Angular Tree Grid Column Pinning

A column or multiple columns can be pinned to the left or right side of the Angular UI Grid. Column Pinning in Ignite UI for Angular allows the end users to lock column in a particular column order, this will allow them to see it while horizontally scrolling the Tree Grid. The Material UI Grid has a built-in column pinning UI, which can be used through the Tree Grid's toolbar to change the pin state of the columns. In addition, you can define a custom UI and change the pin state of the columns via the Column Pinning API.

Angular Tree Grid Column Pinning Example

import { Component, ViewChild, OnInit, inject } from '@angular/core';
import { IgxTreeGridComponent, IgxGridToolbarComponent, IgxGridToolbarActionsComponent, IgxGridToolbarPinningComponent, IgxColumnComponent } from 'igniteui-angular';
import { generateEmployeeDetailedFlatData } from '../data/employees-flat-detailed';
import { ActivatedRoute } from '@angular/router';
import { NgClass } from '@angular/common';
import { IgxPreventDocumentScrollDirective } from '../directives/prevent-scroll.directive';

@Component({
    providers: [],
    selector: 'app-grid-sample',
    styleUrls: ['tree-grid-toolbar-pinning.component.scss'],
    templateUrl: 'tree-grid-toolbar-pinning.component.html',
    imports: [NgClass, IgxTreeGridComponent, IgxPreventDocumentScrollDirective, IgxGridToolbarComponent, IgxGridToolbarActionsComponent, IgxGridToolbarPinningComponent, IgxColumnComponent]
})

export class TreeGridPinningToolbarSampleComponent implements OnInit {
    private activatedRoute = inject(ActivatedRoute);

    @ViewChild('treeGrid', { static: true }) public treeGrid: IgxTreeGridComponent;
    public data: any[];
    public useDarkTheme: boolean = false;

    constructor() {
        this.data = generateEmployeeDetailedFlatData();
    }

    public ngOnInit(): void {
        this.activatedRoute.queryParams.subscribe(params => {
            this.useDarkTheme = params.dark === 'true';
        });
    }
}
ts

<div [ngClass]="{'grid__wrapper': true, 'dark-theme': useDarkTheme }">
    <igx-tree-grid [igxPreventDocumentScroll]="true"  #treeGrid [data]="data" primaryKey="ID" foreignKey="ParentID" [autoGenerate]="false" height="600px"
        width="100%">
        <igx-grid-toolbar>
            <igx-grid-toolbar-actions>
                <igx-grid-toolbar-pinning></igx-grid-toolbar-pinning>
            </igx-grid-toolbar-actions>
        </igx-grid-toolbar>

        <igx-column [field]="'Name'" dataType="string" width="250px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'Title'" dataType="string" width="300px" [pinned]='true'></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'HireDate'" header="Hire Date" dataType="date" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'Age'" dataType="number" width="100px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'Address'" dataType="string" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'City'" dataType="string" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'Country'" dataType="string" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'Fax'" dataType="string" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'PostalCode'" header="Postal Code" dataType="string" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'Phone'" dataType="string" width="200px"></igx-column>
    </igx-tree-grid>
</div>
html

:host ::ng-deep .title {
    width: 100%;
}

.grid__wrapper {
    margin: 0 auto;
    padding: 16px;
}
scss

Like this sample? Get access to our complete Ignite UI for Angular toolkit and start building your own apps in minutes. Download it for free.

Column Pinning API

Column pinning is controlled through the pinned input of the igx-column. Pinned columns are rendered on the left side of the Tree Grid by default and stay fixed through horizontal scrolling of the unpinned columns in the Tree Grid body.

<igx-tree-grid #treeGrid [data]="data" primaryKey="ID" foreignKey="ParentID" [autoGenerate]="false">
    <igx-column [field]="Name" [pinned]="true"></igx-column>
    <igx-column [field]="Title"></igx-column>
    <igx-column [field]="ID"></igx-column>
</igx-tree-grid>
html

You may also use the Tree Grid's pinColumn or unpinColumn methods of the IgxTreeGridComponent to pin or unpin columns by their field name:

this.treeGrid.pinColumn('Title');
this.treeGrid.unpinColumn('Name');
typescript

Both methods return a boolean value indicating whether their respective operation is successful or not. Usually the reason they fail is that the column is already in the desired state.

A column is pinned to the right of the rightmost pinned column. Changing the order of the pinned columns can be done by subscribing to the columnPin event and changing the insertAtIndex property of the event arguments to the desired position index.

<igx-tree-grid #treeGrid [data]="data" primaryKey="ID" foreignKey="ParentID" [autoGenerate]="true" (columnPin)="columnPinning($event)"></igx-tree-grid>
html

public columnPinning(event) {
    if (event.column.field === 'Name') {
        event.insertAtIndex = 0;
    }
}
typescript

Pinning Position

You can change the column pinning position via the pinning configuration option. It allows you to set the columns position to either Start or End. When set to End the columns are rendered at the end of the grid, after the unpinned columns. Unpinned columns can be scrolled horizontally, while the pinned columns remain fixed on the right.

<igx-tree-grid #grid1 [data]="data" [autoGenerate]="true" [pinning]="pinningConfig"></igx-tree-grid>
html

public pinningConfig: IPinningConfig = { columns: ColumnPinningPosition.End };
typescript

Demo

import { Component, OnInit, TemplateRef, ViewChild, ViewEncapsulation } from '@angular/core';
import { ColumnPinningPosition, IgxColumnComponent, IgxTreeGridComponent, IPinningConfig, IgxGridToolbarComponent, IgxGridToolbarActionsComponent, IgxGridToolbarPinningComponent } from 'igniteui-angular';
import { generateEmployeeDetailedFlatData } from '../data/employees-flat-detailed';

@Component({
    encapsulation: ViewEncapsulation.None,
    providers: [],
    selector: 'app-tree-grid-sample',
    styleUrls: ['tree-grid-right-pinning.component.scss'],
    templateUrl: 'tree-grid-right-pinning.component.html',
    imports: [IgxTreeGridComponent, IgxGridToolbarComponent, IgxGridToolbarActionsComponent, IgxGridToolbarPinningComponent, IgxColumnComponent]
})

export class TreeGridRightPinningSampleComponent implements OnInit {
    @ViewChild('grid1', { static: true })
    public grid1: IgxTreeGridComponent;
    @ViewChild('pinTemplate', { read: TemplateRef, static: true })
    public pinTemplate: TemplateRef<any>;

    public data: any[];
    public columns: any[];
    public pinningConfig: IPinningConfig = { columns: ColumnPinningPosition.End };

    private _columnsPinned = true;

    public ngOnInit(): void {
        this.data = generateEmployeeDetailedFlatData();
    }

    public toggleColumnPinning(col: IgxColumnComponent): void {
        col.pinned ? col.unpin() : col.pin();
    }

    public get columnsPinned(): boolean {
        return this._columnsPinned;
    }

    public set columnsPinned(pinned) {
        this._columnsPinned = !this._columnsPinned;
    }
}
ts

<div class="grid__wrapper">
    <igx-tree-grid #grid1 [data]="data" primaryKey="ID" foreignKey="ParentID" [autoGenerate]="false" [width]="'100%'"
        [height]="'480px'" [pinning]="pinningConfig" [autoGenerate]="false">
        <igx-grid-toolbar>
            <igx-grid-toolbar-actions>
                <igx-grid-toolbar-pinning></igx-grid-toolbar-pinning>
            </igx-grid-toolbar-actions>
        </igx-grid-toolbar>

        <igx-column [field]="'Name'" dataType="string" width="250px" [disablePinning]="true"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'Title'" dataType="string" width="250px" [pinned]="true"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'ID'" dataType="number" width="100px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'HireDate'" header="Hire Date" dataType="date"width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'Age'" dataType="number" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'Address'" dataType="string" width="200px" [disablePinning]="true"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'City'" dataType="string" width="200px" ></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'Country'" dataType="string" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'Fax'" dataType="string" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'PostalCode'" header="Postal Code" dataType="string" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'Phone'" dataType="string" width="200px"></igx-column>
    </igx-tree-grid>
</div>
html

.title-inner {
    display: flex;
    justify-content: space-between;
    align-items: center;
}

.grid__wrapper {
    margin: 0 auto;
    padding: 16px;
}

img.country-flag {
    width: 35px;
    height: 20px;
}scss

Custom Column Pinning UI

You can define your custom UI and change the pin state of the columns via the related API.

Let's say that instead of a toolbar you would like to define pin icons in the column headers that the end user can click to change the particular column's pin state. This can be done by creating a header template for the column with a custom icon.

<ng-template igxHeader let-column #pinTemplate>
    <div class="title-inner">
        <span style="float:left">{{column.header || column.field}}</span>
        <igx-icon class="pin-icon" [class.pinned]="column.pinned" [class.unpinned]="!column.pinned" fontSet="fas" name="fa-thumbtack"
            (click)="toggleColumn(column)"></igx-icon>
    </div>
</ng-template>
<div class="grid__wrapper">
    <igx-tree-grid #treeGrid [data]="data" primaryKey="ID" foreignKey="ParentID" [autoGenerate]="false" height="620px"
        width="100%">
        <igx-column [field]="'Name'" dataType="string" [headerTemplate]="pinTemplate" width="250px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'Title'" dataType="string" [headerTemplate]="pinTemplate" width="300px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'ID'" dataType="number" [headerTemplate]="pinTemplate" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'HireDate'" header="Hire Date" dataType="date" [headerTemplate]="pinTemplate" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'Age'" dataType="number" [headerTemplate]="pinTemplate" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'Address'" dataType="string" [headerTemplate]="pinTemplate" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'City'" dataType="string" [headerTemplate]="pinTemplate" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'Country'" dataType="string" [headerTemplate]="pinTemplate" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'Fax'" dataType="string" [headerTemplate]="pinTemplate" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'PostalCode'" header="Postal Code" dataType="string" [headerTemplate]="pinTemplate" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'Phone'" dataType="string" [headerTemplate]="pinTemplate" width="200px"></igx-column>
    </igx-tree-grid>
</div>
html

On click of the custom icon the pin state of the related column can be changed using the column's API methods.

public toggleColumn(col: ColumnType) {
    col.pinned ? col.unpin() : col.pin();
}
typescript

Demo

import { AfterViewInit, ChangeDetectorRef, Component, ViewChild, inject } from '@angular/core';
import { ColumnType, IgxIconService, IgxTreeGridComponent, IgxCellHeaderTemplateDirective, IgxIconComponent, IgxColumnComponent } from 'igniteui-angular';
import { generateEmployeeDetailedFlatData } from '../data/employees-flat-detailed';
import { icons } from "../services/svgIcons";
import { IgxPreventDocumentScrollDirective } from '../directives/prevent-scroll.directive';

const FILTERING_ICONS_FONT_SET = "filtering-icons";
@Component({
    selector: 'app-tree-grid-column-pinning-sample',
    styleUrls: ['./tree-grid-column-pinning-sample.component.scss'],
    templateUrl: './tree-grid-column-pinning-sample.component.html',
    imports: [IgxCellHeaderTemplateDirective, IgxIconComponent, IgxTreeGridComponent, IgxPreventDocumentScrollDirective, IgxColumnComponent]
})
export class TreeGridColumnPinningSampleComponent implements AfterViewInit {
    private cdr = inject(ChangeDetectorRef);
    private iconService = inject(IgxIconService);

    @ViewChild('treeGrid', { static: true }) public treeGrid: IgxTreeGridComponent;
    public data: any[];

    constructor() {
        this.data = generateEmployeeDetailedFlatData();
    }

    public ngAfterViewInit() {
        const pinnedIcons = icons.filter(icon => icon.name === "pin" || icon.name === "unpin");
        pinnedIcons.forEach(icon => {
            if (!this.iconService.isSvgIconCached(icon.name, FILTERING_ICONS_FONT_SET)) {
                this.iconService.addSvgIconFromText(icon.name, icon.value, FILTERING_ICONS_FONT_SET);
            }
        });
    }

    public toggleColumn(column: ColumnType) {
        column.pinned ? column.unpin() : column.pin();
        this.cdr.detectChanges();
    }
}
ts

<ng-template igxHeader let-column #pinTemplate>
    <div class="title-inner">
        <span class="header-text">{{column.header || column.field}}</span>
        <igx-icon class="pin-icon" [class.pinned]="column.pinned" [class.unpinned]="!column.pinned"
            family="filtering-icons" name="{{column.pinned ? 'unpin' : 'pin'}}" (click)="toggleColumn(column)">
        </igx-icon>
    </div>
</ng-template>
<div class="grid__wrapper">
    <igx-tree-grid [igxPreventDocumentScroll]="true"  #treeGrid [data]="data" primaryKey="ID" foreignKey="ParentID" [autoGenerate]="false" height="600px"
        width="100%">
        <igx-column [field]="'Name'" dataType="string" [headerTemplate]="pinTemplate" width="250px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'Title'" dataType="string" [headerTemplate]="pinTemplate" width="300px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'ID'" dataType="number" [headerTemplate]="pinTemplate" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'HireDate'" header="Hire Date" dataType="date" [headerTemplate]="pinTemplate" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'Age'" dataType="number" [headerTemplate]="pinTemplate" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'Address'" dataType="string" [headerTemplate]="pinTemplate" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'City'" dataType="string" [headerTemplate]="pinTemplate" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'Country'" dataType="string" [headerTemplate]="pinTemplate" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'Fax'" dataType="string" [headerTemplate]="pinTemplate" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'PostalCode'" header="Postal Code" dataType="string" [headerTemplate]="pinTemplate" width="200px"></igx-column>
        <igx-column [field]="'Phone'" dataType="string" [headerTemplate]="pinTemplate" width="200px"></igx-column>
    </igx-tree-grid>
</div>
html

.grid__wrapper {
    margin: 0 auto;
    padding: 16px;
}

.title-inner {
    display: flex;
    justify-content: space-between;
    align-items: center;
}

.header-text {
    white-space: nowrap;
    overflow: hidden;
    text-overflow: ellipsis;
}

.pin-icon {
    margin-left: 8px;
    cursor: pointer;
    display: flex;
    align-items: center;
}

.pinned {
    color: #444;

    &:hover {
        color: #999;
    }
}

.unpinned {
    color: #999;

    &:hover {
        color: #444;
    }
}
scss

Pinning Limitations

Setting column widths in percentage (%) explicitly makes the Tree Grid body and header content to be misaligned when there are pinned columns. For column pinning to function correctly the column widths should be in pixels (px) or auto-assigned by the Tree Grid.

API References

Additional Resources

Our community is active and always welcoming to new ideas.

Angular Tree Grid Column Pinning