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https://github.com/hootsuite/grid

Drag and drop library for two-dimensional, resizable and responsive lists
https://github.com/hootsuite/grid

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Drag and drop library for two-dimensional, resizable and responsive lists

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README 

        
# DEPRECATED 

This project is no longer maintained, please consider using [react-grid-layout](https://github.com/react-grid-layout/react-grid-layout) instead.



GridList [![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/hootsuite/grid.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/hootsuite/grid)

====

Drag and drop library for a two-dimensional resizable and responsive list of

items



**Demo: http://hootsuite.github.io/grid/**



The GridList library is split into two roles:



1. An agnostic [**GridList class**](#gridlist-class) that manages the

two-dimensional positions from a list of items within a virtual matrix.

2. A [**jQuery plugin**](#fngridlist) built on top of the GridList class

that translates the generic items positions into responsive DOM elements with

drag and drop capabilities.



## GridList class



Jump to:



- [**API**](#api)

- [**Primitives**](#primitives)



### API



#### new GridList(items, options)



```js

var myGrid = new GridList(items, {

  direction: 'horizontal',

  lanes: 3

});

```



The first constructor parameter is an array of [items](#primitives) to populate

the grid with.



 Supported options:



 - **direction** - Can be `'horizontal'` or `'vertical'`. Defaults to

   `'horizontal'`. This sets how the grid can expand e.g. for 'horizontal' the

   grid will stretch towards the right to accommodate all the items. For

   'vertical', it will stretch towards the bottom.

 - **lanes** - Number of fixed rows or columns, depending on the

   direction.



#### generateGrid()



```js

myGrid.generateGrid();

```



Build the grid structure from scratch, using the positions of the given

items. If items lack positional attributes (x and y), they will be misplaced,

possibly overlapping. If you want to build a grid around a list of items that

only have their size attributes defined (w and h), and rely on the library to

position them two-dimensionally, use [_resizeGrid._](#resizegridrows)



#### resizeGrid(lanes)



```js

myGrid.resizeGrid(4);

```



(Re)generate positions for the items inside a grid instance for a given number

of rows/columns. This method has two major use-cases:



1. Items are being represented two-dimensionally for the first time.

2. Items already have 2d positions but need to be represented on a different

grid size, maintaining as much as possible of their previous order.



Positions inside the grid are generated left-to-right, top-to-bottom. So when

looking for a new position inside the grid the topmost row from the leftmost

column is chosen.



#### moveItemToPosition(item, position)



```js

// Move item from [0, 0] to [1, 1]

var carefreeItem = myGrid.grid[0][0];

myGrid.moveItemToPosition(carefreeItem, [1, 1]);

```



Here are things that happen when moving an item inside the grid:



1. The item's previous position is cleared inside the [2d grid](#gridlistgrid),

2. The position inside the [item object](#item) is updated,

3. The item's new position is marked inside the 2d grid and

4. Collisions are handled if the moved item overlaps with other item(s) from

the grid.



Collisions can be solved in two ways. First, an attempt to resolve them

_locally_ is made, meaning that the moved item tries to swap position with

the overlapped item(s). This is the preferred _fair trade._ If this doesn't

work out and after swapping we still have collisions inside the grid, the

entire grid will be [regenerated](#resizegridrows), starting with the moved

item fixed in its new position. In the latter case, all the items around and

to the right of the moved item might have their position slightly altered.



#### resizeItem(item, size)



```js

// Resize item from position [0, 0] to span over 3 columns

var growthItem = myGrid.grid[0, 0];



myGrid.resizeItem(growthItem, {w: 3});

console.log(growthItem.w); // will output "3"



myGrid.resizing(growthItem, {h: 2});

console.log(growthItem.h); // will output "2"

```



Resizing an item is very similar to moving its position, in the sense that

[grid](#gridlistgrid) cells will be repopulated and collisions will be handled

afterwards. See [moveItemToPosition.](#moveitemtopositionitem-position)



### Primitives



#### Item



The item is the building block of GridList, and is a plain JavaScript object.

The primary function of the GridList is to position such items

two-dimentionally. Which brings us to the composition of an item: **w** and

**h** for size, **x** and **y** for position. E.g.



```js

{w: 3, h: 1, x: 0, y: 1}

```



Note that x and y (**column** and **row**) are abstract coords inside the grid,

they are integer values starting from 0. Naturally, w and h (**width** and

**height**) also take up space in the same coordinate system, which reveals the

smallest unit of a grid: the **cell.** You could say, for example, that the

featured item above takes up three grid cells.



#### gridList.items



A GridList instance works around an array of items. The items array is the

first parameter of the class constructor and is always visible under the

`.items` property. Here's a list of items for a grid with three 1x1 items on a

column with three rows:



```js

[{w: 1, h: 1, x: 0, y: 0},

 {w: 1, h: 1, x: 0, y: 1},

 {w: 1, h: 1, x: 0, y: 2}]

```



#### gridList.grid



Seeing how JavaScript doesn't support multidimensional arrays, the 2d grid

inside GridList is represented by an array for columns, with each array entry

containing another array with cells for each row. __The cell is simply a pointer

to an item that occupies it, or a *null* reference if no item is sitting on

that cell's position.__ Note that more cells can point to the same item

reference, because items occupy `w * h` cells. Here's a grid

pseudo-representation:



| col1 | col2 | col3 | col4 |

| :--: | :--: | :--: | :--: |

| 1    | 2    |      |      |

| 1    | 3    | 4    | 4    |

| 1    |      | 4    | 4    |



Having the grid in a two-dimensional data structure, we can fetch item

references directly by targeting any of the cells they cover inside the grid.

E.g.



```js

myGrid.grid[1][0] // reference to item #2

myGrid.grid[1][1] // reference to item #3

myGrid.grid[2][1] // reference to item #4

myGrid.grid[3][2] // still reference to item #4

```



PS. This grid would be generated by these items:



```js

[{w: 1, h: 3, x: 0, y: 0},

 {w: 1, h: 1, x: 1, y: 0},

 {w: 1, h: 1, x: 1, y: 1},

 {w: 2, h: 2, x: 2, y: 1}]

```



## $.fn.gridList



```js

$('.my-list').gridList({

  direction: 'horizontal',

  lanes: 3

});

```



The jQuery plugin has two main functions:



- Render the GridList on top of a list of **DOM elements.** The list items are

expected to have `data-w` and `data-h` attributes, and optionally `data-x` and

`data-y` (if their positions have been previously generated and persisted)

- **Drag and drop** capabilities



The function takes an optional argument with options that will be passed to the

draggables when constructing them.



```js

$('.my-list').gridList({lanes: 3}, {handle: '.title'});

```



See [jQuery UI Draggable API](https://api.jqueryui.com/draggable/) for details on all

the available options.



The rendered list is **responsive** to its parent container, meaning that the

width and height of the items are calculated based on the container height

divided by the number of grid rows.



## FAQ: Why not [gridster](https://github.com/ducksboard/gridster.js)?



- Their README reads Ducksboard is no longer active in their development. There

  are a few notable forks but it's hard to assert their

  [reliability.](https://github.com/dustmoo/gridster.js/issues)

- gridster works vertically while our solution works both vertically and

  horizontally.

- Our lib contains over 5 times fewer code.

- gridster collisions are [very

  basic](https://github.com/ducksboard/gridster.js/issues/54), we pushed towards

  better UX and found alternative ways for dealing with collisions.

- We wanted out-of-the-box responsiveness, and the entire grid system was build

  fluid, relative to any parent container.

- We needed the grid logic to be a DOM-less lib outside the jQuery plugin. This

  allows us to compute grid positions on the server-side and run kick-ass fast

  tests with Node.

- Another more particular thing we needed was widgets that had height=0, which

  means they stretch on however many rows a grid has. We show timelines like

  this. It also works for width=0.



*Please check [demo page](http://hootsuite.github.io/grid/) or code directly for

investigating these assumptions.*