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Data Source Integration

Starting with R2 2022, the Kendo UI team officially drops the support for AngularJS 1.x through Kendo UI for jQuery. The AngularJS related files and functionality are removed from the bundles and distribution in R3 SP1 2023. The last version that contains the files is R3 2023. This does not impact Kendo UI for Angular (2+) suite. If you still need to use AngularJS in your project, check this article that explains how to get the legacy files. For information regarding extended support for AngularJS, please visit Extended Long Term Support

Even though you do not have to always create a DataSource object, most Kendo UI widgets require it.

Updating the Data Source

The following example contains static local data and demonstrates how to try to update the data source. When you select an item in the Grid, two input fields become available and they are bound to that item's data. Editing the data in the input fields works as expected: the Grid updates.

<div ng-app="app" ng-controller="MyCtrl">
    <div kendo-grid
         k-data-source="gridData"
         k-columns="gridColumns"
         k-selectable="true"
         k-on-change="onChange(data)"></div>

    <p ng-show="selected">
      <label>Artist: <input ng-model="selected.artist" /></label>
      <br />
      <label>Track: <input ng-model="selected.track" /></label>
    </p>

    <button kendo-button ng-click="update()">
      Update from code
    </button>
</div>
<script>
angular.module("app", ["kendo.directives"]).controller("MyCtrl", function($scope) {
  $scope.gridData = [
    { artist: "Pink Floyd", track: "The dark side of the Moon" },
    { artist: "The Beatles", track: "I've just seen a face" },
    { artist: "Queen", track: "Innuendo" }
  ];
  $scope.gridColumns = [
    { field: "artist", title: "Artist" },
    { field: "track", title: "Track" }
  ];
  $scope.update = function() {
    $scope.gridData[0].track = "Hey you";
    console.log($scope.gridData);
  };
  $scope.onChange = function(data){
    $scope.selected = data;
  };
});
</script>

Updating the DataSource Object

However, if you click the UPDATE FROM CODE button, nothing appears to happen. The reason is that the data source of the Grid is a different object from $scope.gridData. When the widget initializes, it creates a DataSource object as a copy of the original object. Changing the original object has no effect on the Grid.

Solution Create and place in a scope the data source object yourself. Only the controller changes while the markup is the same. Use kendo.data.ObservableArray to update the data source.

<div ng-app="app" ng-controller="MyCtrl">
    <div kendo-grid
         k-data-source="gridData"
         k-columns="gridColumns"
         k-selectable="true"
         k-on-change="onChange(data)"></div>

    <p ng-show="selected">
      <label>Artist: <input ng-model="selected.artist" /></label>
      <br />
      <label>Track: <input ng-model="selected.track" /></label>
    </p>

    <button kendo-button ng-click="update()">
      Update from code
    </button>
</div>
<script>
angular.module("app", ["kendo.directives"]).controller("MyCtrl", function($scope) {
    $scope.gridData = new kendo.data.ObservableArray([
      { artist: "Pink Floyd", track: "The dark side of the Moon" },
      { artist: "The Beatles", track: "I've just seen a face" },
      { artist: "Queen", track: "Innuendo" }
    ]);
    $scope.gridColumns = [
      { field: "artist", title: "Artist" },
      { field: "track", title: "Track" }
    ];
    $scope.update = function() {
      $scope.gridData[0].set("track", "Hey you");
    };
    $scope.onChange = function(data){
      $scope.selected = data;
    };
});
</script>

The recommended way to update the object is to use the set method of the ObservableObject. However, in this case, the $scope.gridData[0].track = "Hey you"; configuration approach works too. The reason is that when the Grid columns do not declare a template property, AngularJS-Kendo UI bindings automatically initialize it with a template which uses {{angular}} expressions. Therefore, if you only set the property in the object, AngularJS (which manages the display state) will render the update. The Grid itself will not be notified about a change in the data. In general, try to use methods of the Observable objects to manage the data as this is the only guaranteed way that widgets will properly update.

See Also

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