Edit and save column width values

[dcnadler]

Describe the problem to be solved

I found one reference to this feature in the Community: https://community.getgrist.com/t/how-to-precisely-control-column-width/3770

Currently, column widths can only be control by drag-and-drop. This is very cumbersome for tables with many columns (and summary tables based on those, which don't inherit column widths from the source table).

Additionally, if you hide a column and then unhide it, the previous column width that was set via drag-and-drop is lost (resets to default width).

Describe the solution you would like

Solutions, roughly in order of priority (imho)

1. Save column width even when column is hidden/un-hidden
2. Expose column width value setting in the UI and API
3. Option to reset column width in a table to default value (both individual columns or entire table)
4. Option to minimize column width based on content width (both individual columns or entire table)
5. Propagate column widths from source table to new Summary tables (nice to have - much less important if number 2 above is added)

[dsagal]

Since the same table can be present in multiple views (different pages or even different widgets within the same page), the same column can also be present in multiple views. I think it would be unexpected if resizing a column in one widget automatically resized it in all others, no? How do you envision exposing it via the API? Does it need to be per-widget, or do you feel a column setting (one across all widgets) is sufficient?

[dcnadler]

@dsagal, good question. I tend to not have more than one view of my tables so did not think of that.

It looks like other column styling is not currently accessible via API. Those (e.g. column visible/hidden, header style, etc.) would face the same per-widget question.

Based on that, and how the current styling can be "common" or "separate" for tables with multiple views, I would argue the column width property should follow the same flow as column stylings (set in the Column Right-Hand Panel, can be common or separate). If those styling options are added to the API, then column width can be added, as well.

Another approach is to keep the column-width properties in the Table Right-Hand panel where columns are ordered/hidden. Those are always unique to each widget, so any time you create a new table widget view the widths would all be default (just as all columns are unhidden and ordering follows the raw-data column order). Again, if those properties (column order/hidden) are ever exposed to the API, column width could be added with them.

I would argue for the first approach, since the width of the cell contents is not going to change between views so I would guess most of the time people would want the same column size for a given column (but you could choose "separate" in the rare cases when that doesn't hold).

Let me know what you think, thanks!