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Selection & Export

The Grid component allows users to select specific cells and then export them to MS Excel or a Kendo UI Chart.

For runnable example, refer to the Demo on copying/exporting selected cells.

Getting Started

The following sections provide step-by-step instructions and examples on getting started with the Grid Selection Export functionality.

Enabling Excel Export

Include the JSZip script on the page. For more information, refer to the article with the requirements.
Set the selectable option of the grid to multiple, cell.

Initializing a ContextMenu

Create an unordered list element using html.

html

    <ul id="contextmenu">
        <li id="copy">Copy</li>
        <li id="copyWithHeaders">Copy with Headers</li>
        <li class="k-separator"></li>
        <li id="export">Export</li>
        <li id="exportWithHeaders">Export with Headers</li>
        <li id="exportToChart">Export to Chart</li>
    </ul>

Create an icon for the ContextMenu. The icon can be appended to a Grid cell as demonstrated in the demo.

javascript

$(document).ready(function() {
    var grid = $("#grid").data("kendoGrid");
    /* Append the ContextMenu icon to the last cell. */
    grid.tbody.find('tr:first td:last').append("<span class='k-primary k-bg-primary k-icon k-i-menu contextMenuIcon'></span>");
})

Initialize the ContextMenu component.

javascript

$("#contextmenu").kendoContextMenu({
            target: ".contextMenuIcon",
            showOn: "click",
            direction: "right",
            alignToAnchor: true,
            copyAnchorStyles: false,
            select: function (e) {
                var item = e.item.id;
                /* The methods and their implementation details can be found in the next section of the article. */
                switch (item) {
                    case "copy":
                        copySelected();
                        break;
                    case "copyWithHeaders":
                        copySelectedWithHeaders();
                        break;
                    case "export":
                        exportSelected();
                        break;
                    case "exportWithHeaders":
                        exportSelectedWithHeaders();
                        break;
                    case "exportToChart":
                        exportToChart();
                        break;
                    default:
                        break;
                };
            }
        });

Copying Selected Data

To enable users to copy the selected data, call the copySelectionToClipboard method.

javascript

    function copySelected() {
        let selected = grid.select();

        if (selected.length === 0) {
            kendo.alert("Please select cells before copying.");
            return;
        }

        grid.copySelectionToClipboard(false);
    }

    function copySelectedWithHeaders() {
        let selected = grid.select();

        if (selected.length === 0) {
            kendo.alert("Please select cells before copying.");
            return;
        }

        grid.copySelectionToClipboard(true);
    }

Exporting Selected Data to Excel

To enable users to export the selected data, call the exportSelectedToExcel method.

javascript

    function exportSelected() {
        let selected = grid.select();

        if (selected.length === 0) {
            kendo.alert("Please select cells before exporting.");
            return;
        }
        grid.exportSelectedToExcel(false);
    }

    function exportSelectedWithHeaders() {
        let selected = grid.select();

        if (selected.length === 0) {
            kendo.alert("Please select cells before exporting.");
            return;
        }

        grid.exportSelectedToExcel(true);
    }

Exporting Selected Data to Chart

To enable users to export the selected data to a Kendo UI Chart:

Create an empty div element which will hold the chart.
html
```
    <div id="chart-container"></div>
```

Call the getSelectedData method and initialize a Chart component with the data.

javascript

        function exportToChart() {
            var container = $('#chart-container');
            var windowInstance = $('#chart-container').data('kendoWindow');
            var currInstance = container.find('.k-chart').data('kendoChart');
            /* Get the selected data. */
            var data = grid.getSelectedData();

            if (!data.length) {
                kendo.alert('Please select cells before exporting.');
                return;
            }

            /* If the user selects only a value(Freight) without a category(ShipCountry), set the ShipCountry name to Uknown.*/
            let unknownCountries = $.extend(true, [], data);
            unknownCountries.forEach(function (item, index, array) {
                if (!array[index].ShipCountry) {
                    array[index].ShipCountry = "Unknown"
                }
            });

            /* Destroy the window instance. */
            if (windowInstance) {
                windowInstance.destroy();
            }

            /* Destroy the chart instance. */
            if (currInstance) {
                currInstance.destroy();
            }

            /* Initialize a new window instance and increase it's width for every row that has been selected. This way the chart can fit properly. */
            let windowWidth = data.length > 5 ? data.length * 75 : 500;
            windowInstance = container.kendoWindow({ width: windowWidth }).data('kendoWindow');
            container.empty();

            /* Create a chart using the data and append it to the window. */
            var element = $('<div></div>').appendTo(container);
            windowInstance.open().center();
            element.kendoChart({
                dataSource: {
                    data: unknownCountries
                },
                series: [{
                    type: "column",
                    field: 'Freight'
                }],
                categoryAxis: {field: "ShipCountry"}
            });
        }

Selection Types

The following selection types are supported:

Cell selection - the user holds down the CTRL key (Command key on Mac) and uses the left-click of the mouse to select cells.
Range selection - the user holds down the left-click on the mouse and drags across a range of cells.
Range and Cell selection - the user can combine the two approaches from above and select both a range and separate cells.
Range combination selection - the user performs a range selection and while holding the CTRL key (Command key on Mac), they perform another range selection.

Known Limitations

The copySelectionToClipboard, exportSelectedToExcel and getSelectedData methods do not work with rows that are persisted across different pages.
The Export to Chart method does not work with Range and Cell selection type.
The copySelectionToClipboard and exportSelectedToExcel methods do not work with Multi-column headers.