Blazor TreeList Component Overview
The Blazor TreeList component displays hierarchical data in a tabular format and allows sorting, filtering, data editing; provides item selection, templates and load on demand.
The TreeList component is part of Telerik UI for Blazor, a
professional grade UI library with 85+ native components for building modern and feature-rich applications. To try it out sign up for a free 30-day trial.
To create a basic Telerik TreeList:
- use the
TelerikTreeListtag - set its
Dataattribute to the variable that will hold your collection of data.- Read more on how to tie the model fields to the treelist in the Data Binding Overview article. In this example, we point the treelist to the location of the nested items and the field that indicates whether an Expand arrow will be generated (that there are child items).
- under its
TreeListColumnstag, set the desiredTreeListColumninstances whoseFieldproperty points to the name of the model field that you want to show
The result from the code snippet below
Get started with the treelist by providing it with a data collection and enabling its key features
@* General treelist with its most common features and hierarchical data binding. 80% of this snippet is hardcoded data that is designed to look realistic *@
<TelerikTreeList Data="@Data"
ItemsField="DirectReports"
HasChildrenField="HasReports"
Pageable="true"
Sortable="true"
FilterMode="@TreeListFilterMode.FilterMenu"
Width="850px" Height="400px"
Resizable="true" Reorderable="true">
<TreeListColumns>
<TreeListColumn Expandable="true" Field="Position" Width="400px"></TreeListColumn>
<TreeListColumn Field="FirstName" Width="200px"></TreeListColumn>
<TreeListColumn Field="LastName" Width="200px"></TreeListColumn>
<TreeListColumn Field="EmployeeId" Width="100px"></TreeListColumn>
</TreeListColumns>
</TelerikTreeList>
@code {
// a model to bind the treelist. Should usually be in its own separate location
public class EmployeeHierarchical
{
public int EmployeeId { get; set; }
public string FirstName { get; set; }
public string LastName { get; set; }
public string Position { get; set; }
public List<EmployeeHierarchical> DirectReports { get; set; }
public bool HasReports { get; set; }
}
// treelist data
public List<EmployeeHierarchical> Data { get; set; }
// fetch the treelist data
protected override async Task OnInitializedAsync()
{
Data = await GetEmployees();
}
// The next 200 lines are hardcoded data so you can explore the TreeList freely
async Task<List<EmployeeHierarchical>> GetEmployees()
{
List<EmployeeHierarchical> sampleData = new List<EmployeeHierarchical>();
EmployeeHierarchical theCEO = new EmployeeHierarchical
{
EmployeeId = 1,
FirstName = "Daryl",
LastName = "Sweeney",
Position = "CEO",
HasReports = true
};
theCEO.DirectReports = new List<EmployeeHierarchical>
{
new EmployeeHierarchical
{
EmployeeId = 2,
FirstName = "Guy",
LastName = "Wooten",
Position = "Chief Technical Officer",
HasReports = true
},
new EmployeeHierarchical
{
EmployeeId = 3,
FirstName = "Nevada",
LastName = "Hart",
Position = "Chief Financial Officer",
HasReports = true,
DirectReports = new List<EmployeeHierarchical>
{
new EmployeeHierarchical
{
EmployeeId = 24,
FirstName = "Zena",
LastName = "Stanford",
Position = "VP, Finance"
}
}
}
};
theCEO.DirectReports[0].DirectReports = new List<EmployeeHierarchical>
{
new EmployeeHierarchical
{
EmployeeId = 4,
FirstName = "Buffy",
LastName = "Weber",
Position = "VP, Engineering",
HasReports = true,
DirectReports = new List<EmployeeHierarchical>
{
new EmployeeHierarchical
{
EmployeeId = 6,
FirstName = "Hyacinth",
LastName = "Hood",
Position = "Team Lead",
HasReports = true,
DirectReports = new List<EmployeeHierarchical>
{
new EmployeeHierarchical
{
EmployeeId = 7,
FirstName = "Akeem",
LastName = "Carr",
Position = "Software Developer, Junior"
},
new EmployeeHierarchical
{
EmployeeId = 8,
FirstName = "Rinah",
LastName = "Simon",
Position = "Software Developer"
}
}
},
new EmployeeHierarchical
{
EmployeeId = 9,
FirstName = "Gage",
LastName = "Daniels",
Position = "Software Architect"
},
new EmployeeHierarchical
{
EmployeeId = 10,
FirstName = "Constance",
LastName = "Vazquez",
Position = "Director, Engineering",
HasReports = true,
DirectReports = new List<EmployeeHierarchical>
{
new EmployeeHierarchical
{
EmployeeId = 11,
FirstName = "Darrel",
LastName = "Solis",
Position = "Team Lead",
HasReports = true,
DirectReports = new List<EmployeeHierarchical>
{
new EmployeeHierarchical
{
EmployeeId = 12,
FirstName = "Brian",
LastName = "Yang",
Position = "Software Developer, Senior"
},
new EmployeeHierarchical
{
EmployeeId = 13,
FirstName = "Lillian",
LastName = "Bradshaw",
Position = "Software Developer"
},
new EmployeeHierarchical
{
EmployeeId = 14,
FirstName = "Keiko",
LastName = "Espinoza",
Position = "QA Engineer, Junior"
}
}
}
}
}
}
},
new EmployeeHierarchical
{
EmployeeId = 5,
FirstName = "Skyler",
LastName = "Cleveland",
Position = "VP, Engineering",
HasReports = true,
DirectReports = new List<EmployeeHierarchical>
{
new EmployeeHierarchical
{
EmployeeId = 16,
FirstName = "Karleigh",
LastName = "Garza",
Position = "Team Lead",
HasReports = true,
DirectReports = new List<EmployeeHierarchical>
{
new EmployeeHierarchical
{
EmployeeId = 17,
FirstName = "Elmo",
LastName = "Tyson",
Position = "Software Developer"
},
new EmployeeHierarchical
{
EmployeeId = 18,
FirstName = "Stacey",
LastName = "Lynn",
Position = "QA Engineer",
HasReports = true,
DirectReports = new List<EmployeeHierarchical>
{
new EmployeeHierarchical
{
EmployeeId = 19,
FirstName = "Meredith",
LastName = "Parish",
Position = "QA Engineer, Junior"
}
}
},
new EmployeeHierarchical
{
EmployeeId = 20,
FirstName = "Martha",
LastName = "Sargent",
Position = "Software Developer, Senior"
},
new EmployeeHierarchical
{
EmployeeId = 21,
FirstName = "Cassady",
LastName = "Whitley",
Position = "Software Developer"
},
new EmployeeHierarchical
{
EmployeeId = 22,
FirstName = "Haviva",
LastName = "Campbell",
Position = "Support Officer"
},
new EmployeeHierarchical
{
EmployeeId = 23,
FirstName = "Cameron",
LastName = "Ayers",
Position = "Support Officer"
}
}
}
}
}
};
sampleData.Add(theCEO);
return await Task.FromResult(sampleData);
}
}
Data Binding
To show data in a treelist, you need to define TreeListColumn instances - they take a model Field and expose settings for templates, resizing reordering. To edit data or invoke custom logic, you define a CommandColumn.
The Telerik Blazor TreeList is data source agnostic - you can use any database and service according to your project, you only need to get the collection of data models to the treelist in the view-model of the component hosting it.
The following list of resources provides examples for data binding a treelist in various scenarios:
General information on how data binding works - TreeList Data Binding Overview.
Binding to a self-referencing flat data source - Bind TreeList to Flat Self-Referencing Data.
Using hierarchical data source with item collections nested in each item - Bind TreeList to Hierarchical Data.
Loading child nodes data on demand - Load On Demand in TreeList
Blazor TreeList Reference
The treelist is a generic component, and to store a reference, you must use the model type that you pass to its Data when declaring the variable.
Store a reference to a Telerik TreeList
@* The reference type depends on the Data model type *@
<TelerikTreeList Data="@Data"
@ref="@TreeListRef"
IdField="EmployeeId"
ParentIdField="ReportsTo"
Pageable="true">
<TreeListColumns>
<TreeListColumn Field="FirstName" Expandable="true"></TreeListColumn>
<TreeListColumn Field="EmployeeId"></TreeListColumn>
</TreeListColumns>
</TelerikTreeList>
@code {
TelerikTreeList<Employee> TreeListRef { get; set; }
public List<Employee> Data { get; set; }
public class Employee
{
public int EmployeeId { get; set; }
public string FirstName { get; set; }
public int? ReportsTo { get; set; }
}
protected override void OnInitialized()
{
Data = new List<Employee>();
var rand = new Random();
int currentId = 1;
for (int i = 1; i < 6; i++)
{
Data.Add(new Employee()
{
EmployeeId = currentId,
ReportsTo = null,
FirstName = "Employee " + i.ToString()
});
currentId++;
}
for (int i = 1; i < 6; i++)
{
for (int j = 0; j < 5; j++)
{
Data.Add(new Employee()
{
EmployeeId = currentId,
ReportsTo = i,
FirstName = " Employee " + i + " : " + j.ToString()
});
currentId++;
}
}
}
}
Autogenerated Columns
You can autogenerate columns in a TreeList for each public property in its model. For more information about this feature you can read the Autogenerated Columns article.
Editing
The treelist can perform CRUD operations on its current data collection and exposes events that let you control the operations and transfer changes to the actual data source. The CRUD Operations Overview article offers more details on this.
The treelist offers several editing modes with different user experience through the EditMode property that is a member of the TreeListEditMode enum:
Incell- editing is done in the current cell with a double clickInline- editing is done for the entire row with an Edit Command ButtonPopup- editing is done in a popup for the entire row with an Edit Command Button, and model Validation through Data Annotation attributes is available.
Paging
The TreeList supports paging of the data out of the box. You can read more about it in the Paging article.
Sorting
The treelist can sort data automatically. You can read more about this feature in the Sorting article.
Filtering
The TreeList can filter data automatically. You can read more about this feature in the Filtering article.
Column Features
The columns of the Treelist are one of its main building blocks and they offer a rich set of functionality to enable immense flexibility for your application scenarios.
Column features include
Selection
The tree list offers single or multiple selection modes. You can read more about this feature in the Selection article.
Toolbar
You can define user actions in a dedicated toolbar. For the moment, they are mostly custom actions, but in future versions you will be able to add features like exporting there.
Scrolling
When the total column width exceeds the width of the treelist, you will get a horizontal scrollbar.
When the height of the rows exceeds the Height of the tree list, you will get a vertical scrollbar.
The treelist also offers Virtual horizontal scrolling. You can read more about this feature in the Column Virtualization article.
Frozen Columns
The TreeList lets you freeze one or more columns. You can read more about this feature in the Frozen columns article.
Styling
You can define your own content for column cells or even the entire row through Templates.
You can also set the Height of the TreeList, and you can use the Class to provide more complex CSS rules (like ones that will be inherited in a template).
Below, you can see examples on how to format the cells and the rows of the Grid based on certain conditions and how to take advantage of the elastic design.
Conditional Formatting
You can format the cells and rows of the TreeList based on certain condition in the logic of the application.
To do so, use the OnCellRender and OnRowRender events and set the desired CSS class through the event handlers arguments.
Use the OnCellRender and OnRowRender events to customize the formatting of the TreeList rows and cells based on conditions.
@* Conditional styling/formatting for a cell and row *@
<style>
.highlightCellBackground {
background-color: lightyellow;
}
.formatTreeListRows {
color: green;
font-size: 10px;
font-weight: bolder;
}
</style>
<TelerikTreeList Data="@Data"
ItemsField="@(nameof(Employee.DirectReports))"
Pageable="true" Width="750px" OnRowRender="@OnRowRenderHandler">
<TreeListColumns>
<TreeListColumn Field="Name" Expandable="true" Width="320px" OnCellRender="@OnCellRenderHandler" />
<TreeListColumn Field="Id" Width="120px" Visible="false" />
<TreeListColumn Field="EmailAddress" Width="220px" />
<TreeListColumn Field="HireDate" Width="220px" />
</TreeListColumns>
</TelerikTreeList>
@code {
void OnRowRenderHandler(TreeListRowRenderEventArgs args)
{
var item = args.Item as Employee;
if (item.EmailAddress.Contains("2"))
{
args.Class = "formatTreeListRows";
}
}
void OnCellRenderHandler(TreeListCellRenderEventArgs args)
{
args.Class = "highlightCellBackground";
}
public List<Employee> Data { get; set; }
public class Employee
{
public List<Employee> DirectReports { get; set; }
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public string EmailAddress { get; set; }
public DateTime HireDate { get; set; }
}
public int LastId { get; set; } = 1;
protected override async Task OnInitializedAsync()
{
Data = await GetTreeListData();
}
async Task<List<Employee>> GetTreeListData()
{
List<Employee> data = new List<Employee>();
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>()
};
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>(),
};
root.DirectReports.Add(firstLevelChild);
LastId++;
for (int k = 1; k < 3; k++)
{
int nestedId = LastId;
// populate the parent's collection
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++;
}
}
}
return await Task.FromResult(data);
}
}
Elastic Design
You can benefit from the elastic design the components expose to change their font size so they change dimensions.
Change font size and dimensions of a treelist
@* The treelist offers elastic design capabilities *@
<style>
div.smallerFont,
div.smallerFont .k-filtercell * {
font-size: 10px;
}
div.smallerFont .k-dropdown.k-header.k-dropdown-operator {
width: calc(8px + 2em) !important;
}
</style>
<TelerikTreeList Data="@Data"
Class="smallerFont"
IdField="EmployeeId"
ParentIdField="ReportsTo"
Pageable="true" Height="200px">
<TreeListColumns>
<TreeListColumn Field="FirstName" Expandable="true"></TreeListColumn>
<TreeListColumn Field="EmployeeId"></TreeListColumn>
</TreeListColumns>
</TelerikTreeList>
<TelerikTreeList Data="@Data"
IdField="EmployeeId"
ParentIdField="ReportsTo"
Pageable="true" Height="200px">
<TreeListColumns>
<TreeListColumn Field="FirstName" Expandable="true"></TreeListColumn>
<TreeListColumn Field="EmployeeId"></TreeListColumn>
</TreeListColumns>
</TelerikTreeList>
@code {
public List<Employee> Data { get; set; }
public class Employee
{
public int EmployeeId { get; set; }
public string FirstName { get; set; }
public int? ReportsTo { get; set; }
}
protected override void OnInitialized()
{
Data = new List<Employee>();
var rand = new Random();
int currentId = 1;
for (int i = 1; i < 6; i++)
{
Data.Add(new Employee()
{
EmployeeId = currentId,
ReportsTo = null,
FirstName = "Employee " + i.ToString()
});
currentId++;
}
for (int i = 1; i < 6; i++)
{
for (int j = 0; j < 5; j++)
{
Data.Add(new Employee()
{
EmployeeId = currentId,
ReportsTo = i,
FirstName = " Employee " + i + " : " + j.ToString()
});
currentId++;
}
}
}
}
The result from the reduced font size is a reduction in the overall size of the treelist elements
