Data Grid - Rendering

The grid is highly customizable. Take advantage of a React-first implementation.

Column definitions

This section is an extension of the main column definitions documentation that focuses on the rendering and the customization of the rendering with ColDef.

Value getter

Sometimes a column might not have a corresponding value and you just want to render a combination of different fields.

To do that, you can set the valueGetter attribute of ColDef as in the example below:

Note: You need to set a sortComparator for the column sorting to work when setting the valueGetter attribute.

function getFullName(params: ValueGetterParams) {
  return `${params.getValue('firstName') || ''} ${
    params.getValue('lastName') || ''
  }`;
}

const columns: ColDef[] = [
  { field: 'firstName', headerName: 'First name', width: 130 },
  { field: 'lastName', headerName: 'Last name', width: 130 },
  {
    field: 'fullName',
    headerName: 'Full name',
    width: 160,
    valueGetter: getFullName,
    sortComparator: (v1, v2, cellParams1, cellParams2) =>
      getFullName(cellParams1).localeCompare(getFullName(cellParams2)),
  },
];

The value generated is used for filtering, sorting, rendering, etc unless overridden by a more specific configuration.

Value formatter

The value formatters allow you to format values for display as a string. For instance, you might want to format a JavaScript date object into a string year.

const columns: ColDef[] = [
  {
    field: 'date',
    headerName: 'Year',
    valueFormatter: (params: ValueFormatterParams) =>
      (params.value as Date).getFullYear(),
  },
];

The value generated is used for filtering, sorting, rendering in the cell and outside, etc unless overridden by a more specific configuration.

Render cell

By default, the grid render the value as a string in the cell. It resolves the rendered output in the following order:

renderCell() => ReactElement
valueFormatter() => string
valueGetter() => string
row[field]

The renderCell method of the column definitions is similar to valueFormatter. However, it trades to be able to only render in a cell in exchange for allowing to return a React node (instead of a string).

const columns: ColDef[] = [
  {
    field: 'date',
    headerName: 'Year',
    renderCell: (params: ValueFormatterParams) => (
      <strong>
        {(params.value as Date).getFullYear()}
        <Button
          variant="contained"
          color="primary"
          size="small"
          style={{ marginLeft: 16 }}
        >
          Open
        </Button>
      </strong>
    ),
  },
];

Render header

You can customize the look of each header with the renderHeader method. It takes precedence over the headerName property.

const columns: ColDef[] = [
  {
    field: 'date',
    width: 150,
    type: 'date',
    renderHeader: (params: ColParams) => (
      <strong>
        {'Birthday '}
        <span role="img" aria-label="enjoy">
          🎂
        </span>
      </strong>
    ),
  },
];

Styling header

The ColDef type has properties to apply class names and custom CSS on the header.

headerClassName: to apply class names into the column header.
headerAlign: to align the content of the header. It must be 'left' | 'right' | 'center'.

const columns: Columns = [
  {
    field: 'first',
    headerClassName: 'super-app-theme--header',
    headerAlign: 'center',
  },
  {
    field: 'last',
    headerClassName: 'super-app-theme--header',
    headerAlign: 'center',
  },
];

Styling cells

The ColDef type has properties to apply class names and custom CSS on the cells.

cellClassName: to apply class names on every cell. It can also be a function.
align: to align the content of the cells. It must be 'left' | 'right' | 'center'.

const columns: Columns = [
  {
    field: 'name',
    cellClassName: 'super-app-theme--cell',
  },
  {
    field: 'score',
    type: 'number',
    cellClassName: (params: CellClassParams) =>
      clsx('super-app', {
        negative: (params.value as number) < 0,
        positive: (params.value as number) > 0,
      }),
  },
];

Layout

By default, the grid has no intrinsic dimensions. It occupies the space its parent leaves.

⚠️ When using % (percentage) for your height or width.
>
You need to make sure the container you are putting the grid into also has an intrinsic dimension. The browsers fit the element according to a percentage of the parent dimension. If the parent has no dimensions, then the % will be zero.

Flex layout

It's recommended to use a flex container to render the grid. This allows a flexible layout, resizes well, and works on all devices.

<div style={{ display: 'flex', height: '100%' }}>
  <div style={{ flexGrow: 1 }}>
    <DataGrid {...data} />
  </div>
</div>

Predefined dimensions

You can predefine dimensions for the parent of the grid.

<div style={{ height: 350, width: '100%' }}>
  <DataGrid {...data} />
</div>

Auto height

The autoHeight prop allows the grid to size according to its content. This means that the number of rows will drive the height of the grid and consequently, they will all be rendered and visible to the user at the same time.

⚠️ This is not recommended for large datasets as row virtualization will not be able to improve performance by limiting the number of elements rendered in the DOM.

<DataGrid autoHeight {...data} />

Virtualization

DOM virtualization is the feature that allows the grid to handle an unlimited* number of rows and columns. This is a built-in feature of the rendering engine and greatly improves rendering performance.

unlimited*: Browsers set a limit on the number of pixels a scroll container can host: 17.5 million pixels on Firefox, 33.5 million pixels on Chrome, Edge, and Safari. A reproduction.

Row virtualization ⚡️

Row virtualization is the insertion and removal of rows as the grid scrolls vertically.

The grid renders twice as many rows as are visible. It isn't configurable yet. Row virtualization is limited to 100 rows in the DataGrid component.

Column virtualization

Column virtualization is the insertion and removal of columns as the grid scrolls horizontally.

Overscanning by at least one column allows the arrow key to focus on the next (not yet visible) item.
Overscanning slightly can reduce or prevent a flash of empty space when a user first starts scrolling.
Overscanning more allows the built-in search feature of the browser to find more matching cells.
Overscanning too much can negatively impact performance.

By default, 2 columns are rendered outside of the viewport. You can change this option with the columnBuffer prop. The following demo renders 1,000 columns in total:

<DataGrid {...data} columnBuffer={2} />

You can disable column virtualization by setting the column buffer to a higher number than the number of rendered columns, e.g. with columnBuffer={columns.length} or columnBuffer={Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER}.

Components prop

As part of the customization API, the grid allows you to replace and override nested components with the components prop. The prop accepts an object with the following keys:

header: The component rendered above the column header bar.
loadingOverlay: The component rendered when the loading react prop is set to true.
noRowsOverlay: The component rendered when the rows react prop is empty or [].
footer: The component rendered below the viewport.
pagination: The component rendered for the pagination feature.

Loading overlay

By default, the loading overlay displays a circular progress. This demo replaces it with a linear progress.

<DataGrid
  components={{
    loadingOverlay: CustomLoadingOverlay,
  }}
  loading
  {...data}
/>

No rows overlay

In the following demo, an illustration is added on top of the default "No Rows" message.

<DataGrid
  components={{
    noRowsOverlay: CustomNoRowsOverlay,
  }}
  rows={[]}
  columns={data.columns}
/>

Footer

The grid exposes props to hide specific elements of the UI:

hideFooter: If true, the footer component is hidden.
hideFooterRowCount: If true, the row count in the footer is hidden.
hideFooterSelectedRowCount: If true, the selected row count in the footer is hidden.
hideFooterPagination: If true, the pagination component in the footer is hidden.

By default, pagination uses the TablePagination component that is optimized for handling tabular data. This demo replaces it with the Pagination component.

<DataGrid
  pagination
  pageSize={5}
  components={{
    pagination: CustomPagination,
  }}
  {...data}
/>

Customization example

The following grid leverages the CSS customization API to match the Ant Design specification.

<DataGrid
  className={classes.root}
  checkboxSelection
  pageSize={5}
  components={{
    pagination: CustomPagination,
  }}
  {...data}
/>