Column type and formatting questions for dynamic data

[Jason]

I have a grid where the columns are dynamic.  By default (no schema set) all the columns are strings which causes the sorting to not be that helpful.

I use a web service that returns json to get the data for the grid, can I define the column types there or would that be a separate call?

Once I know the column types is it possible to set the column format based on the type? 

I have some code that defines the field type for columns if I know their exact name but that isn't very practical because there are many different possible column names.

schema: {

    model: {

        fields: {

            ReportDate: {

                type: "date"

            },

            Age: {

                type: "number"

            }

        }

    }

}

I also have some code that sets the template or format for a given column but it is also hard coded and not scalable.

//make first column a link using values from two columns

columns[0].template = "<a href='somepage.html?rid=#=ReportID#' target='_blank'>#=ReportNum#</a>";

 

//make sure value in 3rd column is formatted as a date

columns[2].format = "{0:M/d/yyyy h:mm tt}";

Any help would be appreciated. 

[Alexander Valchev]

Hello Jason,

My recommendation is to use two separate $.ajax calls. The DataSource and Grid's settings should be defined during the initialization of the components, changing field type/name or column properties at runtime is not supported. You may retrieve the settings with one $.ajax call and initialize the grid at its success event.

When the grid is build it will issue second ajax request (using the read transport) to retrieve the data.

Regards,
Alexander Valchev
the Telerik team