Preventing Selection of First Level Options in DropDownTree

Updated on Dec 10, 2025

Environment

Product	Version
DropDownTree for Progress® Kendo UI®	2023.3.1114

Description

I want to prevent the user from selecting the first level options in a DropDownTree with checkboxes. How can I achieve this?

Solution

To prevent the selection of first level options in a DropDownTree with checkboxes, follow these steps:

1. Add a select event handler to the DropDownTree. In the event handler, check the number of ul parents of the selected node. If there is only one ul element, prevent the selection of the item.

javascript

$("#dropdowntree").kendoDropDownTree({
  select: function(e) {
    var ulParents = $(e.node).parents("ul").length;
    if (ulParents <= 1) {
      e.preventDefault();
    }
  },
  // other configuration options
});

2. Define the checkboxes.template using a function. In the function, check if the item is on the root level. If it is, hide the checkbox; otherwise, define the checkbox element according to your preference.

javascript

$("#dropdowntree").kendoDropDownTree({
  checkboxes: {
    template: function(e) {
      if (e.group.firstLevel == true) {
        return "";
      } else {
        return "<input class='k-checkbox-md k-rounded-md k-checkbox' type='checkbox' name='" + kendo.guid() + "' value='true' aria-hidden='true' tabindex='-1' />";
      }
    }
  },
  // other configuration options
});

Please refer to the Progress Kendo UI Dojo for a live example demonstrating the above solution.

See Also

• DropDownTree Documentation