Get Checked Nodes in a POST Query

Updated on Dec 10, 2025

Environment

Product

Progress® Kendo UI® TreeView for jQuery

Description

When the user tries to select a TreeView node, it seems that all TreeView nodes are checked while in the POST query after the form is submitted, only one entry is visible and it is impossible to distinguish the checked nodes and to list them in the POST as part of the form data.

Cause

• If the checkboxes.checkChildren property is set to true, the TreeView checks all child nodes. To enable the TreeView to check only the current node, set checkboxes.checkChildren to false or remove it.
• Checkboxes participate in the POST of a <form> through their name property— if a checkbox is checked, its name is present in the POST data.

Solution

Apply either of the following approaches:

• Use JavaScript to loop through the nodes on the client and collect the checked ones. Then put them in a hidden field, or serialize or send them to the server. For the full implementation of this approach, refer to the example on collecting the checked TreeView nodes.
• Distinguish checkboxes by generating unique names with the checkbox.template.

The following example demonstrates a template that mimics the default TreeView template with classes for appearance and an aria-label attribute for accessibility.

MVC

.Checkboxes(checkboxes => checkboxes
    .Name("checkedFiles")
    .CheckChildren(true)
    .Template("<span class='k-checkbox-wrapper'><input class='k-checkbox' name='checkedFiles#=item.id#' type='checkbox' value='true' #= item.checked ? 'checked' : '' #  aria-label='#=item.text#' /></span>")
)

The following example demonstrates the jQuery initialization.

<form>
	<input type="submit" value="post me" />
	<div id="treeview"></div>
</form>

<script>
	$("#treeview").kendoTreeView({
		checkboxes: {
			checkChildren: true,
			template: "<span class='k-checkbox-wrapper'><input class='k-checkbox' name='checkedFiles#=item.id#' type='checkbox' value='true' #= item.checked ? 'checked' : '' #  aria-label='#=item.text#' /></span>"
		},

		dataSource: [{
			id: 1, text: "My Documents", expanded: true, spriteCssClass: "rootfolder", items: [
				{
					id: 2, text: "Kendo UI Project", expanded: true, spriteCssClass: "folder", items: [
						{ id: 3, text: "about.html", spriteCssClass: "html", checked: true },
						{ id: 4, text: "index.html", spriteCssClass: "html" },
						{ id: 5, text: "logo.png", spriteCssClass: "image" }
					]
				},
				{
					id: 6, text: "New Website", expanded: true, spriteCssClass: "folder", items: [
						{ id: 7, text: "mockup.jpg", spriteCssClass: "image" },
						{ id: 8, text: "Research.pdf", spriteCssClass: "pdf" },
					]
				},
				{
					id: 9, text: "Reports", expanded: true, spriteCssClass: "folder", items: [
						{ id: 10, text: "February.pdf", spriteCssClass: "pdf" },
						{ id: 11, text: "March.pdf", spriteCssClass: "pdf" },
						{ id: 12, text: "April.pdf", spriteCssClass: "pdf" }
					]
				}
			]
		}]
	});
</script>

The following example demonstrates the ASP.NET MVC syntax.

MVC

<form>
	<input type="submit" value="submit form" />
	@(Html.Kendo().TreeView()
		.Name("treeview")
		.Checkboxes(checkboxes => checkboxes
			.Name("checkedFiles")
			.CheckChildren(true)
			.Template("<span class='k-checkbox-wrapper'><input class='k-checkbox' name='checkedFiles#=item.id#' type='checkbox' value='true' #= item.checked ? 'checked' : '' #  aria-label='#=item.text#' /></span>")
		)
		.Items(treeview =>
		{
			treeview.Add().Text("My Documents").Id("1")
				.SpriteCssClasses("rootfolder")
				.Expanded(true)
				.Items(root =>
				{
					root.Add().Text("Kendo UI Project").Id("2")
						.Expanded(true)
						.SpriteCssClasses("folder")
						.Items(project =>
						{
							project.Add().Text("about.html").Id("3").SpriteCssClasses("html").Checked(true);
							project.Add().Text("index.html").Id("4").SpriteCssClasses("html");
							project.Add().Text("logo.png").Id("5").SpriteCssClasses("image");
						});

					root.Add().Text("New Website").Id("6")
						.Expanded(true)
						.SpriteCssClasses("folder")
						.Items(item =>
						{
							item.Add().Text("mockup.jpg").Id("7").SpriteCssClasses("image");
							item.Add().Text("Research.pdf").Id("8").SpriteCssClasses("pdf");
						});

					root.Add().Text("Reports").Id("9")
						.Expanded(true)
						.SpriteCssClasses("folder")
						.Items(reports =>
						{
							reports.Add().Text("February.pdf").Id("10").SpriteCssClasses("pdf");
							reports.Add().Text("March.pdf").Id("11").SpriteCssClasses("pdf");
							reports.Add().Text("April.pdf").Id("12").SpriteCssClasses("pdf");
						});
				});
		})
	)
</form>