Use the grid table if:

• The cell level and the spatial relationship between cells are more important than the line item. Examples include spreadsheet analyses and waterfall charts. Note that a grid table is not fully responsive. It is only available for desktops and tablets, so you will need to take an adaptive approach by offering an additional UI for smartphones.
• You need a table to display large amounts of complex data. The grid table can handle higher volumes more efficiently than the responsive table.

The responsive table can handle around 200 items when data is of average complexity — more items when data is less complex and fewer when data is more complex. If your scenario exceeds these data limits, use the grid table. Factors that influence the exact limit include:

• • The number of loaded rows in the table
  • The number of displayed columns
  • The complexity of the cell content (for example, simple text vs. complex charts)
  • Other elements on the page (for example, multiple pages in a flexible column layout, or several tables/elements with more complex rendering on the page)
  • The browser used

• Comparing items is a major use case. In this case, a grid table might be more appropriate than a responsive table. In the grid table, each cell contains only one data point. In contrast, the responsive table is more flexible regarding line items, including the ability to add more data points per cell and also the pop-in function. Both make comparisons more difficult.

• You’re going to implement inline creation and the sequence in which the items are created is important – the grid table creates new items at the bottom of the table.

• Your use case is for tasks performed on a desktop or tablet device. The grid table is not fully responsive.

Do not use the grid table if:

• You expect users to work with moderate amounts of data. Note that this is about the data actually loaded — not the items in the database or the filtered results — which includes the number of items as well as the complexity of the data displayed. In these cases, consider the responsive table.

Additional use cases where you might need the responsive table include:

• • The focus is on working on line items, not on cells. The responsive table is optimized for displaying complete items on all devices, such as file browsing and a list of documents you want to act on, like purchase orders and purchase requisitions.
  • Selecting one or several items is the main use case and details are needed to choose the correct item.
  • Line items are independent of each other and no operation across columns is needed.
  • You want to have only one implementation for all devices. However, make sure you adapt the responsive table design to offer the best solution for the tasks performed on mobile devices. Sometimes, a solution without a table is more useful and usable.

• The main use case is choosing one item from a very small number of items with no additional details. A select or combo box might be more appropriate.

• The main use case is choosing one out of several items with only a few details per item. A list might be more appropriate. Pay attention to the layout of the list item to ensure that it has a pleasant appearance.

• Data needs to be structured in a hierarchical manner. Use a tree table instead. Note that neither the tree table nor the grid table are responsive. You will need to take an adaptive approach by offering an additional UI for smartphones and tablets.

• You need an overview of a large amount of data. In this case, use charts.

• You just need it for layout reasons. In this case, use a layout container such as HBox or VBox.

• You need read-only or editable field-value pairs. Use a form instead. The grid table is not optimized for form-like input navigation.

Grid table shown on a desktop

Grid table shown on a tablet

1. Select All – The Select All checkbox selects or deselects all items.
2. Column header – The column header allows the user to resize and rearrange columns. It also provides access to a menu with column-specific commands.
3. Selector cells – The selector cells allow the user to select one or more items.
4. Items – The collection of items, or rows, occupies the main part of the grid table.

Schematic visualization of the grid table

A grid table allows horizontal and vertical scrolling (sap.ui.table.Table, property: navigationMode, value: Scrollbar).

You can add any number of line items to the grid table, which uses “lazy loading”.

To prevent adverse side effects when scrolling vertically, all line items must have the same height (sap.ui.table.Table, property: rowHeight).

The grid table is optimized to allow faster scrolling within the first 1000 items.

Scrollbar

A non-selection grid table

A single-selection grid table

The column header provides the label for the corresponding column and access to the column header menu.

Columns are resized as follows:

• Mouse interaction: The user drags the separator line between two columns (sap.ui.table.Column, property: Resizable). Double-clicking the line optimizes the column according to the length of the currently visible data and the label of the column header (sap.ui.table.Column, property: Autoresizable).
• Touch interaction: The user taps the column header to reveal two buttons – one to show the column header menu, and one for resizing. The user drags the latter to resize the column.
• Keyboard interaction: The width of the focused column header can be increased via Shift+Right and decreased via Shift+Left.

After resizing a column, the adaptation of the column widths depends on how the column width is set:

• If column widths are set in pixel-based units (px, em, rem), the corresponding column is adapted and the columns that follow are moved accordingly. The width of all other columns is not affected.
  If all the columns together take up less width than the table control, an empty space is added. In case all columns together take up more width than the table control, a scrollbar appears. (sap.ui.table.Column, property: width)
• If all column widths are set in percentage or “auto”, resizing one column might also lead to the automatic resizing of some or all other columns. The position of the resized column might also be affected. This is done to ensure that the whole table width is used and no white space is added. A scrollbar appears only if all or most of the columns shrink significantly. To avoid the side effect of undersized columns, a minimum width can be set per column. Please be aware that this minimum width is only taken into account if columns are automatically resized. End users are still able to reduce the column width below the provided minimum. (sap.ui.table.Column, properties: width, minWidth)

Columns can be rearranged by dragging the column header to another position (sap.ui.table.Table, property: enableColumnReordering). Keyboard: the focused column header can be moved by one position in the corresponding direction via Ctrl+Left / Ctrl+Right.

Column header

Opening the column header menu on touch devices

Fewer columns than space available

For each column, a menu can contain the following menu items (sap.ui.table.ColumnMenu, property: visible):

• Sort Ascending/Descending (sap.ui.table.Column, property: showSortMenuEntries)
• Free text filter (sap.ui.table.Column, property: showFilterMenuEntries)
• Freeze from the first to the last specified column (sap.ui.table.Table, property: enableColumnFreeze)

For each column, the menu can be replaced by an app-specific menu.

Column header menu

The column header menu can provide two sort options (sap.ui.table. Column, properties: sortProperty, showSortMenuEntry):

• Sort Ascending
• Sort Descending

The user selects one of these options to sort the corresponding column accordingly (sap.ui.table. Column, properties: sorted, sortOrder, sortProperty).

Sort settings in column header menu

The column header menu can provide a search field for entering free text (sap.ui.table.Column, properties: filterProperty, showFilterMenuEntries).

If the user enters a term in the input field and triggers the search by pressing Enter when the focus is on the filter input field, the grid table is filtered by the corresponding column and value (sap.ui.table.Table, properties: filtered, filterProperty, filterValue, filterOperator, sap.ui.table.Column, property: filterType).

Note that the filter may return zero results, in which case, the table might be empty.

General recommendations for filtering:

• If filtering is a main use case, choose the filter bar or any other filtering UI over the built-in free text filter.
• Only use the free text filter if filtering is a secondary use case and if the filter bar is too heavy.

Free text filter in column header menu

The column header menu can provide the option to freeze columns (sap.ui.table.Table, property: enableColumnFreeze). Selecting Freeze freezes all columns up to the one in which the operation was triggered (sap.ui.table. Table, property: fixedColumnCount).

When Freeze is triggered, the menu item changes to Unfreeze for the corresponding column.

Freeze setting in column header menu

A line item contains a set of cells and provides options for selecting the item.

To prevent adverse side effects when scrolling vertically, all line items must have the same height (sap.ui.table.Table, property: rowHeight).

Line item

One or several items can be repositioned within a table or moved to other UI elements using drag and drop operations (sap.ui.table.Table, aggregation: dragDropConfig). While being dragged, the items are shown as ghost elements on the mouse cursor.

Drop targets can be on items, between items, or both (sap.ui.core.dnd.DropPosition). On a drop target, the mouse cursor changes to either a “copy”, “link”, “move”, or “none” cursor. “None” indicates that the dragged item cannot be dropped in the current position (sap.ui.core.dnd.DropEffect).

Drag and drop is only available on supporting browsers.

Drag and drop

Whole item as drop target

You can attach a context menu (sap.m.Menu) to a table. The context menu gives users an alternative way to modify the focused elements by giving them access to context-specific functions.

When opened, the context menu gets the row and column context, except for special columns (such as the selection column) or special rows. Context menus can be implemented for a specific table, row, or cell (not recommended for editable cells).

Context menus are opened by right-clicking (desktop), long press (mobile), the context menu key, or Shift+F10.

Be aware that using the context menu overrides the browser context menu, which can no longer be opened.

If a control inside a table is the “click target”, and the control also provides a context menu, the control context menu “wins”.

Grid table with a context menu

A cell provides one data point and can contain one of the following controls:

• Button
• Checkbox
• Combo box
• Currency
• Date picker
• Icon
• Input
• Label
• Link
• The following micro charts size XS: Bullet, comparison, stacked bar
• Multi-combo box
• Multi-input field
• Object status
• Progress indicator
• Rating Indicator
• Select
• Text
  Use only single-line text to keep the same row height. Truncate it if necessary to prevent adverse side effects with vertical scrolling (sap.m.Text, property: wrapping, value: false). Do not wrap.

We recommend against using other controls to prevent issues with alignment, condensed mode, screen reader support, and keyboard support.

Cell

• In multiple selection mode (multi toggle), do not show checkboxes in the first data column in the default delivery to avoid confusion.

Don't

Do not add checkboxes to the first data column in the default delivery

• Never disable the selection checkbox. If an action can’t be performed on a specific item, inform the user after the corresponding action has been triggered. For more information, see Enabling/Disabling Actions.

Grid table in busy state while loading data

Left-alignment of text

Right-align numbers (except IDs).

This ensures comparability of numbers and amounts.

Right-alignment of numbers

Right-align amounts with currencies to the cell and align them in terms of their respective decimal points.

This ensures that amounts with different currencies are shown correctly, whether these currencies have 0, 2, or 3 decimals.

For aligning to the decimal point, use the sap.ui.uinified.Currency control.

Alignment to decimal point

Left-align status information

XS micro charts in condensed mode

Locale Settings

Be locale-aware: show dates, times, numbers, and so on in the format corresponding to the user’s locale settings.

Key Identifier

Use a bold label or an emphasized link as the key identifier of an item. In the default delivery, show the key identifier in the first column.

Emphasized link

• Show the ID in a separate column. Use this format if users need to sort, or if they need to filter by both the string and the ID.
• Show the ID in parentheses after the corresponding string. In this case, you must opt for one criterion for sorting and filtering, either the string or the ID. This option is then used for all sort and filter actions and can’t be changed later by the user. Use this format only if users don’t need to sort and filter by both the string and the ID.

Text and ID in two columns – Allows users to sort and filter both separately

If displayed as a link, use only the text as the link, not the ID

Text and ID in one column – Sorting and filtering is available for either the text or the ID, but not for both

Text and ID in one column - If displaying a link, show the whole string as the link (text and ID)

Truncation

Avoid truncation of typical content in the default delivery (sap.ui.table.Column, property: width). However, since the columns are resizable, do not worry too much if truncation occurs as columns can still be enlarged if necessary.

To prevent adverse side effects when scrolling vertically, all line items must also have the same height. If you need to decide between truncation and different row heights, choose truncation. Do not wrap.

Optimize column width for typical content, not all content

Number of Links

Are there too many links? Use subtle links to avoid a wall of links. Standard links are also emphasized more if they are surrounded by subtle links.

Emphasized links, links, subtle links, and text

Missing Value

If there is no value for a cell, leave it blank. Do not display text as N/A.

Leave empty fields blank

Numbering Items

In terms of numbering items:

• If the item number is more like an ID with regard to its description, use ID formatting as described above.
• In all other cases, use a separate column for the item number.

Add a separate column for the item number

Status

For status information, use semantic colors on the foreground elements.

For status information on text, use an object status.

Semantic colors on text

Micro Charts

Use only the following micro charts: Bullet, comparison, stacked bar. When using micro charts, use them in size XS.

Micro charts in a grid table

Empty Tables

Avoid empty grid tables. If necessary, provide instructions on how to fill the grid table with data (sap.ui.table.Table, properties: noDataText, showNoData).

Examples:

• If a table is initially empty, provide at least a basic text:
  No items available.
  Overwrite this whenever a hint can be provided on how to fill the table with data.
• If a table is used together with a filter bar (as in the list report), and is initially empty, use the following text:
  To start, set the relevant filters.
• If a table is used together with a filter bar and the filter does not return results, use the following text:
  No data found. Try adjusting the filter settings.

Adapt the texts above if:

• The standard text is not precise enough for your use case (for example, a search is also offered, or only the search is offered).
• The standard text is misleading (for example, if the data is filled based on a list-detail pattern instead of filter settings).

Provide meaningful instructions

Invalid State

To show an invalid state of the grid table within the list report floorplan, show an overlay on the grid table and the corresponding toolbar (sap.ui.table.Table, property: showOverlay). The overlay prevents user interactions.

Use this within the list report floorplan if filter settings have been changed but the grid table is has not yet been updated.

Grid table with invalid data

To show that an item has been modified, for example, within the global edit flow, add the string Modified in an additional column with the label Editing Status.

In the default delivery, add a column directly behind the key identifier.

A modified item

To show that a modified item contains an error, for example, within the global edit flow, add the string Contains errors in the Editing Status column and highlight the row accordingly. This string replaces the Modified string.

A row with errors should be highlighted in all use cases – for example when the field is visible in the row in edit mode.

A modified item with an error

A locked item

Item in draft state

Number and Unit in Same Cell

The number and the unit are in the same cell. Do this if sorting and filtering by the unit of measurement are not needed.

For amounts, use a currency control to display the concatenated string.

Number and unit of measurement in one cell

Number and Unit in Separate Columns

The number and unit are in separate columns. Do this if sorting and filtering by the unit of measurement are a common use case.

Note that this column can be hidden or moved independently of the column containing the corresponding number. Therefore, be sure to have clear labels for both columns to communicate the dependency.

Number and unit of measurement in two columns

Drop targets in between items

Don't

Do not combine rearranging items with sorting

Use drag and drop only in addition to existing visible UI elements

To trigger navigation on line item level, choose one of the following options:

• Use a link for the attribute that identifies the row. Clicking the link triggers the navigation.
• Add the RowActions column and show the navigation indicator ( :icon-slim-arrow-right) at the end of the row. The navigation arrow triggers the navigation.

Special case: Multi-selection in a list-detail scenario When a multi-selection table is used in a list-detail scenario, it is not clear which item was last opened (for example, which item is currently shown in the second column of a flexible column layout). In this case, you can display a “navigated” indicator to show which item is currently open.

Use the RowActions column only for one or both of the following actions:

• Navigate to details page (:icon-navigation-right-arrow )
• Delete (:icon-decline )

The RowActions column does not provide a column header text. It is fixed and will not scroll away. Users also cannot personalize this column.

Navigate to details page

For editable content, only use the following controls, and only one control per cell:

• Button
• Input
• Date picker,
• Select
• Combo box
• Multi-combo box
• Multi-input field
• Checkbox
• Rating Indicator

Only these controls are optimized for all viewing modes of the grid table.

If you need edit mode, change your text controls, such as label, text, link, object status, icons, and currencies, to editable controls as soon as you switch to edit mode, but not before. You can do this by exchanging the controls, for example, from sap.m.Text to sap.m.Input.

For mass editing items:

• Provide multiselection.
• Provide an Edit button.
• If several items are selected, clicking the Edit button opens a dialog in which the user edits the corresponding fields for all selected items.

For more information, see Mass Editing.

Interactive controls – In line

There are several ways to show Sort and/or Filter settings:

• Column header menu: In all cases, show the corresponding settings in the column header menu.
• View settings dialog: Simple and more flexible with regard to filter settings. No advantage for sorting.
• Table personalization dialog: Provides complex options for sorting items by several levels. It also provides a query-builder-like approach for filter settings. The complexity of the options is also its downside. Use the table personalization dialog for tables with a large number of items.
• If filtering is a main use case, use the filter bar. In this case, avoid offering additional filter settings on the table. If you do, the filter settings on the grid table work only on the result set provided by the filter bar.

Always be careful when synchronizing the settings in the dialog with the settings from the column header menu.

Trigger the dialogs in one of the following ways:

• View settings dialog: Provide several buttons, one for each of these view settings. Each button opens the view settings dialog on the corresponding page.
• P13nDialog: Provide a settings button, which opens the table personalization dialog containing all pages.

Use only the view settings you really need.

Column header menu with view settings

Table toolbar with triggers for view settings dialog

Table toolbar with trigger for table personalization dialog

Always sort the table in a meaningful way when it first loads. In most cases, this means sorting by the column that identifies the row. This is usually the first column in the default delivery.

To display the current sort state, an icon is shown in the column header of the most recently sorted column. This icon indicates the sort direction (sap.ui.table.Column, properties: sorted, sortOrder, sortProperty).

For the default sort settings, sort by the column that identifies the row, which is usually the first column in default delivery.

Column, sorted ascending

Column, sorted descending

Column, filtered

Freeze Columns

To freeze columns, offer the setting in the column header menu (sap.ui.table.Table, property: enableColumnFreeze). Selecing Freeze on a column freezes all columns from the first one to the one where Freeze is selected. On this column, the menu entry changes from Freeze to Unfreeze.

Frozen column

Highlight Items

To show that an item needs attention, a highlight indicator can be shown in front of the item. The highlight indicator can be used to indicate:

• A semantic state, such as red or orange for an error or warning. In this case, use semantic colors.
• Additional information, such as blue to highlight newly added items. In this case, use semantic colors.
• Industry-specific or process-specific states, such as “out of stock” or “excess of inventory”. In this case, use indication colors.

Be aware that the highlight is just an indication. It does not tell users exactly what is wrong. Make sure that you provide this information within the table row, ideally in the same color.

For details on the use of highlight colors, see How To Use Semantic Colors / Industry-Specific Colors.

(sap.ui.table.Table, aggregation: rowSettingsTemplate)

Highlighted items

'Export to Spreadsheet' menu button