---
title: Hierarchical Data
order: 6
layout: page
---

[[datamodel.hierarchical]]
= Hierarchical Data

The [classname]#Tree# and the [classname]#TreeGrid# components allow you to show data with hierarchical relationships between items.
That data can be populated by on-demand from a back end by implementing the [interfacename]#HierarchicalDataProvider# interface. If you have the data available in-memory on the server,
you use the collection style API of [classname]#TreeData# and then pass it to a [classname]#TreeDataProvider#. This chapter introduces the hierarchical data providers and how they work.
For using them with the components you should see <<dummy/../../../framework/components/components-tree.asciidoc#components.tree,"Tree">>
and <<dummy/../../../framework/components/components-treegrid.asciidoc#components.treegrid,"TreeGrid">> documentation.

== In-memory Hierarchical Data

When the hierarchical data is available in the server side memory, you can use it to populate the [classname]#TreeData# that is the source of data for an [classname]#TreeDataProvider#. It contains collection style API to construct the hierarchical structure of your data, and also verifies that the hierarchy structure is valid.

The following example populates a [classname]#TreeData# with two levels of data:

[source, java]
----
Collection<Project> projects = service.getProjects();

TreeData<Project> data = new TreeData<>();
// add root level items
data.addItems(null, projects);

// add children for the root level items
projects.forEach(project -> data.addItems(project, project.getChildren()));

// construct the data provider for the hierarchical data we've built
TreeDataProvider<Project> dataProvider = new TreeDataProvider<>(data);
----

=== Updating data

When adding or removing items from the [classname]#TreeData#, you need to always notify the data provider that it should refresh its data. This can be done with the [methodname]#refreshAll# method in the data provider.

[source, java]
----
TreeData<Project> data = dataProvider.getTreeData();
data.addItem(null, newProject);
data.addItems(newProject, newProject.getChildren());

// removes the item and all of its children
data.removeItem(oldProject);

// refresh data provider and the components it is bound to
dataProvider.refreshAll();
----

=== Sorting and Filtering

For [classname]#TreeDataProvider#, both the sorting and filtering API is the same as in [classname]#ListDataProvider#. Sorting and filtering are applied separately for each hierarchy level, meaning e.g. that for a node that has not passed the filter there are no children shown.

[source, java]
----
// setting sorting or filtering automatically refreshes the data
dataProvider.setSortComparator((projectA, projectB) ->
      projectA.getHours().compareTo(projectB.getHours()));

dataProvider.setFilter(project -> project.getHours() > 100);
----

== Lazy Loading Hierarchical Data from a Back End

The lazy loading hierarchical data, same concepts apply as with the non-hierarchical data, so you should take a look at <<dummy/../../../framework/datamodel/datamodel-providers.asciidoc#datamodel.dataproviders.lazy,"Lazy Loading Data to a Listing">> if you have not already.

To load hierarchical data on-demand from your back end, you should extend the [classname]#AbstractHierarchicalDataProvider# class. Then you just have to implement the following three methods:

* `boolean hasChildren(T item)`
** This tells the data provider whether the given item has children and should be expandable. Note that this method is called frequently and should not do any costly operations.

* `int getChildCount(HierarchicalQuery<T, F> query)`
** This method returns the number of children for a certain tree level, but only for that level, excluding all subtrees
** The parent node is available in the [classname]#HierarchicalQuery# via the [methodname]#getParent# method, which returns `null` for the root level.
** This method is only called when a node has been expanded

* `Stream<T> fetchChildren(HierarchicalQuery<T, F> query)`
** This method returns a subset of the children for a certain tree level
** The subset starts from the index retuned by the [methodname]#getOffset# method, thus for fetching the first item for a subtree it is always 0
** The amount of nodes to fetch is returned by the [methodname]#getLimit# method, thus the amount of nodes returned should always (!) be the same as the _limit_.
** The parent node is available in the [classname]#HierarchicalQuery# via the [methodname]#getParent# method, which returns `null` for the root level.
** This method is called whenever the data should be displayed in the UI

Note that the [classname]#HierarchicalQuery# query object contains the relevant information regarding the sorting and filtering.

The following code snippet shows a simple example on how to building a lazy hierarchical data provider based on file system structure:

[source, java]
----
class FileSystemDataProvider extends
      AbstractBackEndHierarchicalDataProvider<File, FilenameFilter> {

  private final File root;

  public FileSystemDataProvider(File root) {
    this.root = root;
  }

  @Override
  public int getChildCount(
      HierarchicalQuery<File, FilenameFilter> query) {
    return (int) fetchChildren(query).count();
  }

  @Override
  public Stream<File> fetchChildrenFromBackEnd(
      HierarchicalQuery<File, FilenameFilter> query) {
    final File parent = query.getParentOptional().orElse(root);
    return query.getFilter()
          .map(filter -> Stream.of(parent.listFiles(filter)))
          .orElse(Stream.of(parent.listFiles()))
          .skip(query.getOffset()).limit(query.getLimit());
  }

  @Override
  public boolean hasChildren(File item) {
    return item.list() != null && item.list().length > 0;
  }
}
----

If there are any updates on the hierarchical data, such as adding or removing rows, you should call the [methodname]#refreshAll# method that is inherited by extending [classname]#AbstractHierarchicalDataProvider#. This will reset the data. If only the data for a specific item has been updated, you can call the [methodname]#refreshItem# method to only update that item.
