Chapter 13. Data Grid

Data consolidation is a typical problem that developers face when designing a web application GUI because handling large amounts of data is common practice in dynamic applications. Using a data grid to display large amounts of data is beneficial for consolidation and usability. Data consolidation and better usability occur naturally because the function of a data grid is to format the data into rows and columns, which ultimately creates a structured grid that is much easier to read. A data grid formats the data into rows of different content. Within each of the rows are columns that separate corresponding content.

This way of structuring data is common practice among web applications. The component that we build in this chapter will make the process of structuring a data grid as easy as structuring the XML data that you will be passing it. Therefore, you will never have to touch the JavaScript objects after they are createdunless, of course, you would like to add additional functionality. This is because all the styling will be done in a CSS file in order to help you design the GUI for the grid and match any application that you are developing.