />
    <link href="styles.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/34.2.2/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 auto 0; width:350px;">
        <br>
        <input type="text" tabindex="1" id='multicolumn' />
    </div>
</body>

</html>

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Getting started in EJ2 TypeScript MultiColumn ComboBox control

Prerequisites

Set up the development environment

Install Syncfusion^® MultiColumn ComboBox package

Import Syncfusion^® MultiColumn ComboBox CSS styles

Add Syncfusion^® MultiColumn ComboBox control to the application

Run the application

Getting started in EJ2 TypeScript MultiColumn ComboBox control

Prerequisites

Set up the development environment

Install Syncfusion® MultiColumn ComboBox package

Import Syncfusion® MultiColumn ComboBox CSS styles

Add Syncfusion® MultiColumn ComboBox control to the application

Run the application

Configure the popup list

Install Syncfusion^® MultiColumn ComboBox package

Import Syncfusion^® MultiColumn ComboBox CSS styles

Add Syncfusion^® MultiColumn ComboBox control to the application