Column menu in EJ2 JavaScript Grid control

13 Apr 202324 minutes to read

The column menu has options to integrate features like sorting, grouping, filtering, column chooser, and autofit. It will show a menu with the integrated feature when users click on multiple icon of the column. To enable column menu, you need to define the showColumnMenu property as true.

To use the column menu, inject the ColumnMenu module in the grid.

The default items are displayed in following table.

Item Description
SortAscending Sort the current column in ascending order.
SortDescending Sort the current column in descending order.
Group Group the current column.
Ungroup Ungroup the current column.
AutoFit Auto fit the current column.
AutoFitAll Auto fit all columns.
ColumnChooser Choose the column visibility.
Filter Show the filter option as given in filterSettings.type 
ej.grids.Grid.Inject(ej.grids.Page, ej.grids.Group, ej.grids.Sort, ej.grids.Filter, ej.grids.ColumnMenu);
var grid = new ej.grids.Grid({
    dataSource: data,
    allowGrouping: true,
    allowSorting: true,
    allowFiltering: true,
    filterSettings: { type: 'CheckBox' },
    allowPaging: true,
    groupSettings: { showGroupedColumn: true },
    showColumnMenu: true,
    columns: [
        { field: 'OrderID', headerText: 'Order ID', width: 200, textAlign: 'Right',
            showInColumnChooser: false },
        { field: 'Freight', width: 150, format: 'C2', textAlign: 'Right', editType: 'numericedit' },
        { field: 'ShipName', headerText: 'Ship Name', width: 300 },
        { field: 'ShipCountry', headerText: 'Ship Country', visible: false, width: 200 },
        { field: 'ShipCity', headerText: 'Ship City', width: 200 }
    ]
});
grid.appendTo('#Grid');
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head>
    <title>EJ2 Grid</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta name="description" content="Typescript Grid Control">
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion">
    <link href="index.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-grids/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-buttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-popups/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-navigations/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-dropdowns/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-lists/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-calendars/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
    
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-splitbuttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
    
    
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/dist/ej2.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="es5-datasource.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/syncfusion-helper.js" type ="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<body>
   <script id="rowtemplate" type="text/x-template">
    <tr>
        <td class="photo">
            <img src="${EmployeeID}.png" alt="${EmployeeID}" />
        </td>
        <td class="details">
            <table class="CardTable" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="2">
                <colgroup>
                    <col width="50%">
                    <col width="50%">
                </colgroup>
                <tbody>
                    <tr>
                        <td class="CardHeader">First Name </td>
                        <td>${FirstName} </td>
                    </tr>
                    <tr>
                        <td class="CardHeader">Last Name</td>
                        <td>${LastName} </td>
                    </tr>
                    <tr>
                        <td class="CardHeader">Title
                        </td>

                        <td>${Title}
                        </td>
                    </tr>
                    <tr>
                        <td class="CardHeader">Country
                        </td>
                        <td>${Country}
                        </td>
                    </tr>
                </tbody>
            </table>
        </td>
     </tr>
    </script>
    
    <div id="container">
        <div id="Grid"></div>
    </div>

<script>
var ele = document.getElementById('container');
if(ele) {
  ele.style.visibility = "visible";
}   
      </script>
<script src="index.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</body></html>

  • You can disable column menu for a particular column by defining the columns.showColumnMenu as false.
  • You can customize the default items by defining the columnMenuItems with required items.

Column menu events

During the resizing action, the grid component triggers the below two events.

  1. The columnMenuOpen event triggers before the column menu opens.
  2. The columnMenuClick event triggers when the user clicks the column menu of the grid.
ej.grids.Grid.Inject(ej.grids.Page, ej.grids.Group, ej.grids.Sort, ej.grids.Filter, ej.grids.ColumnMenu);
var grid = new ej.grids.Grid({
    dataSource: data,
    allowGrouping: true,
    allowSorting: true,
    allowFiltering: true,
    filterSettings: { type: 'CheckBox' },
    allowPaging: true,
    groupSettings: { showGroupedColumn: true },
    showColumnMenu: true,
    columns: [
        { field: 'OrderID', headerText: 'Order ID', width: 200, textAlign: 'Right',
            showInColumnChooser: false },
        { field: 'Freight', width: 150, format: 'C2', textAlign: 'Right', editType: 'numericedit' },
        { field: 'ShipName', headerText: 'Ship Name', width: 300 },
        { field: 'ShipCountry', headerText: 'Ship Country', visible: false, width: 200 },
        { field: 'ShipCity', headerText: 'Ship City', width: 200 }
    ],
    columnMenuOpen: function() {
            alert('columnMenuOpen event is Triggered');
        },
    columnMenuClick: function() {
            alert('columnMenuClick event is Triggered');
        }
});
grid.appendTo('#Grid');
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head>
    <title>EJ2 Grid</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta name="description" content="Typescript Grid Control">
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion">
    <link href="index.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-grids/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-buttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-popups/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-navigations/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-dropdowns/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-lists/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-calendars/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
    
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-splitbuttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
    
    
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/dist/ej2.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="es5-datasource.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/syncfusion-helper.js" type ="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<body>
   <script id="rowtemplate" type="text/x-template">
    <tr>
        <td class="photo">
            <img src="${EmployeeID}.png" alt="${EmployeeID}" />
        </td>
        <td class="details">
            <table class="CardTable" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="2">
                <colgroup>
                    <col width="50%">
                    <col width="50%">
                </colgroup>
                <tbody>
                    <tr>
                        <td class="CardHeader">First Name </td>
                        <td>${FirstName} </td>
                    </tr>
                    <tr>
                        <td class="CardHeader">Last Name</td>
                        <td>${LastName} </td>
                    </tr>
                    <tr>
                        <td class="CardHeader">Title
                        </td>

                        <td>${Title}
                        </td>
                    </tr>
                    <tr>
                        <td class="CardHeader">Country
                        </td>
                        <td>${Country}
                        </td>
                    </tr>
                </tbody>
            </table>
        </td>
     </tr>
    </script>
    
    <div id="container">
        <div id="Grid"></div>
    </div>

<script>
var ele = document.getElementById('container');
if(ele) {
  ele.style.visibility = "visible";
}   
      </script>
<script src="index.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</body></html>

Custom column menu item

Custom column menu items can be added by defining the columnMenuItems as collection of thecolumnMenuItemModel. Actions for this customized items can be defined in the columnMenuClick event.

ej.grids.Grid.Inject(ej.grids.Page, ej.grids.Group, ej.grids.Sort, ej.grids.Filter, ej.grids.ColumnMenu);
var grid = new ej.grids.Grid({
    dataSource: data,
    allowPaging: true,
    allowSorting: true,
    showColumnMenu: true,
    columnMenuItems:[{text:'Clear Sorting', id:'gridclearsorting'}],
    columnMenuClick: function(args){
        if(args.item.id === 'gridclearsorting'){
            grid.clearSorting();
        }
    },
    sortSettings:{
        columns:[{direction: "Ascending", field: "OrderID"}]
    },
    columns: [
        { field: 'OrderID', headerText: 'Order ID', width: 200, textAlign: 'Right', showInColumnChooser: false },
        { field: 'Freight', width: 150, format: 'C2', textAlign: 'Right', editType: 'numericedit' },
        { field: 'ShipName', headerText: 'Ship Name', width: 300 },
        { field: 'ShipCountry', headerText: 'Ship Country', visible: false, width: 200 },
        { field: 'ShipCity', headerText: 'Ship City', width: 200 }
    ]
});
grid.appendTo('#Grid');
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head>
    <title>EJ2 Grid</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta name="description" content="Typescript Grid Control">
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion">
    <link href="index.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-grids/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-buttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-popups/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-navigations/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-dropdowns/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-lists/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-calendars/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
    
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-splitbuttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
    
    
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/dist/ej2.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="es5-datasource.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/syncfusion-helper.js" type ="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<body>
   <script id="rowtemplate" type="text/x-template">
    <tr>
        <td class="photo">
            <img src="${EmployeeID}.png" alt="${EmployeeID}" />
        </td>
        <td class="details">
            <table class="CardTable" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="2">
                <colgroup>
                    <col width="50%">
                    <col width="50%">
                </colgroup>
                <tbody>
                    <tr>
                        <td class="CardHeader">First Name </td>
                        <td>${FirstName} </td>
                    </tr>
                    <tr>
                        <td class="CardHeader">Last Name</td>
                        <td>${LastName} </td>
                    </tr>
                    <tr>
                        <td class="CardHeader">Title
                        </td>

                        <td>${Title}
                        </td>
                    </tr>
                    <tr>
                        <td class="CardHeader">Country
                        </td>
                        <td>${Country}
                        </td>
                    </tr>
                </tbody>
            </table>
        </td>
     </tr>
    </script>
    
    <div id="container">
        <div id="Grid"></div>
    </div>

<script>
var ele = document.getElementById('container');
if(ele) {
  ele.style.visibility = "visible";
}   
      </script>
<script src="index.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</body></html>

Customize menu items for particular columns

Sometimes, you have a scenario that to hide an item from column menu for particular columns. In that case, you need to define the columnMenuOpenEventArgs.hide as true in the columnMenuOpen event.

The following sample, Filter item was hidden in column menu when opens for the OrderID column.

ej.grids.Grid.Inject(ej.grids.Page, ej.grids.Group, ej.grids.Sort, ej.grids.Filter, ej.grids.ColumnMenu);
var grid = new ej.grids.Grid({
    dataSource: data,
    allowPaging: true,
    showColumnMenu: true,
    filterSettings: {type: 'Menu'},
    allowFiltering: true,
    allowGrouping: true,
    allowSorting: true,
    columnMenuOpen: function (args) {
        for (var item of args.items) {
            if (item.text === 'Filter' && args.column.field === 'OrderID') {
                item.hide = true;
            } else {
                item.hide = false;
            }
        }
    },
    columns: [
        { field: 'OrderID', headerText: 'Order ID', width: 200, textAlign: 'Right', showInColumnChooser: false },
        { field: 'Freight', width: 150, format: 'C2', textAlign: 'Right', editType: 'numericedit' },
        { field: 'ShipName', headerText: 'Ship Name', width: 300 },
        { field: 'ShipCountry', headerText: 'Ship Country', visible: false, width: 200 },
        { field: 'ShipCity', headerText: 'Ship City', width: 200 }
    ]
});
grid.appendTo('#Grid');
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head>
    <title>EJ2 Grid</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta name="description" content="Typescript Grid Control">
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion">
    <link href="index.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-grids/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-buttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-popups/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-navigations/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-dropdowns/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-lists/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-calendars/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
    
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-splitbuttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
    
    
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/dist/ej2.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="es5-datasource.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/syncfusion-helper.js" type ="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<body>
   <script id="rowtemplate" type="text/x-template">
    <tr>
        <td class="photo">
            <img src="${EmployeeID}.png" alt="${EmployeeID}" />
        </td>
        <td class="details">
            <table class="CardTable" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="2">
                <colgroup>
                    <col width="50%">
                    <col width="50%">
                </colgroup>
                <tbody>
                    <tr>
                        <td class="CardHeader">First Name </td>
                        <td>${FirstName} </td>
                    </tr>
                    <tr>
                        <td class="CardHeader">Last Name</td>
                        <td>${LastName} </td>
                    </tr>
                    <tr>
                        <td class="CardHeader">Title
                        </td>

                        <td>${Title}
                        </td>
                    </tr>
                    <tr>
                        <td class="CardHeader">Country
                        </td>
                        <td>${Country}
                        </td>
                    </tr>
                </tbody>
            </table>
        </td>
     </tr>
    </script>
    
    <div id="container">
        <div id="Grid"></div>
    </div>

<script>
var ele = document.getElementById('container');
if(ele) {
  ele.style.visibility = "visible";
}   
      </script>
<script src="index.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</body></html>

Customize the icon of column menu

You can customize the column menu icon by overriding the default grid class .e-icons.e-columnmenu with a custom property content as mentioned below.

.e-grid .e-columnheader .e-icons.e-columnmenu::before {
              content: "\e941";
      }

In the below sample, grid is rendered with a customized column menu icon.

var grid= new ej.grids.Grid({
    dataSource: data,
    columns: [
        { field: 'OrderID', headerText: 'Order ID', width: 100 },
        { field: 'CustomerID', headerText: 'Customer ID', width: 120 },
        { field: 'ShipName', headerText: 'Ship Name', width: 140 },
        { field: 'ShipCity', headerText: 'Ship City', width: 100 },
    ],
    showColumnMenu: true,
    height: 315
});
grid.appendTo('#Grid');
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head>
    <title>EJ2 Grid</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta name="description" content="Typescript Grid Control">
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion">
    <link href="index.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-buttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-popups/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-navigations/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-dropdowns/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-lists/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-calendars/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
    
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-splitbuttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-grids/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
    <style>
        .e-grid .e-columnheader .e-icons.e-columnmenu::before {
              content: "\e941";
      }
    </style>
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/dist/ej2.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="es5-datasource.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/syncfusion-helper.js" type ="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<body>
    
    <div id="container">
        <div id="Grid"></div>        
    </div>

<script>
var ele = document.getElementById('container');
if(ele) {
  ele.style.visibility = "visible";
}   
      </script>
<script src="index.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</body></html>