Start / Stop Cell Editing

This page discusses the different ways in which Cell Editing can be started and stopped.

Start Editing

Assuming editable=True, editing will start upon any of the following:

Stop Editing

The grid will stop editing when any of the following happen:

Tab Navigation

While editing, if you hit Tab, the editing will stop for the current cell and start on the next cell. If you hold down Shift+Tab, the same will happen except the previous cell will start editing rather than the next. This is in line with editing data in Excel.

Enter Key Navigation

By default pressing Enter will start editing on a cell, or stop editing on an editing cell. It will not navigate to the cell below.

To allow consistency with Excel the grid has the following properties:

import dash_ag_grid as dag
from dash import Dash, html, dcc
import pandas as pd

app = Dash(__name__)


df = pd.read_csv(
    "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/plotly/datasets/master/ag-grid/olympic-winners.csv"
)


columnDefs = [
    {"field": "country"},
    {"field": "year"},
    {"field": "athlete"},
    {"field": "age"},
]

app.layout = html.Div(
    [
        dcc.Markdown(
            "This grid demonstrates the focus moving down when Enter is pressed."
        ),
        dag.AgGrid(
            id="editing-start-stop-example",
            columnDefs=columnDefs,
            rowData=df.to_dict("records"),
            columnSize="sizeToFit",
            defaultColDef={"editable": True},
            dashGridOptions={"enterMovesDown": True, "enterMovesDownAfterEdit": True},
        ),
    ],
    style={"margin": 20},
)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    app.run(debug=False)

This grid demonstrates the focus moving down when Enter is pressed.

Single-Click Editing

The default is for the grid to enter editing when you Double-Click on a cell. To change the default so that a single-click starts editing, set the property dashGridOptions={"singleClickEdit": True},. This is useful when you want a cell to enter edit mode as soon as you click on it, similar to the experience you get when inside Excel.

It is also possible to define single-click editing on a per-column basis using singleClickEdit = True in thecolumnDefs` prop.

The grid below has singleClickEdit = True so that editing will start on a cell when you single-click on it.

"""
The example below demonstrates the focus moving down when Enter is pressed.
"""

import dash_ag_grid as dag
from dash import Dash, html, dcc
import pandas as pd

app = Dash(__name__)


df = pd.read_csv(
    "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/plotly/datasets/master/ag-grid/olympic-winners.csv"
)


columnDefs = [
    {"field": "country"},
    {"field": "year"},
    {"field": "athlete"},
    {"field": "age"},
    {"field": "date"},
    {"field": "sport"},
    {"field": "total"},
]

app.layout = html.Div(
    [
        dcc.Markdown(
            "This grid demonstrates that editing will start on a cell when you single-click on it."
        ),
        dag.AgGrid(
            id="single-click-edit-example",
            columnDefs=columnDefs,
            rowData=df.to_dict("records"),
            columnSize="sizeToFit",
            defaultColDef={"editable": True},
            dashGridOptions={"singleClickEdit": True},
        ),
    ],
    style={"margin": 20},
)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    app.run(debug=False)

This grid demonstrates that editing will start on a cell when you single-click on it.

Stop Editing When Grid Loses Focus

By default, the grid will not stop editing the currently editing cell when the cell loses focus, unless another cell is clicked on. This means clicking on the grid header, or another part of your application, will not stop editing. This can be bad if, for example, you have a save button, and you need the grid to stop editing before you execute your save function (e.g. you want to make sure the edit is saved into the grid’s state).

If you want the grid to stop editing when focus leaves the cell or the grid, set the grid property dashGridOptions={"stopEditingWhenCellsLoseFocus": True}

The example below shows the editing with dashGridOptions={"stopEditingWhenCellsLoseFocus": True}. Notice the following:

Double-click a cell to start editing, then click outside the grid (or on a header) and the grid will stop editing.

"""
The example below demonstrates the focus moving down when Enter is pressed.
"""

import dash_ag_grid as dag
from dash import Dash, html, dcc
import pandas as pd

app = Dash(__name__)


df = pd.read_csv(
    "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/plotly/datasets/master/ag-grid/olympic-winners.csv"
)


columnDefs = [
    {"field": "country"},
    {"field": "year"},
    {"field": "athlete"},
    {"field": "age"},
    {"field": "date"},
    {"field": "sport"},
    {"field": "total"},
]

app.layout = html.Div(
    [
        dcc.Markdown(
            "This grid demonstrates that clicking outside the grid will stop the editing and keep the edits."
        ),
        dag.AgGrid(
            id="grid-focus-example",
            columnDefs=columnDefs,
            rowData=df.to_dict("records"),
            columnSize="sizeToFit",
            defaultColDef={"editable": True},
            dashGridOptions={"stopEditingWhenCellsLoseFocus": True},
        ),
    ],
    style={"margin": 20},
)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    app.run(debug=False)

This grid demonstrates that clicking outside the grid will stop the editing and keep the edits.

Cell Editing can also be performed via Cell Editor Components