How to configure the DataGrid to maximise screen real estate

By admin·2024-06-18

Many modern apps rely heavily on white-space to make the user interface easy to read and follow. However, there are financial apps or data-heavy apps where you need to display a lot of information in a small space. In this blogpost, we want to show you how to tweak the theming of the Infinite React DataGrid to make it more dense and maximise screen real estate.

Configuring the spacing in the DataGrid cells

The CSS variable you want to target is --infinite-cell-padding - it's used to set the padding of the cells in the DataGrid. By default, the padding is set to var(--infinite-space-2) var(--infinite-space-3). This means that the padding is set to 4px 8px for a root font size of 16px.

Default definition for --infinite-cell-padding

:root {
  --infinite-cell-padding: var(--infinite-space-2) var(--infinite-space-3); /* vertical horizontal */

  --infinite-space-2: .25rem; /* 4px - for a root font size of 16px */
  --infinite-space-3: .5rem; /* 8px */
}

You can override this variable in your CSS to make the padding smaller. For example, you can set the padding to 2px 4px by setting the variable like this:

Override the --infinite-cell-padding variable

body {
  --infinite-cell-padding: 2px 4px;
}

Note

It's important to understand that cell height is not given by the padding, but by the rowHeight prop.

So if you want to make the DataGrid more dense, you should also consider setting the rowHeight prop to a smaller value.

Using rowHeight and cell padding to configure a dense mode in DataGrid cells

Configuring the spacing in the column headers

For configuring padding inside column headers, you need to use the --infinite-header-cell-padding CSS var.

Default definition for --infinite-header-cell-padding

:root {
  --infinite-header-cell-padding: var(--infinite-header-cell-padding-y) var(--infinite-header-cell-padding-x);
  --infinite-header-cell-padding-x: var(--infinite-space-3);
  --infinite-header-cell-padding-y: var(--infinite-space-3);
}

You can make the padding smaller for example give it a value of 2px 4px by setting the variable like this:

Override the --infinite-header-cell-padding variable

body {
  --infinite-header-cell-padding: 2px 4px;
}

Dense mode in both cells and column headers

The above demo also uses the headerOptions.alwaysReserveSpaceForSortIcon prop to make sure that the column headers don't reserve a space for the sort icon when the respective column is not sorted.

Note

Another option would be to override the CSS spacing scale that InfiniteTable defines - but that affects more than just the padding of the cells and headers.

Default values for the spacing scale

:root {
  --infinite-space-1: .125rem;
  --infinite-space-2: .25rem;
  --infinite-space-3: .5rem;
  --infinite-space-4: 0.75rem;
  --infinite-space-5: 1rem;
}

You're encouraged to experiment with these variables to find the right balance for your app.

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