Angular Data GridSide Bar

Enterprise

This section covers how to configure the Side Bar which contains Tool Panels.

Configuring the Side Bar

The Side Bar is configured using the grid property sideBar. The property takes multiple forms to allow easy configuration or more advanced configuration. The different forms for the sideBar property are as follows:

TypeDescription
undefined / nullNo Side Bar provided.
booleanSet to true to display the Side Bar with default configuration.
string / string[]Set to 'columns' or 'filters' to display the Side Bar with just one of Columns or Filters Tool Panels or an array of one or both of these values.
SideBarDef
(long form)
An object of type SideBarDef (explained below) to allow detailed configuration of the Side Bar. Use this to configure the provided Tool Panels (e.g. pass parameters to the columns or filters panel) or to include custom Tool Panels.

Boolean Configuration

The default Side Bar contains the Columns and Filters Tool Panels. To use the default Side Bar, set the grid property sideBar=true. The Columns panel will be open by default.

The default configuration doesn't allow customisation of the Tool Panels.

String Configuration

To display just one of the provided Tool Panels, set either sideBar='columns' or sideBar='filters'. This will display the desired item with default configuration. Alternatively pass one or both as a string[], i.e sideBar=['columns','filters'].

The example below demonstrates using the string configuration. Note the following:

  • The grid property sideBar is set to 'filters'.
  • The Side Bar is displayed showing only the Filters panel.

SideBarDef Configuration

The previous configurations are shortcuts for the full fledged configuration using a SideBarDef object. For full control over the configuration, you must provide a SideBarDef object.

Properties available on the SideBarDef interface.

toolPanels
(ToolPanelDef | string)[]
A list of all the panels to place in the side bar. The panels will be displayed in the provided order from top to bottom.
defaultToolPanel
string
The panel (identified by ID) to open by default. If none specified, the side bar is initially displayed closed.
hiddenByDefault
boolean
To hide the side bar by default, set this to true. If left undefined the side bar will be shown.
position
'left' | 'right'
Sets the side bar position relative to the grid.

The toolPanels property follows the ToolPanelDef interface:

Properties available on the ToolPanelDef interface.

id
string
The unique ID for this panel. Used in the API and elsewhere to refer to the panel.
labelKey
string
The key used for localisation for displaying the label. The label is displayed in the tab button.
labelDefault
string
The default label if labelKey is missing or does not map to valid text through localisation.
minWidth
number
default: 100
The min width of the tool panel.
maxWidth
number
The max width of the tool panel.
width
number
default: $side-bar-panel-width (theme variable)
The initial width of the tool panel.
iconKey
string
The key of the icon to be used as a graphical aid beside the label in the side bar.
toolPanel
any
The tool panel component to use as the panel. The provided panels use components agColumnsToolPanel and agFiltersToolPanel. To provide your own custom panel component, you reference it here.
toolPanelParams
any
Customise the parameters provided to the toolPanel component.

The following snippet shows configuring the Tool Panel using a SideBarDef object:

<ag-grid-angular
    [sideBar]="sideBar"
    /* other grid options ... */ />

this.sideBar = {
    toolPanels: [
        {
            id: 'columns',
            labelDefault: 'Columns',
            labelKey: 'columns',
            iconKey: 'columns',
            toolPanel: 'agColumnsToolPanel',
            minWidth: 225,
            maxWidth: 225,
            width: 225
        },
        {
            id: 'filters',
            labelDefault: 'Filters',
            labelKey: 'filters',
            iconKey: 'filter',
            toolPanel: 'agFiltersToolPanel',
            minWidth: 180,
            maxWidth: 400,
            width: 250
        }
    ],
    position: 'left',
    defaultToolPanel: 'filters'
};

The snippet above is demonstrated in the following example:

Configuration Shortcuts

The boolean and string configurations are shortcuts for more detailed configurations. When you use a shortcut the grid replaces it with the equivalent long form of the configuration by building the equivalent SideBarDef.

The following code snippets show an example of the boolean shortcut and the equivalent SideBarDef long form.

<ag-grid-angular
    [sideBar]="sideBar"
    /* other grid options ... */ />

// shortcut
this.sideBar = true;
<ag-grid-angular
    [sideBar]="sideBar"
    /* other grid options ... */ />

// equivalent detailed long form
this.sideBar = {
    toolPanels: [
        {
            id: 'columns',
            labelDefault: 'Columns',
            labelKey: 'columns',
            iconKey: 'columns',
            toolPanel: 'agColumnsToolPanel',
        },
        {
            id: 'filters',
            labelDefault: 'Filters',
            labelKey: 'filters',
            iconKey: 'filter',
            toolPanel: 'agFiltersToolPanel',
        }
    ],
    defaultToolPanel: 'columns',
};

The following code snippets show an example of the string shortcut and the equivalent SideBarDef long form.

<ag-grid-angular
    [sideBar]="sideBar"
    /* other grid options ... */ />

// shortcut
this.sideBar = 'filters';
<ag-grid-angular
    [sideBar]="sideBar"
    /* other grid options ... */ />

// equivalent detailed long form
this.sideBar = {
    toolPanels: [
        {
            id: 'filters',
            labelDefault: 'Filters',
            labelKey: 'filters',
            iconKey: 'filter',
            toolPanel: 'agFiltersToolPanel',
        }
    ],
    defaultToolPanel: 'filters',
};

You can also use shortcuts inside the toolPanel.items array for specifying the Columns and Filters items.

<ag-grid-angular
    [sideBar]="sideBar"
    /* other grid options ... */ />

// shortcut
this.sideBar = {
    toolPanels: ['columns', 'filters']
};
<ag-grid-angular
    [sideBar]="sideBar"
    /* other grid options ... */ />

// equivalent detailed long form
this.sideBar = {
    toolPanels: [
        {
            id: 'columns',
            labelDefault: 'Columns',
            labelKey: 'columns',
            iconKey: 'columns',
            toolPanel: 'agColumnsToolPanel',
        },
        {
            id: 'filters',
            labelDefault: 'Filters',
            labelKey: 'filters',
            iconKey: 'filter',
            toolPanel: 'agFiltersToolPanel',
        }
    ]
};

If you are using the long form (providing a SideBarDef object) then it is possible to customise. The example below changes the filter label and icon.

Providing Parameters to Tool Panels

Parameters are passed to Tool Panels via the toolPanelParams object. For example, the following code snippet sets suppressRowGroups: true and suppressValues: true for the Columns Tool Panel.

<ag-grid-angular
    [sideBar]="sideBar"
    /* other grid options ... */ />

this.sideBar = {
    toolPanels: [
        {
            id: 'columns',
            labelDefault: 'Columns',
            labelKey: 'columns',
            iconKey: 'columns',
            toolPanel: 'agColumnsToolPanel',
            toolPanelParams: {
                suppressRowGroups: true,
                suppressValues: true,
            }
        }
    ]
};

See the Columns Tool Panel documentation for the full list of possible parameters to this Tool Panel.

The list below details all the API methods relevant to the Tool Panel.

getSideBar
Function
Returns the current side bar configuration. If a shortcut was used, returns the detailed long form.
setSideBarVisible
Function
Show/hide the entire side bar, including any visible panel and the tab buttons.
isSideBarVisible
Function
Returns true if the side bar is visible.
setSideBarPosition
Function
Sets the side bar position relative to the grid. Possible values are 'left' or 'right'.
openToolPanel
Function
Opens a particular tool panel. Provide the ID of the tool panel to open.
closeToolPanel
Function
Closes the currently open tool panel (if any).
getOpenedToolPanel
Function
Returns the ID of the currently shown tool panel if any, otherwise null.
isToolPanelShowing
Function
Returns true if the tool panel is showing, otherwise false.
refreshToolPanel
Function
Force refresh all tool panels by calling their refresh method.
getToolPanelInstance
Function
Gets the tool panel instance corresponding to the supplied id.

The example below demonstrates different usages of the Tool Panel API methods. The following can be noted:

  • Initially the Side Bar is not visible as sideBar.hiddenByDefault=true.
  • Visibility Buttons: These toggle visibility of the Tool Panel. Note that when you make visible=false, the entire Tool Panel is hidden including the tabs. Make sure the Tool Panel is left visible before testing the other API features so you can see the impact.
  • Open / Close Buttons: These open and close different Tool Panel items.
  • Reset Buttons: These reset the Tool Panel to a new configuration. Notice that shortcuts are provided as configuration however getSideBar() returns back the long form.
  • Position Buttons: These change the position of the Side Bar relative to the grid.

Next Up

Now that we covered the Side Bar, continue to the next section to learn about the Columns Tool Panel.