expandable_datatable

Expandable DataTable

A Flutter package for displaying and editing tabular data with expandable rows. Overflow columns collapse into a tappable expansion panel, keeping the table clean on any screen size.

What it does

expandable_datatable renders a data table where you control how many columns are visible. Columns that exceed visibleColumnCount are hidden from the row and instead displayed inside a collapsible expansion panel. This lets you show a clean, narrow table on phones while surfacing all data on demand - without writing custom layout code.

When should I use it?

Use ExpandableDataTable whenever you need a data table that:

• has more columns than fit on the current screen, and
• you want the extra columns to be accessible without horizontal scrolling.

Features

• Expandable rows - hidden columns fold into a tappable expansion panel per row
• Responsive column count - drive visibleColumnCount from LayoutBuilder to adapt automatically to screen width
• Column sorting - tap any header to toggle ascending / descending sort
• Pagination - built-in page controls, fully replaceable with a custom widget
• Editable rows - built-in edit dialog pre-filled from cell values; or supply your own via renderEditDialog
• Extensible cell types - plug in CellType<T> adapters (ImageCellType, custom DateTime, etc.) to encapsulate rendering, sorting, and editing
• Custom cell rendering - override the default cell widget for any column via cellBuilder on ExpandableColumn
• Per-column edit guard - mark individual ExpandableColumns as isEditable: false to make them read-only inside the dialog
• Custom expansion content - replace the default expansion panel body via renderExpansionContent
• Multiple or single row expansion - control via multipleExpansion
• Comprehensive theming - colors, text styles, borders, shapes, icons, animation and more via ExpandableTheme / ExpandableThemeData

Screenshots

Sorting	Expansion

Editing	Styling

---

Getting started

Add expandable_datatable as a dependency in your pubspec.yaml file. See the pub.dev install tab for details.

Quick example

Below is a minimal working snippet. See example/lib/main.dart for a complete runnable app.

import 'package:expandable_datatable/expandable_datatable.dart';
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';

class UsersTable extends StatelessWidget {
  const UsersTable({super.key});

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    // 1. Define columns (headers).
    final headers = [
      ExpandableColumn<int>(columnTitle: 'ID', columnFlex: 1),
      ExpandableColumn<String>(columnTitle: 'First name', columnFlex: 2),
      ExpandableColumn<String>(columnTitle: 'Last name', columnFlex: 2),
      ExpandableColumn<int>(columnTitle: 'Age', columnFlex: 1),
      ExpandableColumn<String>(columnTitle: 'Email', columnFlex: 4),
    ];

    // 2. Map your data to ExpandableRow / ExpandableCell.
    //    columnTitle in each cell MUST match the corresponding header.
    final rows = [
      ExpandableRow(cells: [
        ExpandableCell<int>(columnTitle: 'ID', value: 1),
        ExpandableCell<String>(columnTitle: 'First name', value: 'Jane'),
        ExpandableCell<String>(columnTitle: 'Last name', value: 'Doe'),
        ExpandableCell<int>(columnTitle: 'Age', value: 30),
        ExpandableCell<String>(
            columnTitle: 'Email', value: 'jane@example.com'),
      ]),
    ];

    // 3. Wrap with ExpandableTheme (optional but recommended),
    //    then place ExpandableDataTable.
    return Scaffold(
      body: ExpandableTheme(
        data: const ExpandableThemeData(
          contentPadding: EdgeInsets.all(10),
          headerColor: Colors.amber,
        ),
        child: LayoutBuilder(
          builder: (context, constraints) {
            // 4. Adjust visibleColumnCount to screen width.
            final visibleCount = constraints.maxWidth < 600 ? 3 : 5;

            return ExpandableDataTable(
              headers: headers,
              rows: rows,
              visibleColumnCount: visibleCount, // required
            );
          },
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

Tip: ExpandableColumn is generic — pass the Dart type of the data (int, String, etc.) so the library can handle sorting and editing correctly.

Core API

TL;DR - use ExpandableDataTable(...) as your main table widget; see the quick example above for setup and theming.

What is ExpandableDataTable?

ExpandableDataTable is the main widget of this library. It renders the full table UI including the header row, data rows, expansion panels, sort indicators, pagination, and (optionally) the edit dialog. Everything else in the library - ExpandableColumn, ExpandableRow, ExpandableCell, ExpandableTheme - exists to configure and feed data into this widget.

Key properties of ExpandableDataTable

Property	Description
headers (required)	Column definitions (title, flex, editability). Must align with the row cell list.
rows (required)	The data. Each ExpandableRow holds one ExpandableCell per header.
visibleColumnCount (required)	Number of columns shown in the row; the rest go into the expansion panel.
pageSize	Number of rows per page. Defaults to 10.
expansionIconAffinity	Where the expansion icon appears (leading or trailing). Defaults to trailing.
multipleExpansion	Whether multiple rows can be expanded at the same time.
isEditable	Flag indicating whether rows are editable. Requires onRowChanged.
onRowChanged	Called when a row is edited; originalIndex is the row's index in your rows list.
onPageChanged	Called when the current page changes.
editDialogTitle	Title text of the built-in edit dialog. Defaults to 'Edit Details'.
editSaveLabel	Label of the save button in the built-in edit dialog. Defaults to 'SAVE'.
editCancelLabel	Label of the cancel button in the built-in edit dialog. Defaults to 'CANCEL'.
nullValuePlaceholder	Text shown when a cell's value is null. Defaults to an empty string.
renderEditDialog	Replaces the built-in edit dialog. Use onSuccess(newRow) to commit.
renderCustomPagination	Replaces the built-in pagination widget.
renderExpansionContent	Replaces the default expansion panel content for each row.

Theming with ExpandableTheme

Wrap ExpandableDataTable with ExpandableTheme anywhere in the tree above the table. The table reads it automatically via ExpandableTheme.of(context). If no ExpandableTheme is present, sensible defaults from ExpandableThemeData() are used.

ExpandableTheme(
  data: ExpandableThemeData(
    // ── Header ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
    headerColor: Colors.amber[400],
    headerSortIconColor: Colors.deepPurple,
    headerBorder: const BorderSide(color: Colors.black, width: 1),
    headerTextMaxLines: 2,

    // ── Rows ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
    evenRowColor: Colors.white,
    oddRowColor: Colors.amber[200],
    expandedBackgroundColor: Colors.deepPurple.withOpacity(0.15),
    rowTextMaxLines: 2,
    rowTextOverflow: TextOverflow.ellipsis,
    shape: const RoundedRectangleBorder(
      side: BorderSide(color: Colors.transparent),
    ),
    expandedShape: const RoundedRectangleBorder(
      side: BorderSide(color: Colors.amber),
    ),

    // ── Animation ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
    expansionAnimationStyle: AnimationStyle(
      curve: Curves.easeInOut,
      duration: const Duration(milliseconds: 300),
    ),

    // ── Pagination ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
    paginationSize: 48,
    paginationSelectedFillColor: Colors.deepPurple,
    paginationSelectedTextColor: Colors.white,

    // ── Edit dialog ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
    editDialogShape: RoundedRectangleBorder(
      borderRadius: BorderRadius.circular(12),
    ),
    editInputDecoration: const InputDecoration(
      border: OutlineInputBorder(),
    ),
    editCancelButtonTextStyle: const TextStyle(
      color: Colors.red,
      fontWeight: FontWeight.bold,
    ),
  ),
  child: ExpandableDataTable(
    headers: headers,
    rows: rows,
    visibleColumnCount: 3,
    pageSize: 8,
  ),
)

Key properties of ExpandableThemeData

Properties are grouped by the part of the table they affect.

Header

Property	Description
headerColor	Header row background color.
headerTextStyle	Text style for header cells.
headerTextMaxLines	Max lines before clipping in a header cell.
headerSortIconColor	Color of the sort arrow icon.
headerHeight	Fixed height for the header row.
headerBorder	Border drawn below the header row.

Rows

Property	Description
contentPadding	Padding inside every header and data row cell.
rowColor	Background for all rows. Ignored when both evenRowColor and oddRowColor are set.
evenRowColor	Background for even-indexed rows. Both evenRowColor and oddRowColor must be set.
oddRowColor	Background for odd-indexed rows. Both evenRowColor and oddRowColor must be set.
expandedBackgroundColor	Background applied to a row when its expansion panel is open.
rowTextStyle	Text style for data row cells.
rowTextMaxLines	Max lines before clipping/ellipsis in a data cell.
rowTextOverflow	Overflow behavior for data cell text.
rowHeight	Fixed height for data rows.
shape	Border shape of a collapsed row.
expandedShape	Border shape of an expanded row.

Expansion panel & icons

Property	Description
expansionIcon	Icon on each row that toggles the expansion panel.
editIcon	Edit icon shown on each row when isEditable is true.
iconColor	Icon color when the row is collapsed.
expandedIconColor	Icon color when the row is expanded.
expandedTextStyle	Text style used inside the expansion panel.
expansionAnimationStyle	Duration and curve of the open/close animation.
expansionChildrenPadding	Padding that wraps the expansion panel child widget.
expansionCellPadding	Padding around each key-value cell inside the expansion panel.

Edit Dialog

Property	Description
editDialogTitleStyle	Text style for the dialog title.
editDialogBackgroundColor	Edit dialog background color.
editDialogShape	Shape (e.g. rounded corners) of the edit dialog.
editSaveButtonTextStyle	Text style for the SAVE button.
editCancelButtonTextStyle	Text style for the CANCEL button.
editInputDecoration	Base InputDecoration for all text fields. Per-column hintText takes precedence.

Images

Property	Description
imageColumnHeightTitle	Height of image cells in the header row.
imageColumnHeightExpansion	Height of image cells in the expansion panel and edit dialog.

Pagination

Property	Description
paginationSize	Size of the page number buttons. Defaults to 48.
paginationTextStyle	Text style for page numbers (selected and unselected).
paginationSelectedFillColor	Fill color of the active page button.
paginationSelectedTextColor	Text color of the active page number.
paginationUnselectedTextColor	Text color of inactive page numbers.
paginationBorderColor	Border color applied to page buttons.
paginationBorderRadius	Corner radius of page buttons.
paginationBorderWidth	Border width of page buttons.

Row expansion

By default the expansion panel lists every hidden column and its value. Replace it with renderExpansionContent to build any custom widget:

ExpandableDataTable(
  headers: headers,
  rows: rows,
  visibleColumnCount: 3,
  renderExpansionContent: (row) {
    // row.cells contains ALL cells, including visible ones.
    final ageCell = row.cells.firstWhere(
      (cell) => cell.columnTitle == 'Age',
    );
    final emailCell = row.cells.firstWhere(
      (cell) => cell.columnTitle == 'Email',
    );
    return Padding(
      padding: const EdgeInsets.all(12),
      child: Column(
        crossAxisAlignment: CrossAxisAlignment.start,
        children: [
          Text('Age: ${ageCell.value}'),
          Text('Email: ${emailCell.value}'),
        ],
      ),
    );
  },
)

Allow only one row open at a time:

ExpandableDataTable(
  ...
  multipleExpansion: false,
)

Custom cell rendering

By default each cell renders its value as Text(value.toString()) — except ImageProvider columns, which render an Image widget. To take full control of how a column's cells look, set cellBuilder on the ExpandableColumn:

ExpandableColumn<String>(
  columnTitle: 'Status',
  columnFlex: 2,
  cellBuilder: (context, value) {
    final color = value == 'Active' ? Colors.green : Colors.red;
    return Container(
      padding: const EdgeInsets.symmetric(horizontal: 8, vertical: 4),
      decoration: BoxDecoration(
        color: color.withValues(alpha: 0.15),
        borderRadius: BorderRadius.circular(12),
      ),
      child: Text(
        value.toString(),
        style: TextStyle(color: color, fontWeight: FontWeight.bold),
      ),
    );
  },
),

cellBuilder receives (BuildContext context, dynamic value) and must return a Widget. It applies everywhere the column appears — both in the visible row and in the expansion panel.

Use case: circular avatar

ExpandableColumn<ImageProvider>(
  columnTitle: 'Picture',
  columnFlex: 2,
  isEditable: false,
  cellBuilder: (context, value) {
    return Container(
      decoration: BoxDecoration(
        shape: BoxShape.circle,
        color: Colors.purple[300],
      ),
      height: 48,
      width: 48,
      child: Padding(
        padding: const EdgeInsets.all(8.0),
        child: ClipOval(
          child: Image(
            image: value as ImageProvider,
            fit: BoxFit.cover,
            errorBuilder: (context, error, stackTrace) =>
                const Icon(Icons.broken_image),
          ),
        ),
      ),
    );
  },
),

Tip: When a column has a cellBuilder, the default rendering (plain text or image) is completely bypassed. You are responsible for handling null values if your data can contain them.

Extensible cell types (CellType<T>)

Instead of writing one-off callbacks or handling branching across multiple files, you can provide a CellType<T> adapter to ExpandableColumn to encapsulate rendering, sorting, editing, and string formatting in one reusable object.

Built-in ImageCellType

Declaratively configure image height, fit, alignment, and border radius without writing a custom builder:

ExpandableColumn<ImageProvider>(
  columnTitle: 'Avatar',
  columnFlex: 2,
  cellType: ImageCellType(
    height: 60,
    fit: BoxFit.cover,
    alignment: Alignment.center,
    borderRadius: BorderRadius.circular(12),
  ),
)

Custom CellType<T> (e.g. DateTime)

Implement CellType<T> to add first-class support for any data type with custom sorting, editing, and formatting:

class DateTimeCellType extends CellType<DateTime> {
  const DateTimeCellType();

  @override
  Widget buildTitleCell(BuildContext context, DateTime? value, TextStyle? textStyle) {
    return Text(toDisplayString(value, '-'), style: textStyle);
  }

  @override
  Widget buildExpansionCell(BuildContext context, DateTime? value, TextStyle? textStyle) {
    return Text(toDisplayString(value, '-'), style: textStyle);
  }

  @override
  int compare(DateTime? a, DateTime? b) {
    if (a == null && b == null) return 0;
    if (a == null) return -1;
    if (b == null) return 1;
    return a.compareTo(b);
  }

  @override
  Widget? buildEditField(
    BuildContext context,
    DateTime? value,
    ValueChanged<DateTime?> onChanged, {
    bool isEditable = true,
    String? hintText,
    InputDecoration? baseDecoration,
  }) {
    return TextButton(
      onPressed: isEditable
          ? () async {
              final picked = await showDatePicker(
                context: context,
                initialDate: value ?? DateTime.now(),
                firstDate: DateTime(2000),
                lastDate: DateTime(2100),
              );
              if (picked != null) onChanged(picked);
            }
          : null,
      child: Text(toDisplayString(value, 'Select date')),
    );
  }

  @override
  String toDisplayString(DateTime? value, String placeholder) {
    if (value == null) return placeholder;
    return '${value.year}-${value.month.toString().padLeft(2, '0')}-${value.day.toString().padLeft(2, '0')}';
  }
}

ExpandableColumn<DateTime>(
  columnTitle: 'Created At',
  columnFlex: 2,
  cellType: const DateTimeCellType(),
)

Rendering priority

When rendering cells in both the visible row and expansion panel, the table evaluates:

1. ExpandableColumn.cellBuilder (highest priority)
2. ExpandableColumn.cellType
3. Built-in type inference (fallback)

Editing

Set isEditable: true to show an edit icon on every row. The built-in dialog pre-fills each field from the current cell values. You must provide onRowChanged when editing is enabled:

ExpandableDataTable(
  headers: headers,
  rows: rows,
  visibleColumnCount: 3,
  isEditable: true,
  editDialogTitle: 'Edit User',
  editSaveLabel: 'Save',
  editCancelLabel: 'Cancel',
  onRowChanged: (newRow, originalIndex) {
    // Update your external state here.
    setState(() => myRows[originalIndex] = newRow);
  },
)

Mark a column read-only inside the dialog:

ExpandableColumn<int>(
  columnTitle: 'ID',
  columnFlex: 1,
  isEditable: false, // shown in dialog but cannot be edited
)

Add a per-column hint text for the input field:

ExpandableColumn<String>(
  columnTitle: 'First name',
  columnFlex: 2,
  hintText: 'Enter first name',
)

Provide a fully custom edit dialog:

ExpandableDataTable(
  ...
  renderEditDialog: (row, onSuccess) {
    return AlertDialog(
      title: const Text('Custom edit'),
      content: TextButton(
        child: const Text('Apply change'),
        onPressed: () {
          row.cells[1].value = 'Updated name';
          onSuccess(row); // commits changes and triggers onRowChanged
        },
      ),
    );
  },
)

Custom pagination

Replace the built-in pagination widget with renderCustomPagination:

ExpandableDataTable(
  ...
  renderCustomPagination: (count, page, onChange) {
    return Row(
      mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.spaceAround,
      children: [
        TextButton(
          onPressed: page > 0 ? () => onChange(page - 1) : null,
          child: const Text('Previous'),
        ),
        Text('Page ${page + 1} of $count'),
        TextButton(
          onPressed: page < count - 1 ? () => onChange(page + 1) : null,
          child: const Text('Next'),
        ),
      ],
    );
  },
)

API reference

Full API documentation — all classes, properties and their signatures — is available on pub.dev:

https://pub.dev/documentation/expandable_datatable/latest/

Help & support

Found a bug or want a new feature? Open an issue on GitHub:

https://github.com/ismailyegnr/expandable_datatable/issues

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open a pull request on GitHub. A CONTRIBUTING.md with branch naming and testing guidelines does not yet exist — feel free to propose one.

License

MIT © ismailyegnr