Syncfusion ASP.NET Core Grid

The Syncfusion ASP.NET Core Grid is a comprehensive, feature-rich component for displaying and manipulating tabular data. It provides extensive functionality for data binding, paging, sorting, filtering, grouping, editing, exporting, scrolling modes, row/column customization, and advanced state management to handle datasets of any size and complexity efficiently.

⚠️ Security & Trust Boundary

• The Grid skill does not perform any remote data access.
• All external API interaction is handled by a separate DataManager skill outside this skill’s trust boundary.

Table of Contents

• When to Use This Skill
• Component Overview
• Feature/Skill Navigation Guide
• Quick Start Example

When to Use This Skill

Use the Syncfusion ASP.NET Core Grid when you need to:

• Display tabular data with rows and columns in ASP.NET Core applications
• Handle large datasets efficiently with paging, virtual scrolling, or infinite scrolling
• Enable sorting, filtering, and searching for single or multiple columns
• Edit data inline with multiple edit modes (Inline, Batch, Dialog)
• Export data to Excel or PDF formats with customization
• Group and aggregate data with summaries and calculations
• Customize rows and cells with templates and styling
• Manage complex column configurations (frozen columns, spanning, reordering, resizing)
• Optimize performance when rendering thousands of records
• Persist grid state for user preferences and configuration
• Provide responsive data views for different screen sizes

Component Overview

The Grid component provides:

• Data Binding: Support for local collections, remote data sources, and DataManager integration
• Paging: Server-side or client-side pagination with customizable page size and navigation
• Sorting: Single and multi-column sorting
• Filtering: Multiple filter modes (FilterBar, FilterMenu, Excel-like filter)
• Searching: Global search across columns
• Grouping: Group data by columns with aggregates
• Selection: Row, cell, and column selection with checkbox support
• Editing: Inline, Batch, and Dialog modes with validation and templates
• Aggregates: Sum, Average, Count, Min, Max with footer, group, and caption display
• Exporting: Excel and PDF export with templates and customization
• Scrolling: Standard, Virtual, and Infinite scrolling modes
• Row Customization: Templates, detail views, drag-drop, pinning, spanning
• Column Customization: Templates, resizing, reordering, freezing, spanning
• Performance: Optimized rendering for large datasets
• Responsive Design: Adaptive layouts for different screen sizes

Mandatory Rules for Server-Side Grid Configuration

CRITICAL: Follow these rules when configuring ASP.NET Core Grid for optimal performance and correctness:

Rule 1: DataManager Adaptor Configuration

Adaptors determine how the Grid communicates with your server backend. Each request type (read, create, update, delete) has specific URL mapping requirements.

Adaptor	Backend	Use Case
UrlAdaptor	Generic HTTP endpoint	Simple REST APIs with standard conventions
ODataAdaptor	OData v4 service	Microsoft ODATA, SAP services
ODataV4Adaptor	OData v4 (newer)	Modern ODATA endpoints
WebApiAdaptor	ASP.NET Web API	ASP.NET Core API controllers
GridAdaptor	Syncfusion GridAdaptor	Built-in Syncfusion backend conventions

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📄 Full Adaptor Reference: references/adaptors.md

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Rule 2: EnablePersistence for State Management

To persist grid state (sorting, filtering, grouping, paging, column order), enable persistence:

<ejs-grid id="Grid" allowPaging="true" enablePersistence="true">
    <!-- Grid configuration -->
</ejs-grid>

⚠️ Rule: enablePersistence="true" is required when using state management in grid.

Rule 3: Primary Key Configuration for Editing

The isPrimaryKey="true" attribute is required on the key column — editing silently fails without it.

<e-grid-column field="OrderID" headerText="Order ID" isPrimaryKey="true"></e-grid-column>

Feature/Skill Navigation Guide

Getting Started & Setup

📄 Read: references/getting-started.md

• NuGet package installation
• Tag helper registration
• CSS and script setup
• Basic grid initialization
• Data binding fundamentals

Data Binding

📄 Read: references/data-binding.md

• Local data binding (IEnumerable, List, DataTable)
• Remote data with DataManager (OData, WebAPI)
• Loading indicators
• Dynamic data refresh

Column Configuration

📄 Read: references/columns.md

• Column definition and properties
• Column types (string, number, date, boolean, checkbox)
• Column width and formatting
• Column templates and custom rendering
• Column features (spanning, reordering, resizing)
• Foreign key columns
• Stacked headers

Data Aggregation

📄 Read: references/aggregates.md

• Footer aggregates (Sum, Avg, Count, Min, Max)
• Group footer aggregates
• Group caption aggregates
• Custom aggregate functions
• Reactive aggregate updates

Navigation & Pagination

📄 Read: references/paging.md

• Enable and configure paging
• Page size configuration
• Navigation and page change
• External paging

Sorting Data

📄 Read: references/sorting.md

• Enable sorting (single and multi-column)
• Initial sort configuration
• Custom sort comparers
• Sort events

Filtering

Start here: 📄 Read references/filter-setup.md — Enable filtering, choose filter type (FilterBar, Menu, Excel, CheckBox)

Choose your type:

• 📄 Read references/filter-types.md — All filter types: FilterBar (inline text), Menu (operators), Excel (checkboxes)
• 📄 Read references/filter-operators.md — All filter operators, syntax, wildcards, AND/OR logic

Searching

📄 Read: references/searching.md

• Grid search functionality
• Global search across columns
• Search configuration

Grouping Data

📄 Read: references/grouping.md

• Enable grouping by columns
• Group by multiple columns
• Caption templates
• Group footer aggregates
• Lazy-load grouping

Selection

📄 Read: references/selection.md

• Row, cell, and column selection modes
• Checkbox selection
• Multiple selection handling
• Selection events

Editing

📄 Read: references/editing.md

• Enable editing (allowEditing, allowAdding, allowDeleting)
• Edit modes: Inline, Batch, Dialog
• Edit triggers (double-click, toolbar)
• Custom edit templates
• Validation rules
• Server-side data persistence

Row Features

📄 Read: references/row.md

• Row templates
• Detail templates (expand/collapse)
• Row drag and drop
• Row pinning
• Row spanning

Toolbar

📄 Read: references/tool-bar.md

• Built-in toolbar items
• Custom toolbar buttons
• Toolbar events

Exporting to Excel

📄 Read: references/excel-export.md

• Excel export setup
• Export options and customization
• Export with templates
• Server-side export

Exporting to PDF

📄 Read: references/pdf-export.md

• PDF export setup
• Headers and footers
• Export options and customization
• Export with templates
• Server-side export

Printing

📄 Read: references/print.md

• Print grid
• Print templates
• Print customization

Styling & Appearance

📄 Read: references/style-and-appearance.md

• CSS customization
• Themes and dark mode
• Inline styling and classes
• Custom color schemes

Freezing & Pinning

📄 Read: references/frozen.md

• Freeze columns
• Freeze rows
• Row pinning
• Frozen column behavior

Scrolling Modes

📄 Read: references/scrolling.md

• Standard scrolling
• Virtual scrolling (performance optimization)
• Infinite scrolling
• Scrollbar and height configuration

Hierarchy & Nested Data

📄 Read: references/hierarchy-grid.md

• Parent-child data structures
• Child grid configuration
• Expand and collapse behavior
• Detail row templates
• Lazy loading child data

Context Menu

📄 Read: references/context-menu.md

• Built-in context menu items
• Custom context menus
• Context menu events

Cell Features

📄 Read: references/cell.md

• Cell templates
• Cell customization via events
• Custom cell attributes
• Cell tooltips

Clipboard Operations

📄 Read: references/clipboard.md

• Copy and paste functionality
• Copy with headers
• Custom separators

Configuration Management

📄 Read: references/global-local.md

• Global grid settings
• Local column configuration

State Management

📄 Read: references/state-management.md

• Persist grid state
• Save and restore state
• Local storage

⚠️ Rule: enablePersistence="true" must be enabled when using state management in grid.

Data Validation

📄 Read: references/validation.md

• Built-in validation rules
• Custom validation logic
• Dynamic validation
• Server-side validation
• Error handling

Command Column & Row Actions

📄 Read: references/command-column.md

• Built-in commands (Edit, Delete, Save, Cancel)
• Custom command buttons
• Role-based and status-based commands
• Command click events
• Conditional command visibility
• CSS styling and icons

Localization & Internationalization

📄 Read: references/localization.md

• Multi-language support (60+ languages)
• Locale setup and culture configuration
• Number, date, and currency formatting
• RTL support (Arabic, Hebrew, Farsi)
• Custom localization and translation
• Language switcher implementation

Responsive Design & Mobile

📄 Read: references/adaptive.md

• Enable adaptive UI for mobile
• Full-screen dialogs for filtering/editing
• Mobile-optimized layouts

📄 Read: references/responsive-design.md

• Responsive grid layouts
• Column visibility on mobile
• Touch-friendly interactions
• Mobile breakpoints

API Reference & Properties

📄 Read: references/properties-configuration.md

• All configurable properties organized by category
• Quick reference table for quick lookup
• When to use each property
• Configuration requirements

Programmatic Control (Methods)

📄 Read: references/programmatic-api.md

• Grid methods by category (data, row, column, sort, filter, group, page, edit, export)
• Method signatures and parameters
• Return values and usage patterns
• Server-side method invocation

Event Communication (Events)

📄 Read: references/events-catalog.md

• All Grid events with timing and use cases
• ActionBegin event for canceling or mutating actions
• ActionComplete event for reactive operations
• ActionFailure event for error handling
• Using args.requestType to identify the action

Data Connectivity & Adaptors

📄 Read: references/adaptors.md

• 5+ adaptor types for backend integration
• UrlAdaptor, ODataV4Adaptor, WebApiAdaptor
• Custom adaptors and RemoteSaveAdaptor
• Backend configuration examples (C#, Node.js)
• Request/response format specifications
• Error handling and adaptor comparison

Performance Optimization

📄 Read: references/performance.md

• Virtual scrolling for 10,000+ records
• Infinite scrolling and progressive loading
• Memory management and cleanup strategies
• Bundle size optimization
• Event debouncing and throttling
• Performance benchmarking

Accessibility & Compliance

📄 Read: references/accessibility.md

• WCAG 2.2 and Section 508 compliance
• WAI-ARIA implementation and screen readers
• Keyboard navigation (Tab, arrows, Enter, Escape)
• Color contrast and focus management
• Accessibility testing tools
• Semantic HTML practices

Quick Start Example

@* ~/Pages/_ViewImports.cshtml *@
@addTagHelper *, Syncfusion.EJ2

@* ~/Pages/Index.cshtml *@
<ejs-grid id="Grid" dataSource="@ViewBag.DataSource" allowPaging="true" allowSorting="true" allowFiltering="true">
    <e-grid-pagesettings pageSize="10"></e-grid-pagesettings>
    <e-grid-columns>
        <e-grid-column field="OrderID" headerText="Order ID" isPrimaryKey="true" width="120" textAlign="Right"></e-grid-column>
        <e-grid-column field="CustomerID" headerText="Customer ID" width="150"></e-grid-column>
        <e-grid-column field="ShipCity" headerText="Ship City" width="150"></e-grid-column>
        <e-grid-column field="OrderDate" headerText="Order Date" format="yMd" width="150"></e-grid-column>
        <e-grid-column field="Freight" headerText="Freight" format="C2" textAlign="Right" width="120"></e-grid-column>
    </e-grid-columns>
</ejs-grid>

// Controller / PageModel
public IActionResult Index()
{
    ViewBag.DataSource = OrdersDetails.GetAllRecords();
    return View();
}