JavaScript Data Grid: Simple Filters

The grid provides three Simple Filters for filtering strings, numbers and dates.

Text Filter

Number Filter

Date Filter

Each of the filters works in a similar way. This page describes the common parts of the Simple Filters.

Example: Simple Filters

The example below demonstrates all three Simple Filters working. Note the following:

• The Athlete column has a Text Filter.
• The Age column has a Number Filter.
• The Date column has a Date Filter.
• filter=false is set on the Total column to disable the filter.

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Simple Filter Parts

Each Simple Filter follows the same layout. The only layout difference is the type of input field presented to the user: for Text and Number Filters a text field is displayed, whereas for Date Filters a date picker field is displayed.

Filter Options

Each filter provides a dropdown list of filter options to select from. Each filter option represents a filtering strategy, e.g. 'equals', 'not equals', etc.

Each filter's default Filter Options are listed below, as well as information on Defining Custom Filter Options.

Filter Value

Each filter option takes zero (a possibility with custom options), one (for most) or two (for 'in range') values. The value type depends on the filter type, e.g. the Date Filter takes Date values.

Condition 1 and Condition 2

Each filter initially only displays Condition 1. When the user completes the Condition 1 section of the filter, Condition 2 becomes visible.

Join Operator

The Join Operator decides how Condition 1 and Condition 2 are joined, using either AND or OR.

Simple Filters Parameters

Simple Filters are configured though the filterParams attribute of the column definition:

filterOptions: (IFilterOptionDef | ISimpleFilterModelType)[];

interface IFilterOptionDef {
  // A unique key that does not clash with the built-in filter keys. 
  displayKey: string;
  // Display name for the filter. Can be replaced by a locale-specific value using a `localeTextFunc`. 
  displayName: string;
  // Custom filter logic that returns a boolean based on the `filterValues` and `cellValue`. 
  predicate?: (filterValues: any[], cellValue: any) => boolean;
  // Number of inputs to display for this option. Defaults to `1` if unspecified. 
  numberOfInputs?: 0 | 1 | 2;
}

type ISimpleFilterModelType = 
      'empty' 
    | 'equals' 
    | 'notEqual' 
    | 'lessThan' 
    | 'lessThanOrEqual' 
    | 'greaterThan' 
    | 'greaterThanOrEqual' 
    | 'inRange' 
    | 'contains' 
    | 'notContains' 
    | 'startsWith' 
    | 'endsWith' 
    | 'blank' 
    | 'notBlank'

defaultJoinOperator: JoinOperator;

type JoinOperator = 'AND' | 'OR'

filterPlaceholder: FilterPlaceholderFunction | string;

type FilterPlaceholderFunction = 
      (params: IFilterPlaceholderFunctionParams) => string


interface IFilterPlaceholderFunctionParams {
  // The filter option key
  filterOptionKey: ISimpleFilterModelType;
  // The filter option name as localised text
  filterOption: string;
  // The default placeholder text
  placeholder: string;
}

type ISimpleFilterModelType = 
      'empty' 
    | 'equals' 
    | 'notEqual' 
    | 'lessThan' 
    | 'lessThanOrEqual' 
    | 'greaterThan' 
    | 'greaterThanOrEqual' 
    | 'inRange' 
    | 'contains' 
    | 'notContains' 
    | 'startsWith' 
    | 'endsWith' 
    | 'blank' 
    | 'notBlank'

buttons: FilterButtonType[];

type FilterButtonType = 
      'apply' 
    | 'clear' 
    | 'reset' 
    | 'cancel'

Additional parameters are also available depending on the type of filter being used. See each type for the full list of parameters available: Text, Number, Date.

Example: Simple Filter Options

The following example demonstrates those configuration options that can be applied to any Simple Filter.

• The Athlete column shows a Text Filter with default behavior for all options.
• The Country column shows a Text Filter with filterOptions set to show a different list of available options, and defaultOption set to change the default option selected.
• The Age column has a Number Filter with alwaysShowBothConditions set to true so that both condition are always shown. The defaultJoinOperator is also set to 'OR' rather than the default ('AND').
• The Date column has a Date Filter with suppressAndOrCondition set to true, so that only the first condition is shown.

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Simple Filter Options

Each simple filter presents a list of options to the user. The list of options for each filter are as follows:

Note that the empty filter option is primarily used when creating Custom Filter Options. When 'Choose One' is displayed, the filter is not active.

Default Filter Options

Each of the three filter types has the following default options and default selected option.

Simple Filter Models

When saving or restoring state on a filter, the Filter Model is used. The Filter Model represents the state of the filter. For example, the code below first gets and then sets the Filter Model for the Athlete column:

// get filter instance
const filterInstance = gridOptions.api.getFilterInstance('athlete'); 

// get filter model
const model = filterInstance.getModel(); 

// set filter model and update
filterInstance.setModel({
    type: 'endsWith',
    filter: 'thing'
});

// refresh rows based on the filter (not automatic to allow for batching multiple filters)
gridOptions.api.onFilterChanged();

This section explains what the Filter Model looks like for each of the simple filters. The interface used by each filter type is as follows:

type: ISimpleFilterModelType | null;

type ISimpleFilterModelType = 
      'empty' 
    | 'equals' 
    | 'notEqual' 
    | 'lessThan' 
    | 'lessThanOrEqual' 
    | 'greaterThan' 
    | 'greaterThanOrEqual' 
    | 'inRange' 
    | 'contains' 
    | 'notContains' 
    | 'startsWith' 
    | 'endsWith' 
    | 'blank' 
    | 'notBlank'

type: ISimpleFilterModelType | null;

type ISimpleFilterModelType = 
      'empty' 
    | 'equals' 
    | 'notEqual' 
    | 'lessThan' 
    | 'lessThanOrEqual' 
    | 'greaterThan' 
    | 'greaterThanOrEqual' 
    | 'inRange' 
    | 'contains' 
    | 'notContains' 
    | 'startsWith' 
    | 'endsWith' 
    | 'blank' 
    | 'notBlank'

type: ISimpleFilterModelType | null;

type ISimpleFilterModelType = 
      'empty' 
    | 'equals' 
    | 'notEqual' 
    | 'lessThan' 
    | 'lessThanOrEqual' 
    | 'greaterThan' 
    | 'greaterThanOrEqual' 
    | 'inRange' 
    | 'contains' 
    | 'notContains' 
    | 'startsWith' 
    | 'endsWith' 
    | 'blank' 
    | 'notBlank'

Examples of filter model instances are as follows:

// number filter with one condition, with equals type
const numberLessThan35 = {
    filterType: 'number',
    type: 'lessThan',
    filter: 35
};

// number filter with one condition, with inRange type
const numberBetween35And40 = {
    filterType: 'number',
    type: 'inRange',
    filter: 35,
    filterTo: 40
};

If the filter has both Condition 1 and Condition 2 set, then two instances of the model are created and wrapped inside a Combined Model. A combined model looks as follows:

// A filter combining two conditions
// M is either TextFilterModel, NumberFilterModel or DateFilterModel
interface ICombinedSimpleModel<M> {
    // the filter type: date, number or text
    filterType: string;

    operator: JoinOperator;

    // two instances of the filter model
    condition1: M;
    condition2: M;
}

type JoinOperator = 'AND' | 'OR';

An example of a filter model with two conditions is as follows:

// number filter with two conditions, both are equals type
const numberEquals18OrEquals20 = {
    filterType: 'number',
    operator: 'OR',
    condition1: {
        filterType: 'number',
        type: 'equals',
        filter: 18
    },
    condition2: {
        filterType: 'number',
        type: 'equals',
        filter: 18
    }
};

Custom Filter Options

For applications that have bespoke filtering requirements, it is also possible to add new custom filtering options to the number, text and date filters. For example, a 'Not Equal (with Nulls)' filter option could be included alongside the built in 'Not Equal' option.

Custom filter options are supplied to the grid via filterParams.filterOptions and must conform to the IFilterOptionDef interface:

predicate = (
    filterValues: any[],
    cellValue: any
) => boolean;

The displayKey should contain a unique key value that doesn't clash with the built-in filter keys. A default displayName should also be provided but can be replaced by a locale-specific value using a getLocaleText.

The custom filter logic is implemented through the predicate function, which receives the filterValues typed by the user along with the cellValue from the grid, and returns true or false.

The number of filterValues and corresponding inputs is controlled by the optional property numberOfInputs:

• If set to 0 all inputs are hidden, and an empty array of filterValues is provided to the predicate function.
• If unspecified or set to 1 a single input is displayed, and one-element array of filterValues are provided to the predicate function.
• If set to 2 two inputs are displayed, and a two-element array of filterValues is provided to the predicate function.

Custom FilterOptionDefs can be supplied alongside the built-in filter option string keys as shown below:

const gridOptions = {
    columnDefs: [
        {
            field: 'age',
            filter: 'agNumberColumnFilter',
            filterParams: {
                filterOptions: [
                    'lessThan',
                    {
                        displayKey: 'lessThanWithNulls',
                        displayName: 'Less Than with Nulls',
                        predicate: ([filterValue], cellValue) => cellValue == null || cellValue < filterValue,
                    },
                    'greaterThan',
                    {
                        displayKey: 'greaterThanWithNulls',
                        displayName: 'Greater Than with Nulls',
                        predicate: ([filterValue], cellValue) => cellValue == null || cellValue > filterValue,
                    },
                    {
                        displayKey: 'betweenExclusive',
                        displayName: 'Between (Exclusive)',
                        predicate: ([fv1, fv2], cellValue) => cellValue == null || fv1 < cellValue && fv2 > cellValue,
                        numberOfInputs: 2,
                    }
                ]
            }
        }
    ],

    // other grid options ...
}

The following example demonstrates several custom filter options:

• The Athlete column contains four custom filter options managed by a Text Filter:

  • Starts with "A" and Starts with "N" have no inputs; their predicate function is provided zero values.
  • Regular Expression has one input; its predicate function is provided one value.
  • Between (Exclusive) has two inputs; its predicate function is provided two values.

• The Age column contains five custom filter options managed by a Number Filter:

  • Even Numbers, Odd Numbers and Blanks have no inputs; their predicate function is provided zero values.
  • Age 5 Years Ago has one input; its predicate function is provided one value.
  • Between (Exclusive) has two inputs; its predicate function is provided two values.
  • Choose One is a built-in option and acts as an inactive filter option.
  • The suppressAndOrCondition=true option is used to suppress the join operator panel and condition 2.

• The Date column contains three custom filter options managed by a Date Filter:

  • Equals (with Nulls) has one inputs; its predicate function is provided one value.
  • Leap Year has no inputs; its predicate function is provided zero values.
  • Between (Exclusive) has two inputs; its predicate function is provided two values.
  • NOTE: a custom comparator is still required for the built-in date filter options, i.e. equals.

• The Country column includes:

  • a custom * Not Equals (No Nulls) * filter which also removes null values.
  • it also demonstrates how localisation can be achieved via the gridOptions.getLocaleText(params) callback function, where the default value is replaced for the filter option 'notEqualNoNulls'.
• Saving and restoring custom filter options via api.getFilterModel() and api.setFilterModel() can be tested using the provided buttons.

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Blank Cells (Date and Number Filters)

If the row data contains blanks (i.e. null or undefined), by default the row won't be included in filter results. To change this, use the filter params includeBlanksInEquals, includeBlanksInLessThan, includeBlanksInGreaterThan and includeBlanksInRange. For example, the code snippet below configures a filter to include null for equals, but not for less than, greater than or in range:

const filterParams = {
    includeBlanksInEquals: true,
    includeBlanksInLessThan: false,
    includeBlanksInGreaterThan: false,
    includeBlanksInRange: false,
};

In the following example you can filter by age or date and see how blank values are included. Note the following:

• Columns Age and Date have both null and undefined values resulting in blank cells.
• Toggle the controls on the top to see how includeBlanksInEquals, includeBlanksInLessThan, includeBlanksInGreaterThan and includeBlanksInRange impact the search result.

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Data Updates

Grid data can be updated in a number of ways, including:

• Cell Editing.
• Updating Data.
• Clipboard Operations.

Simple filters are not affected by data changes, as is demonstrated by the following example:

• Perform some filtering using the configured simple filters, such as filtering by Age equals 24.
• Click the Jumble Ages button to update the grid data by jumbling values in the Age column between rows.
• Observe that filters remain unchanged, but the displayed rows change to those now assigned an age of 24.

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Style Header on Filter

Each time a filter is applied to a column the CSS class ag-header-cell-filtered is added to the header. This can be used for adding style to headers that are filtered.

In the example below, we've added some styling to ag-header-cell-filtered, so when you filter a column you will notice the column header change.

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Customising Filter Placeholder Text

Filter placeholder text can be customised on a per column basis using filterParams.filterPlaceholder within the grid option columnDefs. The placeholder can be either a string or a function as shown in the snippet below:

const gridOptions = {
    columnDefs: [
        {
            field: 'age',
            filter: 'agNumberColumnFilter',
            filterParams: {
                filterPlaceholder: 'Age...'
            }
        },
        {
            field: 'total',
            filter: 'agNumberColumnFilter',
            filterParams: {
                filterPlaceholder: (params) => {
                    const { filterOption, placeholder } = params;
                    return `${filterOption} ${placeholder}`;
                }
            }
        }
    ],

    // other grid options ...
}

When filterPlaceholder is a function, the parameters are made up of the following:

filterOptionKey: ISimpleFilterModelType;

type ISimpleFilterModelType = 
      'empty' 
    | 'equals' 
    | 'notEqual' 
    | 'lessThan' 
    | 'lessThanOrEqual' 
    | 'greaterThan' 
    | 'greaterThanOrEqual' 
    | 'inRange' 
    | 'contains' 
    | 'notContains' 
    | 'startsWith' 
    | 'endsWith' 
    | 'blank' 
    | 'notBlank'

The following example shows the various ways of specifying filter placeholders. Click on the filter menu for the different columns in the header row to see the following:

• Athlete column shows the default placeholder of Filter... with no configuration
• Country column shows the string Country... for all filter options
• Sport column shows the filter option key with the default placeholder eg, for the Contains filter option, it shows contains - Filter.... The filter option keys are listed in the table above.
• Total column shows the filter option name with the suffix total eg, for the Equals filter option, it shows Equals total. The filter option names are listed in the table above.

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