Data Grids in Orocrm
Denis Saltanakhmedov Avatar

Grid in OroCRM is a very convenient way to display information about all or few records of an entity. Default OroCRM has a lot of grids for different entities. OroCRM developers provided a useful and easy way to create grids for a custom entity or display some specific information for default entities.

For example, let’s take a look at the users grid:

Oro-users-grid

As you can also see, it is a simple table with rows and columns that contain information about users. Also, the grid includes a list of filters, pagination and some actions. Moreover, each row has few functionalities to view, edit or delete data there. The standard grid control section located at the top includes all those elements. If more detailed:

  • Export button – allows to export grid content in CSV format.
  • Pagination control – provides information about a grid page itself, records in the grid and total number of pages. Number of pages in the grid depends on its configuration, this parameters can be set in System -> Configuration -> Display settings -> Data Grid settings.
  • Grid content controls – allow to change the number of records displayed per page using the View per Page control, refresh grid contents, reset the grid to its default view.
  • Filters – are useful when you need to pick up the records that you need from entire data. The filters are located above the grid controls.

We have already reviewed the frontend part of the grid, and now let’s move to its backend side. We’ve took the Users grid as an example. Pay attention that each grid should be configured in the parameters file. This file is located in …Bundle/Resources/config folder, it is called datagrid.yml and has the following structure:

datagrid:
    users-grid:
        extended_entity_name: %oro_user.entity.class%
        options:
            entityHint: user
            entity_pagination: true
        acl_resource: oro_user_user_view
        source:
            type: orm
            query:
                select:
                    - u.id
                    - u.username
                    - u.email
                    - u.firstName
                    - u.lastName
                    - u.createdAt
                    - u.updatedAt
                    - u.enabled
                from:
                    - { table: %oro_user.entity.class%, alias: u }

        inline_editing:
            enable: true
        columns:
            firstName:
                label:         oro.user.first_name.label
            lastName:
                label:         oro.user.last_name.label
            email:
                label:         oro.user.email.label
            username:
                label:         oro.user.username.label
            enabled:
                label:         oro.user.enabled.label
                frontend_type: select
                choices:
                   - Inactive
                   - Active
            createdAt:
                label:         oro.ui.created_at
                frontend_type: datetime
            updatedAt:
                label:         oro.ui.updated_at
                frontend_type: datetime

        properties:
            id: ~
            update_link:
                type: url
                route: oro_user_update
                params:
                    - id
            view_link:
                type: url
                route: oro_user_view
                params:
                    - id
            delete_link:
                type: url
                route: oro_api_delete_user
                params:
                    - id
        sorters:
            columns:
                username:
                    data_name: u.username
                email:
                    data_name: u.email
                firstName:
                    data_name: u.firstName
                lastName:
                    data_name: u.lastName
                createdAt:
                    data_name: u.createdAt
                updatedAt:
                    data_name: u.updatedAt
                enabled:
                    data_name: u.enabled
            default:
                username: %oro_datagrid.extension.orm_sorter.class%::DIRECTION_ASC

        filters:
            columns:
                firstName:
                    type: string
                    data_name: u.firstName
                lastName:
                    type: string
                    data_name: u.lastName
                email:
                    type: string
                    data_name: u.email
                username:
                    type: string
                    data_name: u.username
                enabled:
                    type: choice
                    data_name: u.enabled
                    options:
                        field_options:
                            choices:
                                'false': Inactive
                                'true':  Active
                createdAt:
                    type: datetime
                    data_name: u.createdAt
                updatedAt:
                    type: datetime
                    data_name: u.updatedAt

        actions:
            view:
                type:          navigate
                label:         oro.grid.action.view
                link:          view_link
                icon:          eye-open
                acl_resource:  oro_user_user_view
                rowAction:     true
            update:
                type:          navigate
                label:         oro.grid.action.update
                link:          update_link
                icon:          edit
                acl_resource:  oro_user_user_update
            delete:
                type:          delete
                label:         oro.grid.action.delete
                link:          delete_link
                icon:          trash
                acl_resource:  oro_user_user_delete

Now let’s check it more detailed.

Name (Identifier)

The first part of a grid is a name. Previously mentioned users grid has “users-grid” name, it is a unique identifier for the grid in application.

Extends

Almost every grid may be extended: we can use data from a parent grid with necessary adjustments and additions. For that purpose use “extends” configuration node:

   user-cases-grid:
        extends: cases-grid
        source:
            query:
                where:
                    and:
                        - (assignedTo.id = :id OR owner.id = :id)
            bind_parameters:
                - id
        options:
            entity_pagination: false

The “user-cases-grid” extends the “cases-grid” and then changes the “source” node, all filters, sorters from parent grid.

Source

There is a specific query to get data from any entity. The grid can receive the data from one entity or join few entities. For example, the users grid uses only one entity:

    source:
        type: orm
            query:
                select:
                    - u.id
                    - u.username
                    - u.email
                    - u.firstName
                    - u.lastName
                    - u.createdAt
                    - u.updatedAt
                    - u.enabled
                from:
                    - { table: %oro_user.entity.class%, alias: u }

When, for example, the business unit’s grid additionally uses owner’s entity:

    source:
        acl_resource: oro_business_unit_view
        type: orm
        query:
            select:
                - u.id
                - u.name
                - u.email
                - u.phone
                - u.createdAt
                - owner.name as ownerName
            from:
                - { table: OroOrganizationBundle:BusinessUnit, alias: u }
            join:
                left:
                    owner:
                        join: u.owner
                        alias: owner

Columns

This part of a grid setting describes the columns and type of data that are shown in the grid. There should be some unique column identifier and type of data. The default type is a string, check it below:

    columns:
        firstName:
            label:         oro.user.first_name.label
        lastName:
            label:         oro.user.last_name.label
        email:
            label:         oro.user.email.label
        username:
            label:         oro.user.username.label
        enabled:
            label:         oro.user.enabled.label
            frontend_type: select
            choices:
                - Inactive
                - Active
        createdAt:
            label:         oro.ui.created_at
            frontend_type: datetime
        updatedAt:
            label:         oro.ui.updated_at
            frontend_type: datetime

Configuration format of the columns is different, depending on the data type. Here is a list of parameters for all types:

  • type – backend formatter type (default value: field)
  • label – column title (translated on backend, translation should be placed in “messages” domain)
  • frontend_type – frontend formatters that process the column value (default value: string)
  • editable – is a column editable on frontend (default value: false)
  • renderable – should a column be rendered? (default value: true)
  • data_name – data identifier (column name suggested by default)

Properties

It is a unique identifier for some value like link, template etc. Property is similar to column, but it does not have a frontend representation.

    properties:
        id: ~
        update_link:
            type: url
            route: oro_user_update
             params:
                - id
        view_link:
            type: url
            route: oro_user_view
            params:
                - id
        delete_link:
            type: url
            route: oro_api_delete_user
            params:
                - id

Sorters

It is used for making the grid’s columns sortable.

    sorters:
        columns:
            username:
                data_name: u.username
            email:
                data_name: u.email
            firstName:
                data_name: u.firstName
            lastName:
                data_name: u.lastName
            createdAt:
                data_name: u.createdAt
            updatedAt:
                data_name: u.updatedAt
            enabled:
                data_name: u.enabled
        default:
            username: %oro_datagrid.extension.orm_sorter.class%::DIRECTION_ASC

Filters

In this node we describe the list of grid’s filters and types.

    filters:
        columns:
            firstName:
                type: string
                data_name: u.firstName
            lastName:
                type: string
                data_name: u.lastName
            email:
                type: string
                data_name: u.email
            username:
                type: string
                data_name: u.username
            enabled:
                type: choice
                data_name: u.enabled
                options:
                    field_options:
                        choices:
                            'false': Inactive
                            'true':  Active
            createdAt:
                type: datetime
                data_name: u.createdAt
            updatedAt:
                type: datetime
                data_name: u.updatedAt

Actions

It describes the list of row’s actions. In our users grid example, we can see that actions use the parameters that we’ve described in the parameters node (view_link, update_link, delete_link).

    actions:
        view:
            type:          navigate
            label:         oro.grid.action.view
            link:          view_link
            icon:          eye-open
            acl_resource:  oro_user_user_view
            rowAction:     true
        update:
            type:          navigate
            label:         oro.grid.action.update
            link:          update_link
            icon:          edit
            acl_resource:  oro_user_user_update
        delete:
            type:          delete
            label:         oro.grid.action.delete
            link:          delete_link
            icon:          trash
            acl_resource:  oro_user_user_delete

On the frontend part, the grid is displayed by the specific macros. We only need to set name (identifier) of this grid.

{% import 'OroDataGridBundle::macros.html.twig' as dataGrid %}
{% block content %}
    {{ dataGrid.renderGrid(users-grid) }}
{% endblock %}

Also, there is a possibility to pass the additional grid query parameters. Let’s check the standard “user-cases-grid”:

{{ dataGrid.renderGrid('user-cases-grid', {id: entity.id}) }}

And its backend part:

user-cases-grid:
   extends: cases-grid
   source:
       query:
           where:
               and:
                   - (assignedTo.id = :id OR owner.id = :id)
       bind_parameters:
           - id
   options:
       entity_pagination: false

It uses a specific “bind_parameters” node for parameters binding.
In case if names of parameters in the grid and query do not match, you can pass an associative array of parameters where the key is the name of parameter in the query and a value is the name of parameter:

query:
    where:
        and:
            - (assignedTo.id = :user_id OR owner.id = :user_id)
bind_parameters:
    user_id: id

As you can see, the functionality of OroDataGridBundle is really powerful. We do not need to write a lot of code, just customize columns, add actions, sorters and different type of filters. It makes the development process more productive and handy.