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Columns

Column Field

The field property of columns in LyteNyte Grid determines the cell value for a given row in a specific column.

LyteNyte Grid supports four types of values for the field property:

  • A string value: Used when row data is an object. The string serves as a key to look up the value.
  • A number value: Used when row data is an array. The number acts as an index into the data array.
  • A function callback: Used for custom calculations of a column's field value.
  • An object with the form { kind: 1; path: string }: Used for accessing nested values in object data. The kind property must be set to 1, and the path must be a string indicating the path to follow.

This guide explains how to use each field type in detail.

The field property is the primary field property on a column, but there are others:

  • groupField: Calculates the group key when columns are used for row groups
  • inFilterField: Calculates the in-filter value of a column for a given row
  • quickSearchField: Calculates the quick search filter value

The field property serves as the fallback for all other field calculators. All field calculators accept the same set of values - they only differ in how their output is used.

The field property is optional. When not provided, the column's id is used as a fallback.

Key Lookup Fields

When the field property is a string, it works as a key lookup value. The row data is expected to be an object, and the field string is used as a key to access the value:

Key Lookup Fields
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If no field property is provided for a column, the column's id is used as a fallback. Since column id must be a string, this fallback implicitly functions as a key lookup field.

Number Index Fields

When the field property is a number, the row data is expected to be an array. The number serves as an index in the array to retrieve the cell value. This approach is particularly useful when working with array data.

Number Index Fields
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Function Fields

The field property can accept a function as its value. Function fields offer the most flexibility among all field types, allowing for arbitrary calculations. They are especially useful when a column's value depends on values from other columns.

Function Fields
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Path Fields

A field can specify a path to a value using the form { kind: 1; path: string }. The kind: 1 tells LyteNyte Grid to use a path calculator, while the path property specifies the path to the value, typically for accessing nested values in an object.

Path Fields
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The syntax for the path string is similar to Lodash's get function. Examples include:

{ kind: 1, path: "alpha.beta[0]" };
{ kind: 1, path: "beta[0].alpha" };

Which Field Type to Use

We generally recommend using either string or number fields. Number fields provide the most compact data representation since data lookup is ordinal. Function and path fields tend to introduce higher complexity. Additionally, function fields prevent columns from being serializable, which may be undesirable in certain scenarios.