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Context Menu

Source: TypeScript / Java
Context Menu is a component that you can attach to any component to display a context menu.

Context Menu is a component that you can attach to any component to display a context menu. The menu appears on right (default) or left click. On a touch device, a long press opens the context menu.

Important
 Open the Context Menu by right-clicking (mouse) or long-pressing (touch) a Grid row.
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GridContextMenu<Person> menu = grid.addContextMenu();
menu.addItem("View", event -> {
});
menu.addItem("Edit", event -> {
});
menu.addItem("Delete", event -> {
});

Dividers

You can use dividers to separate and group related content. Use dividers sparingly to avoid creating unnecessary visual clutter.

Important
 Open the Context Menu by right-clicking (mouse) or long-pressing (touch) a Grid row.
Open in a
new tab
GridContextMenu<Person> menu = grid.addContextMenu();
menu.addItem("View", event -> {
});
menu.add(new Hr());
menu.addItem("Edit", event -> {
});
menu.addItem("Delete", event -> {
});
menu.add(new Hr());
menu.addItem("Email", event -> {
});
menu.addItem("Call", event -> {
});

Checkable Menu Items

Checkable Menu Items can be used to toggle a setting on and off.

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assignee = new Span();
menu = new ContextMenu();
menu.setTarget(assignee);

List<Person> people = DataService.getPeople(5);
for (Person person : people) {
    MenuItem menuItem = menu.addItem(person.getFullName(), event -> {
        setAssignee(person);
    });
    menuItem.setCheckable(true);
}

setAssignee(people.get(0));

...

private void setAssignee(Person person) {
    // Update checked state of menu items
    menu.getItems().forEach(item -> item
            .setChecked(item.getText().equals(person.getFullName())));

    assignee.setText(person.getFullName());
}

Hierarchical Menu

Context Menu, like Menu Bar, supports multi-level sub-menus. You can use a hierarchical menu to organize a large set of options and group related items.

Important
 Open the Context Menu by right-clicking (mouse) or long-pressing (touch) a Grid row.
Open in a
new tab
GridContextMenu<File> menu = grid.addContextMenu();
GridMenuItem<File> export = menu.addItem("Export");
GridSubMenu<File> exportSubMenu = export.getSubMenu();
exportSubMenu.addItem("Portable Document Format (.pdf)", event -> {
});
exportSubMenu.addItem("Rich Text Format (.rtf)", event -> {
});
exportSubMenu.addItem("Plain text (.txt)", event -> {
});

Custom Items

You can customize the items to include more than a single line of text.

Important
 Open the Context Menu by right-clicking (mouse) or long-pressing (touch) a Grid row.
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GridContextMenu<Person> menu = grid.addContextMenu();
GridMenuItem<Person> assign = menu.addItem("Assign");
assign.addComponentAsFirst(createIcon(VaadinIcon.USER_CHECK));

GridSubMenu<Person> assignSubMenu = assign.getSubMenu();
people.subList(5, 10).forEach(person -> {
    assignSubMenu.addItem(createPersonItem(person), event -> {
    });
});

// ...

private Component createPersonItem(Person person) {
    Avatar avatar = new Avatar();
    avatar.setImage(person.getPictureUrl());
    avatar.setName(person.getFirstName());

    Span name = new Span(person.getFullName());
    Span apps = new Span(getApplicationCount());
    apps.getStyle().set("color", "var(--lumo-secondary-text-color)")
            .set("font-size", "var(--lumo-font-size-s)");

    VerticalLayout verticalLayout = new VerticalLayout(name, apps);
    verticalLayout.setPadding(false);
    verticalLayout.setSpacing(false);

    HorizontalLayout horizontalLayout = new HorizontalLayout(avatar,
            verticalLayout);
    horizontalLayout.setAlignItems(FlexComponent.Alignment.CENTER);
    horizontalLayout.getStyle().set("line-height",
            "var(--lumo-line-height-m)");
    return horizontalLayout;
}

Styling Menu Items

Individual menu items can be styled by applying custom class names to them, and writing CSS style blocks targeting those class names.

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MenuItem item = menu.addItem("Delete");
item.setClassName("text-error");
Note
Use theme names instead of class names in V24.2 and older
In versions prior to 24.3, theme names must be used instead (theme property / addThemeNames Java method). The CSS syntax for targeting a theme name is [theme~="custom-theme"]

Disabled Menu Items

You can disable menu items to show that they are unavailable.

Important
 Open the Context Menu by right-clicking (mouse) or long-pressing (touch) a Grid row.
Open in a
new tab
GridContextMenu<File> menu = grid.addContextMenu();

GridMenuItem<File> export = menu.addItem("Export");
GridSubMenu<File> exportSubMenu = export.getSubMenu();
GridMenuItem<File> exportPDF = exportSubMenu
        .addItem("Portable Document Format (.pdf)", event -> {
        });
exportPDF.setEnabled(false);

GridMenuItem<File> delete = menu.addItem("Delete", event -> {
});
delete.setEnabled(false);

Disable on Click (Flow)

To prevent duplicate clicks while the server is processing a request, call the setDisableOnClick(true) method on a menu item instance to immediately disable that menu item on the client-side when its clicked.

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MenuItem summarize = menu.addItem("Summarize with AI");
summarize.setDisableOnClick(true);

Left-Click

You can use left-click to open Context Menu in situations where left-click doesn’t have any other function, for example a Grid without selection support.

Important
 Open the Context Menu by clicking a Grid row.
Open in a
new tab
GridContextMenu<Person> menu = grid.addContextMenu();
menu.setOpenOnClick(true);
menu.addItem("View", event -> {
});
menu.addItem("Edit", event -> {
});
menu.addItem("Delete", event -> {
});

Best Practices

Context Menu is used to provide shortcuts to the user. You shouldn’t use it as the only or primary means to complete a task. The primary way should be accessible elsewhere in the UI.

Important
 Open the Context Menu by right-clicking (desktop) or long-pressing (mobile) a Grid row, or use the Menu Bar in the last column.
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grid.addComponentColumn(file -> {
    MenuBar menuBar = new MenuBar();
    menuBar.addThemeVariants(MenuBarVariant.LUMO_TERTIARY);
    menuBar.addItem("Preview", event -> {
    });
    menuBar.addItem("Edit", event -> {
    });
    menuBar.addItem("Delete", event -> {
    });
    return menuBar;
}).setWidth("70px").setFlexGrow(0);

GridContextMenu<File> menu = grid.addContextMenu();
menu.addItem("Preview", event -> {
});
menu.addItem("Edit", event -> {
});
menu.addItem("Delete", event -> {
});

Context Menu vs Menu Bar

You should use Context Menu when there is no dedicated button for opening an overlay menu, such as right-clicking a grid row. When there is a dedicated element/component, such as an overflow menu, use Menu Bar.

Icons

Use icons when applicable to help improve recognition. It’s recommended to use commonly recognized icons to avoid confusion. Use icons consistently throughout a list of options.

Labelling

Suffix a menu item with “…​” when the associated action won’t be executed, but instead reveal some UI, like a dialog, for completing the action.

Component Usage recommendations

Menu Bar

Component for displaying a horizontal menu with multi-level sub-menus.

Popover

A generic overlay whose position is anchored to an element in the UI.

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