Batch data entry

[Richard]

I've been tasked with having a browser-based ability to quickly enter large amounts of data into a table.  One requirement is that the user should be able to do everything using only the keyboard after the first column/row has focus.  The typical use case for a 3 column table would be:

Enter value, TAB, enter value, TAB, enter value, TAB (new row is created)

Enter value, TAB, enter value, TAB, enter value, TAB (new row is created)

...

I have been working on this for a few days with my initial expectation being that it wouldn't be a challenge.  I'm finding that it's more difficult than expected and would like to take a step back to ensure I'm not missing any obvious alternative solutions.

My current belief is that this kind of quick batch editing mode (keyboard only) isn't directly supported in the Kendo Grid widget and is expected to require some JQuery customization/event handling.  Does that sound correct?

You may notice I've posted 3 other threads recently.  They are all related to this basic problem.  If you have any high-level pointers that may not have been obvious because the threads were so specific, I would be all ears :).

Thanks,

Richard

[Stefan]

Hello Richard,

Indeed, the described scenario is not directly supported out of the box.

The Grid supports keyboard navigation, but the feature to add a new row automatically is not supported.

I can suggest using the navigate event of the Grid, to keep track which is the focused cell, and if this is the last cell on the row, to manually call the addRow method of the Grid:

http://docs.telerik.com/kendo-ui/api/javascript/ui/grid#events-navigate

http://docs.telerik.com/kendo-ui/api/javascript/ui/grid#methods-addRow

Please have in mind that this may require additional logic to handle timing issues or focusing issues that may occur.

Regards,
Stefan
Telerik by Progress