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# Column hiding

Table of contents

You can hide columns, using the HiddenColumns plugin.

# About column hiding

"Hiding a column" means that the hidden column doesn't get rendered as a DOM element.

When you're hiding a column:

  • The source data doesn't get modified.
  • The HiddenColumns plugin doesn't participate in data transformation
    (the shape of the data returned by the getData*() methods stays intact).

# Enabling column hiding

To simply enable column hiding (without further configuration), set the hiddenColumns configuration option to true:

const container = document.querySelector('#example1');

const hot = new Handsontable(container, {
  licenseKey: 'non-commercial-and-evaluation',
  data: Handsontable.helper.createSpreadsheetData(5, 12),
  colHeaders: true,
  rowHeaders: true,
  // enable the `HiddenColumns` plugin
  hiddenColumns: true,
});

# Setting up column hiding

To set up your column hiding configuration, follow the steps below.

# Step 1: Specify columns hidden by default

To both enable column hiding and specify columns hidden by default, set the hiddenColumns configuration option to an object.

In the object, add a columns property, and set it to an array of column indexes.

Now, those columns are hidden by default:

const container = document.querySelector('#example2');

const hot = new Handsontable(container, {
  licenseKey: 'non-commercial-and-evaluation',
  data: Handsontable.helper.createSpreadsheetData(5, 12),
  colHeaders: true,
  rowHeaders: true,
  // enable the `HiddenColumns` plugin
  hiddenColumns: {
    // specify columns hidden by default
    columns: [3, 5, 9]
  }
});

# Step 2: Show UI indicators

To easily see which columns are currently hidden, display UI indicators.

To enable the UI indicators, in the hiddenColumns object, set the indicators property to true:

TIP

If you use both the NestedHeaders plugin and the HiddenColumns plugin, you also need to set the colHeaders property to true. Otherwise, indicators won't work.

const container = document.querySelector('#example3');

const hot = new Handsontable(container, {
  licenseKey: 'non-commercial-and-evaluation',
  data: Handsontable.helper.createSpreadsheetData(5, 12),
  colHeaders: true,
  rowHeaders: true,
  hiddenColumns: {
    columns: [3, 5, 9],
    // show UI indicators to mark hidden columns
    indicators: true
  }
});

# Step 3: Set up context menu items

To easily hide and unhide columns, add column hiding items to Handsontable's context menu.

Enable both the ContextMenu plugin and the HiddenColumns plugin. Now, the context menu automatically displays additional items for hiding and unhiding columns.

const container = document.querySelector('#example4');

const hot = new Handsontable(container, {
  licenseKey: 'non-commercial-and-evaluation',
  data: Handsontable.helper.createSpreadsheetData(5, 12),
  colHeaders: true,
  rowHeaders: true,
  // enable the context menu
  contextMenu: true,
  // enable the `HiddenColumns` plugin
  // automatically adds the context menu's column hiding items
  hiddenColumns: {
    columns: [3, 5, 9],
    indicators: true
  }
});

You can also add the column hiding menu items individually, by adding the hidden_columns_show and hidden_columns_hide strings to the contextMenu parameter:

const container = document.querySelector('#example5');

const hot = new Handsontable(container, {
  licenseKey: 'non-commercial-and-evaluation',
  data: Handsontable.helper.createSpreadsheetData(5, 12),
  colHeaders: true,
  rowHeaders: true,
  // individually add column hiding context menu items
  contextMenu: [`hidden_columns_show`, `hidden_columns_hide`],
  hiddenColumns: {
    columns: [3, 5, 9],
    indicators: true
  }
});

# Step 4: Set up copy and paste behavior

By default, hidden columns are included in copying and pasting.

To exclude hidden columns from copying and pasting, in the hiddenColumns object, set the copyPasteEnabled property to false:

const container = document.querySelector('#example6');

const hot = new Handsontable(container, {
  licenseKey: 'non-commercial-and-evaluation',
  data: Handsontable.helper.createSpreadsheetData(5, 12),
  colHeaders: true,
  rowHeaders: true,
  contextMenu: [`hidden_columns_show`, `hidden_columns_hide`],
  hiddenColumns: {
    columns: [3, 5, 9],
    indicators: true,
    // exclude hidden columns from copying and pasting
    copyPasteEnabled: false
  }
});

# Column hiding API methods

For the most popular column hiding tasks, use the API methods below.

To see your changes, re-render your Handsontable instance with the render() method.

# Accessing the HiddenColumns plugin instance

To access the HiddenColumns plugin instance, use the getPlugin() method:

const plugin = hot.getPlugin('hiddenColumns');

# Hiding a single column

To hide a single column, use the hideColumn() method:

const plugin = hot.getPlugin('hiddenColumns');

plugin.hideColumn(4);

// re-render your Handsontable instance
hot.render()

# Hiding multiple columns

To hide multiple columns:

  • Either pass column indexes as arguments to the hideColumn() method
  • Or pass an array of column indexes to the hideColumns() method
const plugin = hot.getPlugin('hiddenColumns');

plugin.hideColumn(0, 4, 6);
// or
plugin.hideColumns([0, 4, 6]);

// re-render your Handsontable instance
hot.render()

# Unhiding a single column

To unhide a single column, use the showColumn() method:

const plugin = hot.getPlugin('hiddenColumns');

plugin.showColumn(4);

// re-render your Handsontable instance
hot.render()

# Unhiding multiple columns

To unhide multiple columns:

  • Either pass column indexes as arguments to the showColumn() method
  • Or pass an array of column indexes to the showColumns() method
const plugin = hot.getPlugin('hiddenColumns');

plugin.showColumn(0, 4, 6);
// or
plugin.showColumns([0, 4, 6]);

// re-render your Handsontable instance
hot.render()

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