Data grid — version history

u_pbt_datagrid · Introduced in 4.0

A modern grid laid over a DataStore — typed columns and rich cells, sorting, filters, grouping with subtotals, in-place editing, very large volumes and CSV export — while the DataWindow stays the master of your data. Introduced in 4.0.

4.0 — October 2026 #

New #

• First release. of_from_datastore loads a DataStore in one call and reads what the DataWindow says about each column: its header text becomes the title, its display format and edit mask apply, a code table (Values, DropDown DataWindow, CheckBox) shows the displayed value while the row keeps the data, columns come in the order the DataWindow shows them, and a column hidden in the painter arrives hidden. Each row's key is its RowID, so it survives a sort, filter, insert or delete in the DataStore (ids.GetRowFromRowId(Long(as_key))). Regional dates and decimals are read correctly.
• Columns can also be declared by code (of_add_column, of_set_columns) and each is driven through its handle (of_column → n_pbt_datagrid_column): title, width, hidden, pinned to a side, editable, footer total, DataWindow-style display format (is_format), filter, position.
• Rich cells from plain DataStore values: avatar, coloured status chip (is_tones, colour by value), progress gauge, sparkline from a "3,5,2,6" text, star rating, tags from a "vip, b2b" text, button, link.
• With no code at all, the user sorts, filters (quick search or a filter row per column, with > 1000 style operators on numbers and dates), chooses visible columns, resizes, reorders by dragging headers (a visible drop marker), pins or hides columns, selects rows Explorer-style (click, Ctrl, Shift), copies with Ctrl+C (ue_copy), and uses a row context menu (Copy, Select all, Clear selection, Export to CSV) to which you add your own entries (of_add_row_menu_item → ue_row_menu_clicked, with the whole selection).
• Grouping by one or more columns with subtotals (is_group_by, read back live), footer totals, expandable detail panel per row in rich text (of_fill_detail, ue_row_expanded), tree mode (of_expand_node).
• In-place editing: typed editors (list for a code-table column, calendar for a date), invalid input shown as refused while typing, optional veto before a value is kept (ib_veto_edits → ue_cell_editing), ue_cell_edited; with ib_write_back, each entry is written into the DataStore with a typed SetItem before the event, modified cells are marked until of_reset_update(), and of_reload_row refreshes one row after your code changed it. The Update stays yours.
• Very large volumes: only visible rows are drawn (tens of thousands of rows scroll smoothly), automatic pagination (ii_page_size, il_page_threshold, of_go_to_page), and a windowed source that is never held in full (of_open_source → ue_rows_needed, of_supply_rows, grand total you supply with of_supply_grand_totals).
• The user's arrangement — column order, widths, pins, visibility, sort, filters, search, grouping — is read by of_get_layout, restored by of_set_layout, and reported whole by ue_layout_changed.
• of_export_csv(as_path) writes what the grid shows (UTF-8 with BOM, semicolon separator), confirmed by ue_csv_saved; the grid is fully keyboard-driven as a single tab stop, and follows the ten themes, with row lines in every theme.
• ue_script_error: a script error in the page reaches PowerBuilder with its message instead of being lost.
• of_set_property, of_get_property and of_component_name: drive a property by its name (settings screen, saved configuration).
• Sort on several columns: Shift+click on a header adds the column to the sort after the others (a second Shift+click turns it descending, a third takes it out), and each arrow shows its rank; of_sort("city A, revenue D") does the same from your code, written as a DataWindow's SetSort reads it, and ue_sort_changed carries the whole sort in that form (as_sort) — a windowed source sorts its DataStore with it.
• An editable boolean column (TYPE_BOOL, or a DataWindow CheckBox) shows a check box in each cell: a click, Space, Enter or F2 turns it over at once, through the same veto and events as a typed entry.
• Detail on demand: with ib_detail_on_demand every row shows its chevron, and opening one raises ue_detail_needed — fill the panel there with of_fill_detail, it opens when the event returns. The detail of thousands of rows is never read up front.
• Spreadsheet-like editing: typing a character on an editable text or number cell opens its editor with that character, and during an edit Tab / Shift+Tab keep the value and open the next (previous) editable cell, the grid scrolling with them line after line; closing an edit (Enter, Tab) leaves the grid where it is scrolled.
• of_export_xlsx(as_path) writes what the grid shows to an Excel workbook — numbers stay numbers, with the format of their column — confirmed by ue_xlsx_saved. A relative export path (CSV or Excel) is written in the folder the application started in, and the event gives the full path.
• ue_write_back_failed(as_key, as_col, as_value, as_reason): with ib_write_back, a value the DataStore cannot keep (its row deleted since the load, a value SetItem refuses, a text that is not a time) is not kept — the cell goes back to what the DataStore holds and the event says why.
• of_from_datastore called again after a Retrieve keeps what your code set on the columns and their order, reads again what the DataWindow says (header text, format, code table), and places each value under its own column whatever order the user gave them.
• Numbers are typed and filtered in the display language, groupings included: 1.500 is fifteen hundred in German, 1,234.5 a number in English, > 1.000 a filter above one thousand.
• A three-state DataWindow CheckBox shows its third state as indeterminate, and a click cycles On, Off, Other as the DataWindow does.
• A filtered column shows a funnel on its header — and in the Columns chooser when it is hidden; ue_filter_changed carries every filter as typed and the search ({"filters":{"revenue":"> 1000"},"quick":"bos"}), once the typing stops.
• Every change of the layout raises ue_layout_changed, whether the user or your code made it — width, grouping, filters, search, filter row, of_set_layout included — and nothing when nothing changes; a selection your code empties (a reload, SELECT_NONE) raises ue_selection_changed.
• An edited row stays where it is until the next sort or filter; Ctrl+C copies the whole selection, every page of it; in a windowed source, Ctrl+End, Ctrl+Home and Page Down reach the rows not supplied yet; the pager follows the search and the filters.
• SUMMARY_COUNT counts the cells that hold a value, as count() of a DataWindow; avatar initials work in every script (Cyrillic, Chinese, Polish…); RENDERER_BOOL (a check mark) and RENDERER_CUSTOM (the value as rich text markup) are documented.
• Raw JSON given to of_set_columns, of_load_rows, of_append_rows, of_update_row, of_select_rows, of_supply_rows or of_supply_grand_totals is checked first (-5 when it is not a JSON array or object); of_update_row returns -5 for a key the grid does not hold, of_append_rows when rows were left out because their key is already held, and of_select_rows leaves out a key the grid does not hold.