Column Spanning
The columnSpan property allows cells to span across multiple columns in LyteNyte Grid. For
example, setting columnSpan to 2 makes cells in that column extend across two columns. When a
cell spans multiple columns, the grid does not render the cells that are covered by the spanning
cell.
The columnSpan property can be either a number or a function that returns the number of columns
a cell should span.
Column Span Scan Distance
For performance reasons, LyteNyte Grid doesn't calculate all column spans in advance. Instead, it
performs a lookback from the first visible column (determined by scroll position). The lookback
distance is controlled by the columnSpanScanDistance property on the grid.
The columnSpanScanDistance represents the maximum possible column span value in your grid. It's
your responsibility to ensure that no column span exceeds this value to maintain proper rendering.
If you're familiar with other data grids that support spanning, you might wonder why LyteNyte Grid uses a scan distance approach. The answer is correctness and performance. LyteNyte Grid is designed to properly display your row and column layout under all conditions.
Alternative approaches either calculate spans ahead of time (limiting grid scalability) or incorrectly render spans based on scroll position. The scan distance is a compromise that requires specifying a maximum span value while maintaining both performance and correct rendering.
For practical purposes, setting a column span scan distance of 100 is reasonable, as it's
extremely rare in real-world applications for a single column to span more than 100 columns.