A newer version of this page is available. Switch to the current version.

jQuery DropDownButton Options

This section describes properties that configure the DropDownButton UI component's contents, behavior, and appearance.

See Also

accessKey

Specifies the shortcut key that sets focus on the UI component.

Type:

String

Default Value: undefined

The value of this property will be passed to the accesskey attribute of the HTML element that underlies the UI component.

activeStateEnabled

Specifies whether the UI component changes its state as a result of user interaction.

Type:

Boolean

Default Value: false

The UI component switches to the active state when users press down the primary mouse button. When this property is set to true, the CSS rules for the active state apply. You can change these rules to customize the component.

Use this property when you display the component on a platform whose guidelines include the active state change for UI components. See the following GitHub repository for an example of this type of platform: MUI.

dataSource

Provides data for the drop-down menu.

Default Value: null

The DropDownButton works with collections of objects or string or number values.

Depending on your data source, bind the DropDownButton to data as follows. If the data source provides objects, also specify the keyExpr and displayExpr properties. Note that particular fields in the objects can control the UI component's appearance. See the Default Templates for more information.

  • Data Array
    Assign the array to the dataSource option.

  • Read-Only Data in JSON Format
    Set the dataSource property to the URL of a JSON file or service that returns JSON data.

  • OData
    Implement an ODataStore.

  • Web API, PHP, MongoDB
    Use one of the following extensions to enable the server to process data according to the protocol DevExtreme UI components use:

    Then, use the createStore method to configure access to the server on the client as shown below. This method is part of DevExtreme.AspNet.Data.

    jQuery
    JavaScript
    $(function() {
        let serviceUrl = "https://url/to/my/service";
        $("#dropDownButtonContainer").dxDropDownButton({
            // ...
            dataSource: DevExpress.data.AspNet.createStore({
                key: "ID",
                loadUrl: serviceUrl + "/GetAction",
                insertUrl: serviceUrl + "/InsertAction",
                updateUrl: serviceUrl + "/UpdateAction",
                deleteUrl: serviceUrl + "/DeleteAction"
            })
        })
    });
    Angular
    app.component.ts
    app.component.html
    app.module.ts
    import { Component } from '@angular/core';
    import CustomStore from 'devextreme/data/custom_store';
    import { createStore } from 'devextreme-aspnet-data-nojquery';
    
    @Component({
        selector: 'app-root',
        templateUrl: './app.component.html',
        styleUrls: ['./app.component.css']
    })
    export class AppComponent {
        store: CustomStore;
        constructor() {
            let serviceUrl = "https://url/to/my/service";
            this.store = createStore({
                key: "ID",
                loadUrl: serviceUrl + "/GetAction",
                insertUrl: serviceUrl + "/InsertAction",
                updateUrl: serviceUrl + "/UpdateAction",
                deleteUrl: serviceUrl + "/DeleteAction"
            })
        }
    }
    <dx-drop-down-button ...
        [dataSource]="store">
    </dx-drop-down-button>
    import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser';
    import { NgModule } from '@angular/core';
    import { AppComponent } from './app.component';
    
    import { DxDropDownButtonModule } from 'devextreme-angular';
    
    @NgModule({
        declarations: [
            AppComponent
        ],
        imports: [
            BrowserModule,
            DxDropDownButtonModule
        ],
        providers: [],
        bootstrap: [AppComponent]
    })
    export class AppModule { }
    Vue
    App.vue
    <template> 
        <DxDropDownButton ...
            :data-source="store" />
    </template>
    
    <script>
    import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.light.css';
    
    import CustomStore from 'devextreme/data/custom_store';
    import { createStore } from 'devextreme-aspnet-data-nojquery';
    import { DxDropDownButton } from 'devextreme-vue/drop-down-button';
    
    export default {
        components: {
            DxDropDownButton
        },
        data() {
            const serviceUrl = "https://url/to/my/service";
            const store = createStore({
                key: "ID",
                loadUrl: serviceUrl + "/GetAction",
                insertUrl: serviceUrl + "/InsertAction",
                updateUrl: serviceUrl + "/UpdateAction",
                deleteUrl: serviceUrl + "/DeleteAction"
            });
            return {
                store
            }
        }
    }
    </script>
    React
    App.js
    import React from 'react';
    import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.light.css';
    
    import CustomStore from 'devextreme/data/custom_store';
    import { createStore } from 'devextreme-aspnet-data-nojquery';
    import DropDownButton from 'devextreme-react/drop-down-button';
    
    const serviceUrl = "https://url/to/my/service";
    const store = createStore({
        key: "ID",
        loadUrl: serviceUrl + "/GetAction",
        insertUrl: serviceUrl + "/InsertAction",
        updateUrl: serviceUrl + "/UpdateAction",
        deleteUrl: serviceUrl + "/DeleteAction"
    });
    
    class App extends React.Component {
        render() {
            return (
                <DropDownButton ...
                    dataSource={store} />
            );
        }
    }
    export default App;
  • Any other data source
    Implement a CustomStore.

Regardless of the data source on the input, the DropDownButton always wraps it in the DataSource object. This object allows you to sort, filter, group, and perform other data shaping operations. To get its instance, call the getDataSource() method.

NOTE

Review the following notes about data binding:

  • Do not specify the items property if you specified the dataSource, and vice versa.

  • Data field names cannot be equal to this and should not contain the following characters: ., :, [, and ].

  • The stores and DataSource have methods to process and update data. However, the methods do not allow you to perform particular tasks (for example, replace the entire dataset, reconfigure data access at runtime). For such tasks, create a new array, store, or DataSource and assign it to the dataSource property as shown in the articles about changing properties in jQuery, Angular, React, and Vue.

deferRendering

Specifies whether to wait until the drop-down menu is opened the first time to render its content.

Type:

Boolean

Default Value: true

If this property is false, the content is rendered once the UI component is initialized.

disabled

Specifies whether the UI component responds to user interaction.

Type:

Boolean

Default Value: false

displayExpr

Specifies the data field whose values should be displayed in the drop-down menu.

Type:

String

|

Function

Function parameters:
itemData:

Object

The current item's data object.

Return Value:

String

The displayed value.

Default Value: undefined

Set this property to the name of a data field that provides displayed values...

displayExpr: "name"

... or to a function that returns the displayed value:

displayExpr: function(item) {
    // "item" can be null
    return item && 'ID: ' + item.id + ', Name: ' + item.name;
}

Do not change the default value if the data source contains primitives.

dropDownContentTemplate

Specifies custom content for the drop-down field.

Type:

template

Template Data:

Array<String | Number | Object>

|

DataSource

The array passed to the items property or a DataSource instance created using the dataSource configuration.

Default Name: 'content'

The drop-down field contains the List UI component. Implement this template to replace the UI component with custom content. The following restrictions apply when the template is specified:

See Also

dropDownOptions

Configures the drop-down field.

Default Value: {}

See the Popup configuration for properties that you can specify in this object.

NOTE
In Angular and Vue, the nested component that configures the dropDownOptions property does not support event bindings and two-way property bindings.

elementAttr

Specifies the global attributes to be attached to the UI component's container element.

Type: any
Default Value: {}

jQuery
$(function(){
    $("#dropDownButtonContainer").dxDropDownButton({
        // ...
        elementAttr: {
            id: "elementId",
            class: "class-name"
        }
    });
});
Angular
HTML
TypeScript
<dx-drop-down-button ...
    [elementAttr]="{ id: 'elementId', class: 'class-name' }">
</dx-drop-down-button>
import { DxDropDownButtonModule } from "devextreme-angular";
// ...
export class AppComponent {
    // ...
}
@NgModule({
    imports: [
        // ...
        DxDropDownButtonModule
    ],
    // ...
})
Vue
App.vue
<template>
    <DxDropDownButton ...
        :element-attr="dropDownButtonAttributes">
    </DxDropDownButton>
</template>

<script>
import DxDropDownButton from 'devextreme-vue/drop-down-button';

export default {
    components: {
        DxDropDownButton
    },
    data() {
        return {
            dropDownButtonAttributes: {
                id: 'elementId',
                class: 'class-name'
            }
        }
    }
}
</script>
React
App.js
import React from 'react';

import DropDownButton from 'devextreme-react/drop-down-button';

class App extends React.Component {
    dropDownButtonAttributes = {
        id: 'elementId',
        class: 'class-name'
    }

    render() {
        return (
            <DropDownButton ...
                elementAttr={this.dropDownButtonAttributes}>
            </DropDownButton>
        );
    }
}
export default App;

focusStateEnabled

Specifies whether users can use keyboard to focus the UI component.

Type:

Boolean

Default Value: true

height

Specifies the UI component's height.

Type:

Number

|

String

|

Function

Return Value:

Number

|

String

The UI component's height.

Default Value: undefined

This property accepts a value of one of the following types:

  • Number
    The height in pixels.

  • String
    A CSS-accepted measurement of height. For example, "55px", "80%", "inherit".

  • Function
    A function returning either of the above. For example:

    JavaScript
    height: function() {
        return window.innerHeight / 1.5;
    }

hint

Specifies text for a hint that appears when a user pauses on the UI component.

Type:

String

Default Value: undefined

hoverStateEnabled

Specifies whether the UI component changes its state when a user hovers the mouse pointer over it.

Type:

Boolean

Default Value: true

icon

Specifies the button's icon.

Type:

String

Default Value: undefined

This property accepts one of the following:

items[]

Provides drop-down menu items.

Default Value: null

The items array can contain:

If you need to update the UI component items, reassign the entire items array as shown in the following example:

JavaScript
dropDownButtonInstance.option('items', newItems);

As an alternative to items, you can use the dataSource property. It accepts the DataSource object, whose underlying stores provide an API that allows you to update individual items without reassigning the entire item collection.

NOTE
Do not use the items property if you use dataSource, and vice versa.

itemTemplate

Specifies a custom template for drop-down menu items.

Type:

template

Template Data:

Object

The item's data object.

Default Name: 'item'

See Also

keyExpr

Specifies which data field provides keys used to distinguish between the selected drop-down menu items.

Type:

String

Default Value: 'this'

Alternatively, you can specify the key in the store assigned to the dataSource.

noDataText

Specifies the text or HTML markup displayed in the drop-down menu when it does not contain any items.

Type:

String

Default Value: 'No data to display'

The DropDownButton component evaluates the noDataText property's value. This evaluation, however, makes the DropDownButton potentially vulnerable to XSS attacks. To guard against these attacks, encode the HTML markup before you assign it to the noDataText property. Refer to the following help topic for more information: Potentially Vulnerable API - noDataText.

onButtonClick

A function that is executed when the button is clicked or tapped. If splitButton is true, this function is executed for the action button only.

Type:

Function

|

String

Function parameters:
e:

Object

Information about the event that caused the function execution.

Object structure:
Name Type Description
component

DropDownButton

The UI component's instance.

element

HTMLElement | jQuery

The UI component's container. It is an HTML Element or a jQuery Element when you use jQuery.

event

Event (jQuery or EventObject)

The event that caused the function to execute. It is an EventObject or a jQuery.Event when you use jQuery.

model any

Model data. Available only if you use Knockout.

selectedItem

Object

The selected item's data. Available when useSelectMode is true.

Default Value: null

onContentReady

A function that is executed when the UI component's content is ready and each time the content is changed.

Type:

Function

Function parameters:
e:

Object

Information about the event.

Object structure:
Name Type Description
component

DropDownButton

The UI component's instance.

element

HTMLElement | jQuery

The UI component's container. It is an HTML Element or a jQuery Element when you use jQuery.

model any

Model data. Available only when using Knockout.

Default Value: null

onDisposing

A function that is executed before the UI component is disposed of.

Type:

Function

Function parameters:
e:

Object

Information about the event.

Object structure:
Name Type Description
component

DropDownButton

The UI component's instance.

element

HTMLElement | jQuery

The UI component's container. It is an HTML Element or a jQuery Element when you use jQuery.

model any

Model data. Available only if you use Knockout.

Default Value: null

onInitialized

A function used in JavaScript frameworks to save the UI component instance.

Type:

Function

Function parameters:
e:

Object

Information about the event.

Object structure:
Name Type Description
component

DropDownButton

The UI component's instance.

element

HTMLElement | jQuery

The UI component's container. It is an HTML Element or a jQuery Element when you use jQuery.

Default Value: null

See Also

onItemClick

A function that is executed when a drop-down menu item is clicked.

Type:

Function

|

String

Function parameters:
e:

Object

Information about the event that caused the function to execute.

Object structure:
Name Type Description
component

DropDownButton

The UI component's instance.

element

HTMLElement | jQuery

The UI component's container. It is an HTML Element or a jQuery Element when you use jQuery.

event

Event (jQuery or EventObject)

The event that caused the function to execute. It is an EventObject or a jQuery.Event when you use jQuery.

itemData

Object

The clicked item's data.

itemElement

HTMLElement | jQuery

The item's container. It is an HTML Element or a jQuery Element when you use jQuery.

model any

Model data. Available only if you use Knockout.

Default Value: null

onOptionChanged

A function that is executed after a UI component property is changed.

Type:

Function

Function parameters:
e:

Object

Information about the event.

Object structure:
Name Type Description
model any

Model data. Available only if you use Knockout.

fullName

String

The path to the modified property that includes all parent properties.

element

HTMLElement | jQuery

The UI component's container. It is an HTML Element or a jQuery Element when you use jQuery.

component

DropDownButton

The UI component's instance.

name

String

The modified property if it belongs to the first level. Otherwise, the first-level property it is nested into.

value any

The modified property's new value.

Default Value: null

The following example shows how to subscribe to component property changes:

jQuery
index.js
$(function() {
    $("#dropDownButtonContainer").dxDropDownButton({
        // ...
        onOptionChanged: function(e) {
            if(e.name === "changedProperty") {
                // handle the property change here
            }
        }
    });
});
Angular
app.component.html
app.component.ts
app.module.ts
<dx-drop-down-button ...
    (onOptionChanged)="handlePropertyChange($event)"> 
</dx-drop-down-button>
import { Component } from '@angular/core'; 

@Component({ 
    selector: 'app-root', 
    templateUrl: './app.component.html', 
    styleUrls: ['./app.component.css'] 
}) 

export class AppComponent { 
    // ...
    handlePropertyChange(e) {
        if(e.name === "changedProperty") { 
            // handle the property change here
        }
    }
}
import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser'; 
import { NgModule } from '@angular/core'; 
import { AppComponent } from './app.component'; 
import { DxDropDownButtonModule } from 'devextreme-angular'; 

@NgModule({ 
    declarations: [ 
        AppComponent 
    ], 
    imports: [ 
        BrowserModule, 
        DxDropDownButtonModule 
    ], 
    providers: [ ], 
    bootstrap: [AppComponent] 
}) 

export class AppModule { }  
Vue
App.vue
<template> 
    <DxDropDownButton ...
        @option-changed="handlePropertyChange"
    />            
</template> 

<script>  
import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.light.css'; 
import DxDropDownButton from 'devextreme-vue/drop-down-button'; 

export default { 
    components: { 
        DxDropDownButton
    }, 
    // ...
    methods: { 
        handlePropertyChange: function(e) {
            if(e.name === "changedProperty") {
                // handle the property change here
            }
        }
    } 
} 
</script> 
React
App.js
import React from 'react';  
import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.light.css'; 

import DropDownButton from 'devextreme-react/drop-down-button'; 

const handlePropertyChange = (e) => {
    if(e.name === "changedProperty") {
        // handle the property change here
    }
}

export default function App() { 
    return ( 
        <DropDownButton ...
            onOptionChanged={handlePropertyChange}
        />        
    ); 
} 

onSelectionChanged

A function that is executed when an item is selected or selection is canceled. In effect when useSelectMode is true.

Type:

Function

|

String

Function parameters:
e:

Object

Information about the event that caused the function to execute.

Object structure:
Name Type Description
component

DropDownButton

The UI component's instance.

element

HTMLElement | jQuery

The UI component's container. It is an HTML Element or a jQuery Element when you use jQuery.

item

Object

The selected item's data.

model any

Model data. Available only if you use Knockout.

previousItem

Object

The previously selected item's data.

Default Value: null

opened

Specifies whether the drop-down menu is opened.

Type:

Boolean

Default Value: false

rtlEnabled

Switches the UI component to a right-to-left representation.

Type:

Boolean

Default Value: false

When this property is set to true, the UI component text flows from right to left, and the layout of elements is reversed. To switch the entire application/site to the right-to-left representation, assign true to the rtlEnabled field of the object passed to the DevExpress.config(config) method.

JavaScript
DevExpress.config({
    rtlEnabled: true
});

DataGrid Demo Navigation UI Demo Editors Demo

selectedItem

Contains the selected item's data. Available when useSelectMode is true.

Type:

String

|

Number

| any
Read-only
Default Value: null

See Also

selectedItemKey

Contains the selected item's key and allows you to specify the initially selected item. Applies when useSelectMode is true.

Type:

String

|

Number

Default Value: null

Keys are taken from the data field specified in the UI component's keyExpr property or the key property of the store that underlies the dataSource.

See Also

showArrowIcon

Specifies whether the arrow icon should be displayed.

Type:

Boolean

Default Value: true

The following table demonstrates how the showArrowIcon property affects the DropDownButton's appearance:

showArrowIcon value Result
showArrowIcon: true DevExtreme DropDownButton with the showArrowIcon property set to true
showArrowIcon: false DevExtreme DropDownButton with the showArrowIcon property set to false

splitButton

Specifies whether to split the button in two: one executes an action, the other opens and closes the drop-down menu.

Type:

Boolean

Default Value: false

stylingMode

Specifies how the button is styled.

Type:

String

Default Value: 'outlined'
Accepted Values: 'text' | 'outlined' | 'contained'

The following styles are available:

DevExtreme DropDownButton: Styling modes

tabIndex

Specifies the number of the element when the Tab key is used for navigating.

Type:

Number

Default Value: 0

The value of this property will be passed to the tabindex attribute of the HTML element that underlies the UI component.

text

Specifies the button's text. Applies only if useSelectMode is false.

Type:

String

Default Value: ''

useItemTextAsTitle

Specifies whether the DropDownButton uses item's text a title attribute.

Type:

Boolean

Default Value: true

If the property is set to true, the text that items within the DropDownButton contain is passed to the title attribute of the respective item.

useSelectMode

Specifies whether the UI component stores the selected drop-down menu item.

Type:

Boolean

Default Value: false

When you set this property to true, the following applies:

visible

Specifies whether the UI component is visible.

Type:

Boolean

Default Value: true

width

Specifies the UI component's width.

Type:

Number

|

String

|

Function

Return Value:

Number

|

String

The UI component's width.

Default Value: undefined

This property accepts a value of one of the following types:

  • Number
    The width in pixels.

  • String
    A CSS-accepted measurement of width. For example, "55px", "80%", "auto", "inherit".

  • Function
    A function returning either of the above. For example:

    JavaScript
    width: function() {
        return window.innerWidth / 1.5;
    }

wrapItemText

Specifies whether text that exceeds the drop-down list width should be wrapped.

Type:

Boolean

Default Value: false