Treegrid

A treegrid is a user interface component and data structure that combines a tree with a grid to display hierarchical data in a tabular format. In a treegrid, each row corresponds to a node in a hierarchy, and the columns present attributes or data fields for those nodes. The first column typically shows the node label with indentation to convey depth, while additional columns display related values. The grid maintains an expansion state for each node, allowing users to expand or collapse branches to reveal or hide child rows.

Data models for treegrid data commonly use adjacency lists, nested sets, or materialized paths to represent parent–child relationships. Rendering an interactive treegrid requires handling hierarchy-aware sorting and filtering, preserving structure when nodes are reordered, and supporting features such as lazy loading for large trees and virtualization to improve performance.

Common features include expand/collapse controls, multi-column display, in-place editing, selection mechanisms, drag-and-drop reordering, and optional checkboxes or indicators for node status. Accessibility considerations and keyboard navigation are important for usability.

Treegrid implementations appear in various platforms. Web libraries offer components like ag-Grid or jqGrid with treegrid capabilities; other frameworks provide tree-like controls with multiple columns, such as in desktop environments using Qt or WPF. Typical use cases include file explorers, project planning and work breakdown structures, bill of materials, organizational charts, and hierarchical categorization of catalog data.

Overall, a treegrid provides a compact way to explore complex hierarchical data within a familiar tabular layout, balancing depth-aware navigation with the clarity of columnar attributes.