---
title: Configuring Grid Column Widths
order: 25
layout: page
---

[[configuring-grid-column-widths]]
= Configuring Grid column widths

To try out how the widths of Grid columns work in different situations,
we'll use the same base implementation as in the
<<UsingGridWithAContainer#using-grid-with-a-container,
Using Grid with a Container>> example.

Grid does by default check the widths of all cells on the first pageful
of data and allocate column widths based on that. If there's room to
spare, each column gets and equal share of the extra pixels.

There is usually one or maybe two columns that would most benefit from
some additional breathing room, but Grid can't know which columns that
is unless you tell it. You can do so using the `setExpandRatio(int)`
method for a column.

[source,java]
....
grid.getColumn("name").setExpandRatio(1);
....

When setting one column to expand, all the extra space gets allocated to
that column. This might instead cause the other columns to be too
tightly spaced. One easy way of avoiding this is to use `setWidth(double)`
to set a pixel size for columns that are not expanded.

[source,java]
....
grid.getColumn("name").setExpandRatio(1);
grid.getColumn("amount").setWidth(100);
grid.getColumn("count").setWidth(100);
....

Reducing the width of Grid does now cause the `Name` column to shrink
while the two other columns keep their defined original sizes. We might,
however, want to prevent the `Name` column from becoming too narrow by
giving it a minimum width. Without any defined minimum width, the widths
of the cell contents of the first pageful of data will define the
minimum width. If there's not enough room for all columns, Grid will
automatically enable horizontal scrolling so that all columns can still
be accessed.

[source,java]
....
grid.setWidth("400px");
grid.getColumn("name").setMinimumWidth(250);
grid.getColumn("amount").setWidth(100);
grid.getColumn("count").setWidth(100);
....

With horizontal scrolling, it might be desirable to still keep columns
identifying each row visible all the time so that it's easier for the
user to interpret the data. This can be done by freezing a number of
columns, counted from the left, using the `setFrozenColumnCount(int)`
method. By default, only the column showing selection state in
multiselect mode is frozen. This column can also be unfrozen by setting
the count to -1.

[source,java]
....
grid.setWidth("400px");
grid.setFrozenColumnCount(1);
grid.getColumn("name").setMinimumWidth(250);
grid.getColumn("amount").setWidth(100);
grid.getColumn("count").setWidth(100);
....

If the width of Grid is again increased so that all columns can fit
without scrolling, the frozen columns will behave just as any other
column.