Components / TreeList / Editing

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Blazor TreeList CRUD Operations Overview

CRUD operations with the TreeList for Blazor support validation and are done through the dedicated CRUD events it exposes for data editing. You can use them to transfer the changes to the underlying data source (for example, call a service that will actually work with the database, and not only with the view data).

To enable TreeList editing, set the EditMode attribute to the desired edit mode.

Sections in this article:

Basics

The TreeList offers several editing modes with different user experience through the EditMode property that is a member of the TreeListEditMode enum:

Events

Here are the available events and command buttons that you need to use for editing records in a TreeList.

  • OnAdd - fires when the Add command button for a newly added item is clicked. Cancellable.
  • OnCreate - fires when the Save command button for a newly added item is clicked. Cancellable.
  • OnUpdate - fires when the Save command button is clicked on an existing item. Cancellable. The model reference is a copy of the original data source item.
  • OnDelete - fires when the Delete command button is clicked. The event is cancellable, and you can also display a delete confirmation dialog before the deletion.
  • OnEdit - fires when the user is about to enter edit mode for an existing row. Cancellable.
  • OnCancel - fires when the user clicks the Cancel command button. Allows you to undo the changes to the data in the view data. Cancellable.

The CUD event handlers receive an argument of type TreeListCommandEventArgs that exposes the following fields:

  • IsCancelled - a boolean field indicating whether the treelist operation is to be prevented. You can use it to prevent the user action from affecting the treelist (for example, prevent a row from opening for edit, or the user from cancelling an edit operation).
  • IsNew - a boolean field indicating whether the item was just added through the treelist. Lets you differentiate a data source Create operation from Update operation in the OnClick event of a command button.
  • Item - an object you can cast to your model class to obtain the current data item.
  • ParentItem - an object you can cast to your model class to obtain the parent of current data item. Will be null if the current item is at the root level.
  • Field - specific to InCell editing - indicates which is the model field the user changed when updating data.
  • Value - specific to InCell editing - indicates what is the new value the user changed when updating data.

You can initiate editing or inserting of an item from anywhere on the page (buttons outside of the treelist, or components in a column template) through the treelist state.

Customize The Editor Fields

You can customize the editors rendered in the TreeList by providing the EditorType attribute, exposed on the <TreeListColumn>, or by using the Editor Template. The EditorType attribute accepts a member of the TreeListEditorType enum:

Field data type TreeListEditorType enum members
Text TreeListEditorType.TextArea
TreeListEditorType.TextBox
Boolean TreeListEditorType.CheckBox
TreeListEditorType.Switch
DateTime TreeListEditorType.DatePicker
TreeListEditorType.DateTimePicker
TreeListEditorType.TimePicker 
@* The usage of the EditorType parameter *@

@using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations

<TelerikTreeList Data="@Data"
                 EditMode="@TreeListEditMode.Inline"
                 OnUpdate="@UpdateItem"
                 OnDelete="@DeleteItem"
                 OnCreate="@CreateItem"
                 OnCancel="@OnCancelHandler"
                 Pageable="true" ItemsField="@(nameof(Employee.DirectReports))"
                 Width="850px">

    <TreeListToolBarTemplate>
        <TreeListCommandButton Command="Add" Icon="@SvgIcon.Plus">Add</TreeListCommandButton>
    </TreeListToolBarTemplate>
    <TreeListColumns>
        <TreeListCommandColumn Width="280px">
            <TreeListCommandButton Command="Add" Icon="@SvgIcon.Plus">Add Child</TreeListCommandButton>
            <TreeListCommandButton Command="Edit" Icon="@SvgIcon.Pencil">Edit</TreeListCommandButton>
            <TreeListCommandButton Command="Delete" Icon="@SvgIcon.Trash">Delete</TreeListCommandButton>
            <TreeListCommandButton Command="Save" Icon="@SvgIcon.Save" ShowInEdit="true">Update</TreeListCommandButton>
            <TreeListCommandButton Command="Cancel" Icon="@SvgIcon.Cancel" ShowInEdit="true">Cancel</TreeListCommandButton>
        </TreeListCommandColumn>

        <TreeListColumn Field="Name" Expandable="true" Width="320px" />
        <TreeListColumn Field="Id" Editable="false" Width="120px" />
        <TreeListColumn Field="EmailAddress" Width="220px" />
        <TreeListColumn Field="HireDate"
                        EditorType="@TreeListEditorType.DateTimePicker"
                        Width="220px" />
    </TreeListColumns>
</TelerikTreeList>

@code {
    public List<Employee> Data { get; set; }

    async Task UpdateItem(TreeListCommandEventArgs args)
    {
        var item = args.Item as Employee;

        await MyService.Update(item);

        await GetTreeListData();
    }

    async Task CreateItem(TreeListCommandEventArgs args)
    {
        var item = args.Item as Employee;
        var parentItem = args.ParentItem as Employee;

        await MyService.Create(item, parentItem);

        await GetTreeListData();
    }

    async Task DeleteItem(TreeListCommandEventArgs args)
    {
        var item = args.Item as Employee;

        await MyService.Delete(item);

        await GetTreeListData();
    }

    async Task OnCancelHandler(TreeListCommandEventArgs args)
    {
        Employee empl = args.Item as Employee;
    }

    public class Employee
    {
        public int Id { get; set; }

        [Required]
        public string Name { get; set; }
        public string EmailAddress { get; set; }
        public DateTime HireDate { get; set; }

        public List<Employee> DirectReports { get; set; }
        public bool HasChildren { get; set; }

        public override bool Equals(object obj)
        {
            if (obj is Employee)
            {
                return this.Id == (obj as Employee).Id;
            }
            return false;
        }
    }

    async Task GetTreeListData()
    {
        Data = await MyService.Read();
    }

    protected override async Task OnInitializedAsync()
    {
        await GetTreeListData();
    }

    public static class MyService
    {
        private static List<Employee> _data { get; set; } = new List<Employee>();

        private static int LastId { get; set; } = 1;

        public static async Task Create(Employee itemToInsert, Employee parentItem)
        {
            InsertItemRecursive(_data, itemToInsert, parentItem);
        }

        public static async Task<List<Employee>> Read()
        {
            if (_data.Count < 1)
            {
                for (int i = 1; i < 15; i++)
                {
                    Employee root = new Employee
                    {
                        Id = LastId,
                        Name = $"root: {i}",
                        EmailAddress = $"{i}@example.com",
                        HireDate = DateTime.Now.AddYears(-i),
                        DirectReports = new List<Employee>(),
                        HasChildren = true
                    };
                    _data.Add(root);
                    LastId++;

                    for (int j = 1; j < 4; j++)
                    {
                        int currId = LastId;
                        Employee firstLevelChild = new Employee
                        {
                            Id = currId,
                            Name = $"first level child {j} of {i}",
                            EmailAddress = $"{currId}@example.com",
                            HireDate = DateTime.Now.AddDays(-currId),
                            DirectReports = new List<Employee>(),
                            HasChildren = true
                        };
                        root.DirectReports.Add(firstLevelChild);
                        LastId++;

                        for (int k = 1; k < 3; k++)
                        {
                            int nestedId = LastId;
                            firstLevelChild.DirectReports.Add(new Employee
                            {
                                Id = LastId,
                                Name = $"second level child {k} of {j} and {i}",
                                EmailAddress = $"{nestedId}@example.com",
                                HireDate = DateTime.Now.AddMinutes(-nestedId)
                            }); ;
                            LastId++;
                        }
                    }
                }

                _data[0].Name += " (non-editable, see OnEdit)";
            }

            return await Task.FromResult(_data);
        }

        public static async Task Update(Employee itemToUpdate)
        {
            UpdateItemRecursive(_data, itemToUpdate);
        }

        public static async Task Delete(Employee itemToDelete)
        {
            RemoveChildRecursive(_data, itemToDelete);
        }

        // sample helper methods for handling the view-model data hierarchy
        static void UpdateItemRecursive(List<Employee> items, Employee itemToUpdate)
        {
            for (int i = 0; i < items.Count; i++)
            {
                if (items[i].Id.Equals(itemToUpdate.Id))
                {
                    items[i] = itemToUpdate;
                    return;
                }

                if (items[i].DirectReports?.Count > 0)
                {
                    UpdateItemRecursive(items[i].DirectReports, itemToUpdate);
                }
            }
        }

        static void RemoveChildRecursive(List<Employee> items, Employee item)
        {
            for (int i = 0; i < items.Count(); i++)
            {
                if (item.Equals(items[i]))
                {
                    items.Remove(item);

                    return;
                }
                else if (items[i].DirectReports?.Count > 0)
                {
                    RemoveChildRecursive(items[i].DirectReports, item);

                    if (items[i].DirectReports.Count == 0)
                    {
                        items[i].HasChildren = false;
                    }
                }
            }
        }

        static void InsertItemRecursive(List<Employee> Data, Employee insertedItem, Employee parentItem)
        {
            insertedItem.Id = LastId++;
            if (parentItem != null)
            {
                parentItem.HasChildren = true;
                if (parentItem.DirectReports == null)
                {
                    parentItem.DirectReports = new List<Employee>();
                }

                parentItem.DirectReports.Insert(0, insertedItem);
            }
            else
            {
                Data.Insert(0, insertedItem);
            }
        }
    }
}

Example

The example below shows how you can handle the events the treelist exposes, so you can Create, Update or Delete records in your data source and the view model.

The treelist events use EventCallback and can be synchronous or asynchronous. The example below shows async versions, and the signature for synchronous events is void <MethodName>(TreeListCommandEventArgs args).

Handling the CRUD events of the treelist to save data to the actual data source

@using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations
@* Used for the model annotations only *@

Editing is cancelled for the first record.
<br />

<TelerikTreeList Data="@Data"
                 EditMode="@TreeListEditMode.Inline"
                 OnAdd="@AddItem"
                 OnUpdate="@UpdateItem"
                 OnDelete="@DeleteItem"
                 OnCreate="@CreateItem"
                 OnEdit="@OnEditHandler"
                 OnCancel="@OnCancelHandler"
                 Pageable="true" ItemsField="@(nameof(Employee.DirectReports))"
                 Width="850px">

    <TreeListToolBarTemplate>
        <TreeListCommandButton Command="Add" Icon="@SvgIcon.Plus">Add</TreeListCommandButton>
    </TreeListToolBarTemplate>
    <TreeListColumns>
        <TreeListCommandColumn Width="280px">
            <TreeListCommandButton Command="Add" Icon="@SvgIcon.Plus">Add Child</TreeListCommandButton>
            <TreeListCommandButton Command="Edit" Icon="@SvgIcon.Pencil">Edit</TreeListCommandButton>
            <TreeListCommandButton Command="Delete" Icon="@SvgIcon.Trash">Delete</TreeListCommandButton>
            <TreeListCommandButton Command="Save" Icon="@SvgIcon.Save" ShowInEdit="true">Update</TreeListCommandButton>
            <TreeListCommandButton Command="Cancel" Icon="@SvgIcon.Cancel" ShowInEdit="true">Cancel</TreeListCommandButton>
        </TreeListCommandColumn>

        <TreeListColumn Field="Name" Expandable="true" Width="320px" />
        <TreeListColumn Field="Id" Editable="false" Width="120px" />
        <TreeListColumn Field="EmailAddress" Width="220px" />
        <TreeListColumn Field="HireDate" Width="220px" />
    </TreeListColumns>
</TelerikTreeList>

@logger

@code {
    public List<Employee> Data { get; set; }

    // Sample CUD operations for the local data
    async Task AddItem(TreeListCommandEventArgs args)
    {
        //Set default values for new items
        ((Employee)args.Item).Name = "New Employee Name";

        //Cancel if needed
        //args.IsCancelled = true;
    }

    async Task UpdateItem(TreeListCommandEventArgs args)
    {
        var item = args.Item as Employee;

        // perform actual data source operations here through your service
        await MyService.Update(item);

        // update the local view-model data with the service data
        await GetTreeListData();

        AppendToLog("Update", args);
    }

    async Task CreateItem(TreeListCommandEventArgs args)
    {
        var item = args.Item as Employee;
        var parentItem = args.ParentItem as Employee;

        // perform actual data source operations here through your service
        await MyService.Create(item, parentItem);

        // update the local view-model data with the service data
        await GetTreeListData();

        AppendToLog("Create", args);
    }

    async Task DeleteItem(TreeListCommandEventArgs args)
    {
        var item = args.Item as Employee;

        // perform actual data source operations here through your service
        await MyService.Delete(item);

        // update the local view-model data with the service data
        await GetTreeListData();

        AppendToLog("Delete", args);
    }

    // OnEdit handler

    async Task OnEditHandler(TreeListCommandEventArgs args)
    {
        Employee empl = args.Item as Employee;
        if (empl.Id == 1)
        {
            // prevent opening for edit based on condition
            args.IsCancelled = true;
            Console.WriteLine("You cannot edit this item");
        }

        AppendToLog("Edit", args);
    }

    // OnCancel handler

    async Task OnCancelHandler(TreeListCommandEventArgs args)
    {
        Employee empl = args.Item as Employee;
        // if necessary, perform actual data source operation here through your service

        AppendToLog("Cancel", args);
    }

    // sample visualization of the results
    MarkupString logger;
    void AppendToLog(string commandName, TreeListCommandEventArgs args)
    {
        string currAction = string.Format(
            "<br />Command: <strong>{0}</strong>; is cancelled: <strong>{1}</strong>; is the item new: <strong>{2}</strong>",
                commandName,
                args.IsCancelled,
                args.IsNew
            );
        logger = new MarkupString(logger + currAction);
    }


    // sample model

    public class Employee
    {
        public int Id { get; set; }

        [Required]
        public string Name { get; set; }
        public string EmailAddress { get; set; }
        public DateTime HireDate { get; set; }

        public List<Employee> DirectReports { get; set; }
        public bool HasChildren { get; set; }

        // Used for the editing so replacing the object in the view-model data
        // will treat it as the same object and keep its state - otherwise it will
        // collapse after editing is done, which is not what the user would expect
        public override bool Equals(object obj)
        {
            if (obj is Employee)
            {
                return this.Id == (obj as Employee).Id;
            }
            return false;
        }
    }

    // data generation

    async Task GetTreeListData()
    {
        Data = await MyService.Read();
    }

    protected override async Task OnInitializedAsync()
    {
        await GetTreeListData();
    }

    // the following static class mimics an actual data service that handles the actual data source
    // replace it with your actual service through the DI, this only mimics how the API can look like and works for this standalone page
    public static class MyService
    {
        private static List<Employee> _data { get; set; } = new List<Employee>();
        // used in this example for data generation and retrieval for CUD operations on the current view-model data
        private static int LastId { get; set; } = 1;

        public static async Task Create(Employee itemToInsert, Employee parentItem)
        {
            InsertItemRecursive(_data, itemToInsert, parentItem);
        }

        public static async Task<List<Employee>> Read()
        {
            if (_data.Count < 1)
            {
                for (int i = 1; i < 15; i++)
                {
                    Employee root = new Employee
                    {
                        Id = LastId,
                        Name = $"root: {i}",
                        EmailAddress = $"{i}@example.com",
                        HireDate = DateTime.Now.AddYears(-i),
                        DirectReports = new List<Employee>(),
                        HasChildren = true
                    };
                    _data.Add(root);
                    LastId++;

                    for (int j = 1; j < 4; j++)
                    {
                        int currId = LastId;
                        Employee firstLevelChild = new Employee
                        {
                            Id = currId,
                            Name = $"first level child {j} of {i}",
                            EmailAddress = $"{currId}@example.com",
                            HireDate = DateTime.Now.AddDays(-currId),
                            DirectReports = new List<Employee>(),
                            HasChildren = true
                        };
                        root.DirectReports.Add(firstLevelChild);
                        LastId++;

                        for (int k = 1; k < 3; k++)
                        {
                            int nestedId = LastId;
                            firstLevelChild.DirectReports.Add(new Employee
                            {
                                Id = LastId,
                                Name = $"second level child {k} of {j} and {i}",
                                EmailAddress = $"{nestedId}@example.com",
                                HireDate = DateTime.Now.AddMinutes(-nestedId)
                            }); ;
                            LastId++;
                        }
                    }
                }

                _data[0].Name += " (non-editable, see OnEdit)";
            }

            return await Task.FromResult(_data);
        }

        public static async Task Update(Employee itemToUpdate)
        {
            UpdateItemRecursive(_data, itemToUpdate);
        }

        public static async Task Delete(Employee itemToDelete)
        {
            RemoveChildRecursive(_data, itemToDelete);
        }

        // sample helper methods for handling the view-model data hierarchy
        static void UpdateItemRecursive(List<Employee> items, Employee itemToUpdate)
        {
            for (int i = 0; i < items.Count; i++)
            {
                if (items[i].Id.Equals(itemToUpdate.Id))
                {
                    items[i] = itemToUpdate;
                    return;
                }

                if (items[i].DirectReports?.Count > 0)
                {
                    UpdateItemRecursive(items[i].DirectReports, itemToUpdate);
                }
            }
        }

        static void RemoveChildRecursive(List<Employee> items, Employee item)
        {
            for (int i = 0; i < items.Count(); i++)
            {
                if (item.Equals(items[i]))
                {
                    items.Remove(item);

                    return;
                }
                else if (items[i].DirectReports?.Count > 0)
                {
                    RemoveChildRecursive(items[i].DirectReports, item);

                    if (items[i].DirectReports.Count == 0)
                    {
                        items[i].HasChildren = false;
                    }
                }
            }
        }

        static void InsertItemRecursive(List<Employee> Data, Employee insertedItem, Employee parentItem)
        {
            insertedItem.Id = LastId++;
            if (parentItem != null)
            {
                parentItem.HasChildren = true;
                if (parentItem.DirectReports == null)
                {
                    parentItem.DirectReports = new List<Employee>();
                }

                parentItem.DirectReports.Insert(0, insertedItem);
            }
            else
            {
                Data.Insert(0, insertedItem);
            }
        }
    }
}

Notes

There are a few considerations to keep in mind with the CUD operations of the treelist. They are explained in the following list:

  • It is up to the data access logic to save the data once it is changed in the data collection. The example above showcases when that happens and adds some code to provide a visual indication of the change. In a real application, the code for handling data updates may be entirely different.

  • The CRUD event handlers must be async Task and not async void. A Task can be properly awaited and allows working with services and contexts, and lets the treelist update after the actual data source operations complete.

    • When the method returns void, the execution of the context operations is not actually awaited, and you may get errors from the context (such as "Cannot access a disposed object. A common cause of this error is disposing a context that was resolved from dependency injection and then later trying to use the same context instance elsewhere in your application" or "A second operation started on this context before a previous operation completed. This is usually caused by different threads using the same instance of DbContext"). The treelist may also re-render before the actual data update happens and you may not see the result.

  • The treelist uses Activator.CreateInstance<TItem>(); to generate a new item when an Insert or Edit action is invoked, so the Model should have a parameterless constructor defined. If you cannot have such a constructor, you must use the OnModelInit event.

  • While editing, the Treelist creates a copy of your original object which has a different reference. You receive that copy in the OnUpdate event handler. The OnEdit event receives the original item from the pristine Data collection, because it is a cancellable event and fires before the treelist logic creates the copy. The built-in editors and editor templates receive the copy for their context that the treelist will create after OnEdit.

  • The validation the treelist provides is based on the DataAnnotationValidator and creates its own EditContext for a row that is in edit/insert mode. When the row is not in edit/insert mode, the EditContext is null. The EditContext is a cascading parameter and overrides any cascading parameters from parent components (such as an <EditForm> that may wrap the treelist).

  • When an input receives an EditContext (usually comes down as a cascading parameter), the framework also requires a ValueExpression. If you use two-way binding (the @bind-Value syntax), the ValueExpression is deducted from there. However, if you use only the Value property, you have to pass the ValueExpression yourself. This is a lambda expression that tells the framework what field in the model to update. The following sample demonstrates how to achieve that. You can also check the Requires a value for ValueExpression knowledge base article for more details.

<EditorTemplate>
    <TelerikTextBox Value="@myModel.MyField"
                    ValueExpression="@( () => myModel.MyField )">
    </TelerikTextBox>
</EditorTemplate>

@* Applies to the other input type components as well *@

  • If you want to perform other data operations while the component is in Edit mode (applicable for InCell and Inline editing) the following behavior will occur:

    • For operations like Filter, Group, Sort, Page, Search, Select, Row drag and Delete:

      • InCell edit - if the validation is satisfied, a save operation will be executed. If the validation is not satisfied, editing will be cancelled, the OnCancel event will fire and the new user operation will be executed. In this case, you can handle the OnCancel event and set the IsCancelled property of the CommandEventArgs to true. Thus, the other data operation will be aborted and the Grid will remain in edit mode.
      • Inline edit - regardless of the validation, editing will be cancelled, the OnCancel event will fire and the new user operation will be executed. In this case, you can handle the OnCancel event and set the IsCancelled property of the CommandEventArgs to true. Thus, the other data operation will be aborted and the Grid will remain in edit mode.

    • For operations like Edit, Add, Save:

      • InCell edit - if the validation is satisfied, the currently edited item will be saved and the command will be executed. If the validation is not satisfied, the command will be blocked until the item is valid or editing is cancelled.
      • Inline edit - if the validation is satisfied, OnCancel will be fired for the currently edited item and the command will be executed. If the validation is not satisfied, the command will be blocked until the item is valid or editing is cancelled.

See Also

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