How to show an empty message in Flutter DataTable (SfDataGrid)?

In this article, we will show you how to show an empty message in Flutter DataTable.

Initialize the SfDataGrid with the necessary properties. It provides built-in support for displaying a placeholder when the data source is empty by setting up the SfDataGrid.placeholder property. When this property is set, the DataGrid automatically displays the specified widget in the scroll view area. By default, SfDataGrid does not display anything when the data source is empty. Using this property, you can load a custom widget to display when there are no records.

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(title: const Text('Syncfusion Flutter DataGrid')),
      body: Column(
        children: [
          Padding(
            padding: const EdgeInsets.all(10.0),
            child: TextButton(
              onPressed: () {
                employeeDataSource._employeeData = [];
                employeeDataSource.notifyListeners();
              },
              child: Text('Clear All'),
            ),
          ),
          Expanded(
            child: SfDataGrid(
              source: employeeDataSource,
              columnWidthMode: ColumnWidthMode.fill,
              placeholder: Center(
                child: Column(
                  mainAxisSize: MainAxisSize.min,
                  children: [
                    Icon(Icons.thumb_down_alt_outlined, size: 30),
                    SizedBox(height: 8),
                    Text('No Records Found', style: TextStyle(fontSize: 16)),
                  ],
                ),
              ),
              columns: <GridColumn>[
                GridColumn(
                  columnName: 'id',
                  label: Container(
                    padding: EdgeInsets.all(16.0),
                    alignment: Alignment.center,
                    child: Text('ID'),
                  ),
                ),
                GridColumn(
                  columnName: 'name',
                  label: Container(
                    padding: EdgeInsets.all(8.0),
                    alignment: Alignment.center,
                    child: Text('Name'),
                  ),
                ),
                GridColumn(
                  columnName: 'designation',
                  label: Container(
                    padding: EdgeInsets.all(8.0),
                    alignment: Alignment.center,
                    child: Text('Designation', overflow: TextOverflow.ellipsis),
                  ),
                ),
                GridColumn(
                  columnName: 'salary',
                  label: Container(
                    padding: EdgeInsets.all(8.0),
                    alignment: Alignment.center,
                    child: Text('Salary'),
                  ),
                ),
              ],
            ),
          ),
        ],
      ),
    );
  }

You can download this example on GitHub.