Using Gantt on the server

In some cases, you may need to use a specialized logic of dhtmlxGantt separately from the gantt chart, for example:

• When you receive an update of the task from another source (e.g. from the mobile app) and need to run the auto-scheduling in order to update timing of the related tasks
• When you have several users of the same app that can make changes simultaneously, and you need to synchronize and validate the schedule
• When you need to run calculations and analyze the schedule with your server code

For this reason, we provide a separate build of dhtmlxGantt that can run on the server-side in the Node.js environment.

DHTMLX Gantt for Node.js has the same functionality as Commercial/Enterprise/Ultimate packages, which means the Gantt.getGanttInstance method is available and allows creating a new instance of a gantt.

Terms of using

Node.js server module of DHTMLX Gantt is provided as an add-on package to the client-side version of Gantt. Thus, you can add the Node.js build at extra fee while buying Gantt under any commercial license (Individual, Commercial, Enterprise). The Ultimate license includes it by default.

In case you have already obtained the main library of dhtmlxGantt, you can purchase the Node.js module separately and we will send you a link to the server-side version of Gantt.

Versioning

dhtmlxGantt applies to the Node.js package the same scheme of the version numbering as to the browser packages (for example, v7.0.0 is the first version of Gantt for a Node.js package).

Adding the library to the project

You can install dhtmlxGantt for Node.js as a local package:

"dependencies": {
    "@dhtmlx/gantt-node": "file:../../gantt_7.0.0_node"
    ...
}

Or you can import dhtmlxgantt.node.js directly from your code, as in:

import { Gantt } from "@dhtmlx/gantt-node";
 
const gantt = Gantt.getGanttInstance({
    plugins:{
        auto_scheduling: true,
    },
    config: {
        work_time: true,
        duration_unit: "hour",
        auto_scheduling: true,
        auto_scheduling_strict: true,
        auto_scheduling_initial: false
    },
    data: {
        tasks: [
            { id: 1, text: "Project #1", type: "project", parent: 0 },
            { id: 2, start_date: "05-04-2020 00:00", text: "Task #1", duration: 1, 
            parent: 1, type: "task" },
            { id: 3, start_date: "05-04-2020 00:00", text: "Task #2", duration: 3, 
            parent: 1, type: "task" },
            { id: 4, start_date: "05-04-2020 00:00", text: "Task #3", duration: 3, 
            parent: 1, type: "task" },
            { id: 5, start_date: "05-04-2020 00:00", text: "Task #4", duration: 3, 
            parent: 1, type: "task" },
            { id: 6, start_date: "05-04-2020 00:00", text: "Task #5", duration: 1, 
            parent: 1, type: "task" }
        ], 
        links: [
            { id: 1, source: 1, target: 2, type: "0" },
            { id: 2, source: 2, target: 3, type: "0" },
            { id: 3, source: 3, target: 4, type: "0" },
            { id: 4, source: 4, target: 5, type: "0" },
            { id: 5, source: 5, target: 6, type: "0" }
        ]
    },
    events:{
        onAfterAutoSchedule: function(taskId, updatedTasks) {
            console.log("Following tasks were auto scheduled:");
            console.table(updatedTasks.map((taskId) => {
                return {
                    id: taskId,
                    text: this.getTask(taskId).text
                };
            }));
        },
        onParse: function() {
            console.log("Loaded data:")
            console.table(this.serialize().data);
        },
        onGanttReady: () => {
            console.log("Running dhtmlxGantt on the backend");
        }
    }
});
 
console.table(gantt.serialize());

Limitations

dhtmlxGantt provides the same core API for Node.js as the browser version.

However, some methods that are available in the client-side version of Gantt either won't work or won't be defined in the server library, namely:

• Server-side rendering is not implemented. Calling such methods as gantt.render, gantt.refreshData, gantt.refreshTask, etc. won't produce any HTML but will trigger related API events, for example, onBeforeGanttRender, onGanttRender, etc.
• Popup messages API is not included into the Node package. The gantt.message, gantt.alert, gantt.confirm methods will be undefined.
• Built-in ajax helpers are not ported to Node.js, so neither gantt ajax API nor gantt.load nor default dataProcessor routings will work. You need to use gantt.parse and custom routing of the dataProcessor.

Back to top