@spectrum-web-components/table

Overview

An <sp-table> is used to create a container for displaying information. It allows users to quickly scan, sort, compare, and take action on large amounts of data. Tables are essential for organizing and presenting structured information in a clear, accessible format.

Usage

yarn add @spectrum-web-components/table

Import the side effectful registration of <sp-table>, <sp-table-body>, <sp-table-cell>, <sp-table-checkbox-cell>, <sp-table-head>, <sp-table-head-cell>, and <sp-table-row> via:

import '@spectrum-web-components/table/elements.js';

Or individually via:

import '@spectrum-web-components/table/sp-table.js';
import '@spectrum-web-components/table/sp-table-body.js';
import '@spectrum-web-components/table/sp-table-cell.js';
import '@spectrum-web-components/table/sp-table-checkbox-cell.js';
import '@spectrum-web-components/table/sp-table-head.js';
import '@spectrum-web-components/table/sp-table-head-cell.js';
import '@spectrum-web-components/table/sp-table-row.js';

When looking to leverage the Table, TableBody, TableCell, TableCheckboxCell, TableHead, TableHeadCell, or TableRow base classes as a type and/or for extension purposes, do so via:

import {
    Table,
    TableBody,
    TableCell,
    TableCheckboxCell,
    TableHead,
    TableHeadCell,
    TableRow,
} from '@spectrum-web-components/table';

Anatomy

A table consists of the following parts:

• a table head section (<sp-table-head>)
• header cells (<sp-table-head-cell>) within the table head section
• a table body section, ie.<sp-table-body>
• rows (<sp-table-row>) within the table body section
• body cells (<sp-table-cell>) within the table body rows

<sp-table>
    <sp-table-head>
        <sp-table-head-cell>File name</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Type</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Size</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Status</sp-table-head-cell>
    </sp-table-head>
    <sp-table-body>
        <sp-table-row>
            <sp-table-cell>Budget</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>PDF</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>89 KB</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>Reviewed</sp-table-cell>
        </sp-table-row>
        <sp-table-row>
            <sp-table-cell>Onboarding</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>XLS</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>120 KB</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>Draft</sp-table-cell>
        </sp-table-row>
        <sp-table-row>
            <sp-table-cell>Proposal</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>PDF</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>139 KB</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>Published</sp-table-cell>
        </sp-table-row>
    </sp-table-body>
</sp-table>

Options

Selection

The selects attribute enables row selection functionality. When selects="single", users can select one row at a time. When selects="multiple", users can select multiple rows and a checkbox column is automatically added to the table header for select all functionality.

Accessible checkbox labels

When using selection, checkboxes are automatically given accessible labels for screen readers:

• Header row checkbox: Uses the select-all-label attribute (defaults to "Select All")
• Body row checkboxes: Uses the text content of the first <sp-table-cell> in each row

You can customize the header checkbox label using the select-all-label attribute:

<sp-table selects="multiple" select-all-label="Select all files">
    <sp-table-head>
        <sp-table-head-cell>File name</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Type</sp-table-head-cell>
    </sp-table-head>
    <sp-table-body>
        <sp-table-row value="row1">
            <sp-table-cell>Budget</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>PDF</sp-table-cell>
        </sp-table-row>
        <sp-table-row value="row2">
            <sp-table-cell>Onboarding</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>XLS</sp-table-cell>
        </sp-table-row>
    </sp-table-body>
</sp-table>

<sp-table selects="multiple" selected='["row1", "row2"]'>
    <sp-table-head>
        <sp-table-head-cell>File name</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Type</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Size</sp-table-head-cell>
    </sp-table-head>
    <sp-table-body>
        <sp-table-row value="row1">
            <sp-table-cell>Budget</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>PDF</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>89 KB</sp-table-cell>
        </sp-table-row>
        <sp-table-row value="row2">
            <sp-table-cell>Onboarding</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>XLS</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>120 KB</sp-table-cell>
        </sp-table-row>
    </sp-table-body>
</sp-table>

Emphasized

The emphasized attribute adds visual priority to the table content. This affects the appearance of selected rows and checkboxes, providing a more prominent visual treatment.

<sp-table emphasized selects="multiple" selected='["row1"]'>
    <sp-table-head>
        <sp-table-head-cell>File name</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Type</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Size</sp-table-head-cell>
    </sp-table-head>
    <sp-table-body>
        <sp-table-row value="row1">
            <sp-table-cell>Budget</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>PDF</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>89 KB</sp-table-cell>
        </sp-table-row>
        <sp-table-row value="row2">
            <sp-table-cell>Onboarding</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>XLS</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>120 KB</sp-table-cell>
        </sp-table-row>
    </sp-table-body>
</sp-table>

Density

The density attribute controls the spacing around table cell content. Available values are compact for tighter spacing and spacious for more generous spacing.

Compact

<sp-table density="compact">
    <sp-table-head>
        <sp-table-head-cell>File name</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Type</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Size</sp-table-head-cell>
    </sp-table-head>
    <sp-table-body>
        <sp-table-row>
            <sp-table-cell>Budget</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>PDF</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>89 KB</sp-table-cell>
        </sp-table-row>
        <sp-table-row>
            <sp-table-cell>Onboarding</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>XLS</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>120 KB</sp-table-cell>
        </sp-table-row>
    </sp-table-body>
</sp-table>

Spacious

<sp-table density="spacious">
    <sp-table-head>
        <sp-table-head-cell>File name</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Type</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Size</sp-table-head-cell>
    </sp-table-head>
    <sp-table-body>
        <sp-table-row>
            <sp-table-cell>Budget</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>PDF</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>89 KB</sp-table-cell>
        </sp-table-row>
        <sp-table-row>
            <sp-table-cell>Onboarding</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>XLS</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>120 KB</sp-table-cell>
        </sp-table-row>
    </sp-table-body>
</sp-table>

Size

The size attribute controls the overall size of the table. Available values are s (small), m (medium, default), l (large), and xl (extra large).

Small

<sp-table size="s">
    <sp-table-head>
        <sp-table-head-cell>File name</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Type</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Size</sp-table-head-cell>
    </sp-table-head>
    <sp-table-body>
        <sp-table-row>
            <sp-table-cell>Budget</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>PDF</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>89 KB</sp-table-cell>
        </sp-table-row>
        <sp-table-row>
            <sp-table-cell>Onboarding</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>XLS</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>120 KB</sp-table-cell>
        </sp-table-row>
    </sp-table-body>
</sp-table>

Medium (Default)

<sp-table>
    <sp-table-head>
        <sp-table-head-cell>File name</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Type</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Size</sp-table-head-cell>
    </sp-table-head>
    <sp-table-body>
        <sp-table-row>
            <sp-table-cell>Budget</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>PDF</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>89 KB</sp-table-cell>
        </sp-table-row>
        <sp-table-row>
            <sp-table-cell>Onboarding</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>XLS</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>120 KB</sp-table-cell>
        </sp-table-row>
    </sp-table-body>
</sp-table>

Large

<sp-table size="l">
    <sp-table-head>
        <sp-table-head-cell>File name</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Type</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Size</sp-table-head-cell>
    </sp-table-head>
    <sp-table-body>
        <sp-table-row>
            <sp-table-cell>Budget</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>PDF</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>89 KB</sp-table-cell>
        </sp-table-row>
        <sp-table-row>
            <sp-table-cell>Onboarding</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>XLS</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>120 KB</sp-table-cell>
        </sp-table-row>
    </sp-table-body>
</sp-table>

Extra Large

<sp-table size="xl">
    <sp-table-head>
        <sp-table-head-cell>File name</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Type</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Size</sp-table-head-cell>
    </sp-table-head>
    <sp-table-body>
        <sp-table-row>
            <sp-table-cell>Budget</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>PDF</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>89 KB</sp-table-cell>
        </sp-table-row>
        <sp-table-row>
            <sp-table-cell>Onboarding</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>XLS</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>120 KB</sp-table-cell>
        </sp-table-row>
    </sp-table-body>
</sp-table>

Quiet

The quiet attribute creates a more subtle table appearance with a transparent background and no side borders. This is ideal for supplementary or lightweight data display.

<sp-table quiet>
    <sp-table-head>
        <sp-table-head-cell>File name</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Type</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Size</sp-table-head-cell>
    </sp-table-head>
    <sp-table-body>
        <sp-table-row>
            <sp-table-cell>Budget</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>PDF</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>89 KB</sp-table-cell>
        </sp-table-row>
        <sp-table-row>
            <sp-table-cell>Onboarding</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>XLS</sp-table-cell>
            <sp-table-cell>120 KB</sp-table-cell>
        </sp-table-row>
    </sp-table-body>
</sp-table>

Behaviors

For large amounts of data, the <sp-table> can be virtualised to easily add table rows by using properties.

<sp-table
    id="table-virtualized-demo"
    style="height: 200px"
    scroller="true"
>
    <sp-table-head>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Column Title</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Column Title</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Column Title</sp-table-head-cell>
    </sp-table-head>
</sp-table>
<script type="module">
    const initItems = (count) => {
        const total = count;
        const items = [];
        while (count) {
            count--;
            items.push({
                name: String(total - count),
                date: count,
            });
        }
        return items;
    };
    const initTable = () => {
        const table = document.querySelector('#table-virtualized-demo');
        table.items = initItems(50);

        table.renderItem = (item, index) => {
            const cell1 = document.createElement('sp-table-cell');
            const cell2 = document.createElement('sp-table-cell');
            const cell3 = document.createElement('sp-table-cell');
            cell1.textContent = `Row Item Alpha ${item.name}`;
            cell2.textContent = `Row Item Alpha ${index}`;
            cell3.textContent = `Last Thing`;
            return [cell1, cell2, cell3];
        }
    };
    customElements.whenDefined('sp-table').then(() => {
        initTable();
    });
</script>

How to use it

The virtualised table takes items as either a property or a JSON-encoded string, an array of type Record, where the key is a string and the value can be whatever you'd like. items is then fed into the renderItem method, which takes an item and its index as parameters and renders the <sp-table-row> for each item. An example is as follows:

const renderItem = (item: Item, index: number): TemplateResult => {
    return html`
        <sp-table-cell>Rowsaa Item Alpha ${item.name}</sp-table-cell>
        <sp-table-cell>Row Item Alpha ${item.date}</sp-table-cell>
        <sp-table-cell>Row Item Alpha ${index}</sp-table-cell>
    `;
};

renderItem is then included as a property of <sp-table>, along with the items, to render a full <sp-table> without excessive manual HTML writing.

You can also render a different cell at a particular index by doing something like below:

const renderItem = (item: Item, index: number): TemplateResult => {
    if (index === 15) {
        return html`
            <sp-table-cell style="text-align: center">Custom Row</sp-table-cell>
        `;
    }
    return html`
        <sp-table-cell>Row Item ${item.name}</sp-table-cell>
        <sp-table-cell>Row Item ${item.date}</sp-table-cell>
        <sp-table-cell>Row Item ${index}</sp-table-cell>
    `;
};

Please note that there is a bug when attempting to select all virtualised elements. The items are selected programatically, it's just not reflected visually.

Virtualized table selection

By default the selected property will surface an array of item indexes that are currently selected. However, when making a selection on a virtualized table, it can be useful to track selection as something other than indexes. To do so, set a custom method for the itemValue property. The itemValue method accepts an item and its index as arguments and should return the value you would like to track in the selected property.

Accessible labels for virtualized tables

For accessibility, each checkbox in a virtualized table needs an accessible label. By default, the label is "Select row N" where N is the row number. You can customize this using the itemLabel property to provide more meaningful labels based on your item data:

table.itemLabel = (item, index) => item.name || `Select row ${index + 1}`;

<sp-table
    id="table-item-value-demo"
    style="height: 200px"
    scroller="true"
    selects="multiple"
>
    <sp-table-head>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Column Title</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Column Title</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Column Title</sp-table-head-cell>
    </sp-table-head>
</sp-table>
<div class="selection">Selected: [ ]</div>
<script type="module">
    const initItems = (count) => {
        const total = count;
        const items = [];
        while (count) {
            count--;
            items.push({
                id: crypto.randomUUID(),
                name: String(total - count),
                date: count,
            });
        }
        return items;
    };
    const initTable = () => {
        const table = document.querySelector('#table-item-value-demo');
        table.items = initItems(50);

        table.renderItem = (item, index) => {
            const cell1 = document.createElement('sp-table-cell');
            const cell2 = document.createElement('sp-table-cell');
            const cell3 = document.createElement('sp-table-cell');
            cell1.textContent = `Row Item Alpha ${item.name}`;
            cell2.textContent = `Row Item Alpha ${index}`;
            cell3.textContent = `Last Thing`;
            return [cell1, cell2, cell3];
        };

        table.addEventListener('change', (event) => {
            const selected = event.target.nextElementSibling;
            selected.textContent = `Selected: ${JSON.stringify(event.target.selected, null, ' ')}`;
        });
    };
    customElements.whenDefined('sp-table').then(() => {
        initTable();
    });
</script>

Row Types

All values in the item array are assumed to be homogenous by default. This means all of the rendered rows are either delivered as provided, or, in the case you are leveraging selects, rendered with an <sp-table-checkbox-cell>. However, when virtualizing a table with selection, it can sometimes be useful to surface rows with additional interactions, e.g. "Load more data" links. To support that, you can optionally include the _$rowType$ brand in your item. The values for this are outlined by the RowType enum and include ITEM (0) and INFORMATION (1). When _$rowType$: RowType.INFORMATION is provided, it instructs the <sp-table> not to deliver an <sp-table-checkbox-cell> in that row.

<sp-table
    id="table-row-type-demo"
    style="height: 200px"
    scroller="true"
    selects="single"
>
    <sp-table-head>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Column Title</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Column Title</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Column Title</sp-table-head-cell>
    </sp-table-head>
</sp-table>
<script type="module">
    const initItems = (count) => {
        const total = count;
        const items = [];
        while (count) {
            count--;
            items.push({
                name: String(total - count),
                date: count,
            });
        }
        return items;
    };
    const initTable = () => {
        const table = document.querySelector('#table-row-type-demo');
        const items = initItems(50);
        items.splice(3, 0, {
            _$rowType$: 1,
        });
        table.items = items;

        table.renderItem = (item, index) => {
            if (item._$rowType$ === 1) {
                const infoCell = document.createElement('sp-table-cell');
                infoCell.textContent = 'Use this row type for non-selectable content.';
                return [infoCell];
            }
            const cell1 = document.createElement('sp-table-cell');
            const cell2 = document.createElement('sp-table-cell');
            const cell3 = document.createElement('sp-table-cell');
            cell1.textContent = `Row Item Alpha ${item.name}`;
            cell2.textContent = `Row Item Alpha ${index}`;
            cell3.textContent = `Last Thing`;
            return [cell1, cell2, cell3];
        };
    };
    customElements.whenDefined('sp-table').then(() => {
        initTable();
    });
</script>

The scroller property

By default, the virtualized table doesn't contain a scroll bar and will display the entire length of the table body. Use the scroller property and specify an inline style for the height to get a Table of your desired height that scrolls.

Sorting on the Virtualized Table

The virtualized table supports sorting its elements.

For each table column you want to sort, use the sortable attribute in its respective <sp-table-head-cell>. sort-direction="asc"|"desc" specifies the direction the sort goes, in either ascending or descending order, respectively. The @sorted event listener on <sp-table> can be utilised to specify a method to fire when the <sp-table-head-cell> dispatches the sorted event. To specify which aspect of an item you'd like to sort by, use the sort-key attribute.

<sp-table
    id="sorted-virtualized-table"
    style="height: 200px"
    scroller="true"
>
    <sp-table-head>
        <sp-table-head-cell sortable sort-direction="desc" sort-key="name">
            Sortable Column
        </sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Non-sortable Column</sp-table-head-cell>
        <sp-table-head-cell>Non-sortable Column</sp-table-head-cell>
    </sp-table-head>
</sp-table>
<script type="module">
    const initItems = (count) => {
        const total = count;
        const items = [];
        while (count) {
            count--;
            items.push({
                name: String(total - count),
                date: count,
            });
        }
        return items;
    }

    let items = initItems(50);

    const initTable = () => {
        const table = document.querySelector('#sorted-virtualized-table');

        table.items = items;

        table.renderItem = (item, index) => {
            const cell1 = document.createElement('sp-table-cell');
            const cell2 = document.createElement('sp-table-cell');
            const cell3 = document.createElement('sp-table-cell');
            cell1.textContent = `Row Item Alpha ${item.name}`;
            cell2.textContent = `Row Item Beta ${item.date}`;
            cell3.textContent = `Index: ${index}`;
            return [cell1, cell2, cell3];
        }
        table.addEventListener('sorted', (event) => {
            const { sortDirection, sortKey } = event.detail;
            items = items.sort((a, b) => {
                const first = String(a[sortKey]);
                const second = String(b[sortKey]);
                return sortDirection === 'asc'
                    ? first.localeCompare(second)
                    : second.localeCompare(first);
            });
            table.items = [...items];
        });
    };

    customElements.whenDefined('sp-table').then(() => {
        initTable();
    });
</script>

Accessibility

The <sp-table> component provides accessibility support for tabular data:

ARIA attributes

The table automatically manages ARIA attributes for proper semantic structure:

• role="grid" on the table element
• role="row" on each table row
• role="columnheader" on header cells
• role="gridcell" on data cells
• role="rowgroup" on table body
• aria-sort on sortable column headers
• aria-selected on selectable rows
• aria-hidden on single selection checkboxes
• aria-rowindex on virtualized table rows
• aria-rowcount on virtualized tables

Selection accessibility

When using row selection:

• aria-selected is applied to selectable rows
• Selection state is announced to screen readers
• Checkboxes in selection cells are properly labelled for screen readers

Checkbox labeling

All selection checkboxes have accessible labels to comply with WCAG 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value). The labels are applied via aria-label on the checkbox's internal input element.

Checkbox location	Default label	Customization
Header (select all)	"Select All"	Use select-all-label attribute
Body rows (non-virtualized)	First cell's text content	Automatic
Body rows (virtualized)	"Select row N"	Use itemLabel property

Example of customizing labels:

<!-- Custom header checkbox label -->
<sp-table selects="multiple" select-all-label="Select all documents">
    ...
</sp-table>

// Custom labels for virtualized tables
table.itemLabel = (item, index) => `Select ${item.fileName}`;

Keyboard navigation

Sortable column headers support keyboard interaction:

• Space - Activates the header and sorts on keyup
• Enter - Immediately sorts the column
• Numpad Enter - Immediately sorts the column
• Tab - Navigates to sortable headers (only sortable headers are focusable)

Selectable rows support keyboard interaction:

• Click - Toggles row selection

• Tab - Navigates through focusable elements

• Tab - Table body automatically receives tabindex="0" when content is scrollable

• Mouse wheel - Scrolls through table content when focused