Swimlane in EJ2 JavaScript Kanban control

18 Apr 202324 minutes to read

Swimlanes are horizontal categorizations of cards on the Kanban board. It is used for grouping of cards, which brings transparency to the workflow process.

Render swimlane row

Cards can be grouped based on keyField and displayed in rows, which are separated by columns. It is mandatory to define the keyField that is mapped from the datasource for rendering swimlane rows in the Kanban board.

index.js
index.html
var kanbanObj = new ej.kanban.Kanban({
    dataSource: kanbanData,
    keyField: 'Status',
    columns: [
        { headerText: 'Backlog', keyField: 'Open' },
        { headerText: 'In Progress', keyField: 'InProgress' },
        { headerText: 'Testing', keyField: 'Testing' },
        { headerText: 'Done', keyField: 'Close' }
    ],
    cardSettings: {
        contentField: 'Summary',
        headerField: 'Id'
    },
    swimlaneSettings: {
        keyField: 'Assignee'
    }
});
kanbanObj.appendTo('#Kanban');
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head>
    <title>Kanban Swimlane</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta name="description" content="Kanban board with swimlane">
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion">
    <link href="index.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-buttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-dropdowns/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-layouts/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-navigations/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-popups/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-kanban/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/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 class="content-wrapper">
            <div id="Kanban"></div>
        </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 row text

Customize the swimlane row header text by using the textField property mapped from datasource.

It is not mandatory to define the textField to swimlaneSettings. It will automatically consider the keyField to swimlane row header text.
If the mapping textField key is not present in the datasource, it will consider the swimlane keyField as swimlane row header text.

index.js
index.html
var kanbanObj = new ej.kanban.Kanban({
    dataSource: kanbanData,
    keyField: 'Status',
    columns: [
        { headerText: 'Backlog', keyField: 'Open' },
        { headerText: 'In Progress', keyField: 'InProgress' },
        { headerText: 'Testing', keyField: 'Testing' },
        { headerText: 'Done', keyField: 'Close' }
    ],
    cardSettings: {
        contentField: 'Summary',
        headerField: 'Id'
    },
    swimlaneSettings: {
        keyField: 'Assignee',
        textField: 'AssigneeName'
    }
});
kanbanObj.appendTo('#Kanban');
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head>
    <title>Kanban Swimlane Custom Header Row Text</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta name="description" content="Swimlane custom row text">
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion">
    <link href="index.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-buttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-dropdowns/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-layouts/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-navigations/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-popups/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-kanban/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/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 class="content-wrapper">
            <div id="Kanban"></div>
        </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>

Template

You can customize the Kanban swimlane row by using the template property, which is specified within the swimlaneSettings property. In this demo, the swimlane header is customized with HTML element.

You can get the following swimlane data when using a swimlane template.

keyField
textField
count

index.js
index.html
var kanbanObj = new ej.kanban.Kanban({
    dataSource: kanbanData,
    keyField: 'Status',
    columns: [
        { headerText: 'Backlog', keyField: 'Open' },
        { headerText: 'In Progress', keyField: 'InProgress' },
        { headerText: 'Testing', keyField: 'Testing' },
        { headerText: 'Done', keyField: 'Close' }
    ],
    cardSettings: {
        contentField: 'Summary',
        headerField: 'Id'
    },
    swimlaneSettings: {
        keyField: 'Assignee',
        textField: 'AssigneeName',
        template: '#swimlaneTemplate'
    }
});
kanbanObj.appendTo('#Kanban');
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head>
    <title>Kanban Swimlane Template</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta name="description" content="Swimlane template">
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion">
    <link href="index.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-buttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-dropdowns/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-layouts/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-navigations/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-popups/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-kanban/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
    <script id="swimlaneTemplate" type="text/x-jsrender">
        <div class='swimlane-template e-swimlane-template-table'>
            <div class="e-swimlane-row-text"><img src="${keyField}.png" alt=""/><span>${textField}</span></div>
        </div>    
    </script>
    <style>
    .swimlane-template {
        font-size: 15px;
        font-weight: 500;
    }

    .swimlane-template img {
        height: 24px;
        width: 24px;
        border-radius: 50%;
    }

    .swimlane-template span {
        padding-left: 10px;
    }
    </style>
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/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 class="content-wrapper">
            <div id="Kanban"></div>
        </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>

Sorting

Swimlane rows are rendered on descending order when using the sortBy property set to Descending order. By default, swimlane rows are rendered by Ascending order.

index.js
index.html
var kanbanObj = new ej.kanban.Kanban({
    dataSource: kanbanData,
    keyField: 'Status',
    columns: [
        { headerText: 'Backlog', keyField: 'Open' },
        { headerText: 'In Progress', keyField: 'InProgress' },
        { headerText: 'Testing', keyField: 'Testing' },
        { headerText: 'Done', keyField: 'Close' }
    ],
    cardSettings: {
        contentField: 'Summary',
        headerField: 'Id'
    },
    swimlaneSettings: {
        keyField: 'Assignee',
        sortBy: 'Descending'
    }
});
kanbanObj.appendTo('#Kanban');
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head>
    <title>Kanban Swimlane Sorting</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta name="description" content="Swimlane sorting">
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion">
    <link href="index.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-buttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-dropdowns/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-layouts/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-navigations/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-popups/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-kanban/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/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 class="content-wrapper">
            <div id="Kanban"></div>
        </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>

Drag-and-drop

By default, The Kanban does not allow dragging the cards across the swimlane rows. Enabling the dragAndDrop property allows you to drag the cards across the swimlane rows, which is specified inside swimlaneSettings property.

index.js
index.html
var kanbanObj = new ej.kanban.Kanban({
    dataSource: kanbanData,
    keyField: 'Status',
    columns: [
        { headerText: 'Backlog', keyField: 'Open' },
        { headerText: 'In Progress', keyField: 'InProgress' },
        { headerText: 'Testing', keyField: 'Testing' },
        { headerText: 'Done', keyField: 'Close' }
    ],
    cardSettings: {
        contentField: 'Summary',
        headerField: 'Id'
    },
    swimlaneSettings: {
        keyField: 'Assignee',
        allowDragAndDrop: true
    }
});
kanbanObj.appendTo('#Kanban');
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head>
    <title>Across Swimlane Drag and Drop</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta name="description" content="Swimlane drag and drop">
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion">
    <link href="index.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-buttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-dropdowns/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-layouts/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-navigations/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-popups/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-kanban/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/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 class="content-wrapper">
            <div id="Kanban"></div>
        </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>

Create empty row

You can render the empty swimlane row by enabling the showEmptyRow property. If mapping keyField does not have cards, empty swimlane row will be rendered.

index.js
index.html
var kanbanObj = new ej.kanban.Kanban({
    dataSource: kanbanData,
    keyField: 'Status',
    columns: [
        { headerText: 'Backlog', keyField: 'Open' },
        { headerText: 'In Progress', keyField: 'InProgress' },
        { headerText: 'Done', keyField: 'Close' }
    ],
    cardSettings: {
        contentField: 'Summary',
        headerField: 'Id'
    },
    swimlaneSettings: {
        keyField: 'Assignee',
        showEmptyRow: true
    }
});
kanbanObj.appendTo('#Kanban');
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head>
    <title>Swimlane Row with Empty Rows</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta name="description" content="Empty swimlane row">
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion">
    <link href="index.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-buttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-dropdowns/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-layouts/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-navigations/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-popups/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-kanban/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/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 class="content-wrapper">
            <div id="Kanban"></div>
        </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>

Calculate cards count

Users can show or hide the cards count by swimlane row in header when enabling the showItemCount property, which is enabled by default on the Kanban board.

Provided localization support for items text.

In below demo, disabled on showItemCount property on rendering swimlane row without total count.

index.js
index.html
var kanbanObj = new ej.kanban.Kanban({
    dataSource: kanbanData,
    keyField: 'Status',
    columns: [
        { headerText: 'Backlog', keyField: 'Open' },
        { headerText: 'In Progress', keyField: 'InProgress' },
        { headerText: 'Testing', keyField: 'Testing' },
        { headerText: 'Done', keyField: 'Close' }
    ],
    cardSettings: {
        contentField: 'Summary',
        headerField: 'Id'
    },
    swimlaneSettings: {
        keyField: 'Assignee',
        showItemCount: false
    }
});
kanbanObj.appendTo('#Kanban');
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head>
    <title>Kanban Swimlane Cards Count</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta name="description" content="Swimlane row cards count">
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion">
    <link href="index.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-buttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-dropdowns/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-layouts/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-navigations/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-popups/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-kanban/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/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 class="content-wrapper">
            <div id="Kanban"></div>
        </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>

Enable frozen rows

Frozen rows provide an option to make the current swimlane row header text always visible on top of the content while scrolling the Kanban content. The swimlane header text will be changed dynamically, when you scroll to another swimlane row.

By default, the enableFrozenRows property is set as false. If you wish to show the swimlane frozen rows, you can enable the enableFrozenRows property.

This feature support only when using Kanban content scrolling.

index.js
index.html
var kanbanObj = new ej.kanban.Kanban({
    dataSource: kanbanData,
    keyField: 'Status',
    height: 300,
    columns: [
        { headerText: 'Backlog', keyField: 'Open' },
        { headerText: 'In Progress', keyField: 'InProgress' },
        { headerText: 'Testing', keyField: 'Testing' },
        { headerText: 'Done', keyField: 'Close' }
    ],
    cardSettings: {
        contentField: 'Summary',
        headerField: 'Id'
    },
    swimlaneSettings: {
        keyField: 'Assignee',
        enableFrozenRows: true
    }
});
kanbanObj.appendTo('#Kanban');
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head>
    <title>Kanban Swimlane Cards Count</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta name="description" content="Swimlane row cards count">
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion">
    <link href="index.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-buttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-dropdowns/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-layouts/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-navigations/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-popups/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/ej2-kanban/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/25.1.35/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 class="content-wrapper">
            <div id="Kanban"></div>
        </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>