Selection in EJ2 JavaScript Grid control

13 Apr 202310 minutes to read

Selection provides an option to highlight a row or a cell or a column. It can be done through simple mouse down or arrow keys. To disable selection in the Grid, set the allowSelection to false.

The grid supports two types of selection that can be set by using the selectionSettings.type. They are:

Single: The Single value is set by default, and it only allows selection of a single row or a cell or a column.
Multiple: Allows you to select multiple rows or cells or columns.
To perform the multi-selection, press and hold CTRL key and click the desired rows or cells or columns. To select range of rows or cells or columns, press and hold the SHIFT key and click the rows or cells or columns.

index.js
index.html
var grid = new ej.grids.Grid({
    dataSource: data,
    selectionSettings: { type: 'Multiple' },
    columns: [
        { field: 'OrderID', headerText: 'Order ID', textAlign: 'Right', width: 120 },
        { field: 'CustomerID', headerText: 'Customer ID', width: 150 },
        { field: 'ShipCity', headerText: 'Ship City', width: 150 },
        { field: 'ShipName', headerText: 'Ship Name', width: 150 }
    ],
    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-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-richtexteditor/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-notifications/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-splitbuttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">

    
    
    <style>
        .e-row[aria-selected="true"] .e-customizedExpandcell {
            background-color: #e0e0e0;
        }
        .e-grid.e-gridhover tr[role='row']:hover {
            background-color: #eee;
        }
        .e-expand::before {
        content: '\e5b8';
    }
    .empImage {
        margin: 6px 16px;
        float: left;
        width: 50px;
        height: 50px;
    }
    </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>

Selection mode

The grid supports three types of selection mode that can be set by using
the selectionSettings.mode. They are:

Row: The Row value is set by default, and allows you to select only rows.
Cell: Allows you to select only cells.
Both: Allows you to select rows and cells at the same time.

index.js
index.html
var grid = new ej.grids.Grid({
    dataSource: data,
    selectionSettings: { mode: 'Both' },
    columns: [
        { field: 'OrderID', headerText: 'Order ID', textAlign: 'Right', width: 120 },
        { field: 'CustomerID', headerText: 'Customer ID', width: 150 },
        { field: 'ShipCity', headerText: 'Ship City', width: 150 },
        { field: 'ShipName', headerText: 'Ship Name', width: 150 }
    ],
    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-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-richtexteditor/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-notifications/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-splitbuttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">

    
    
    <style>
        .e-row[aria-selected="true"] .e-customizedExpandcell {
            background-color: #e0e0e0;
        }
        .e-grid.e-gridhover tr[role='row']:hover {
            background-color: #eee;
        }
        .e-expand::before {
        content: '\e5b8';
    }
    .empImage {
        margin: 6px 16px;
        float: left;
        width: 50px;
        height: 50px;
    }
    </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>

Touch interaction

When you tap a grid row on touchscreen device, the tapped row is selected. It also shows a popup Multi Row selection for multi-row selection. To select multiple rows or cells, tap the popup Multi Row or Cells and then tap the desired rows or cells.

Multi-selection requires the selection type to be multiple.

The following screenshot represents a grid touch selection in the device.

Touch interaction