Grid init function

Could you please explain what the grid init() function does? Also, in relation to the first question, what grid functions or variables are supposed to be called or set before a call to init() is made?

grid.init() - this function renders grid, basically before this command you need to have at least

    grid.setHeader( - define column count and header labels
    grid.setInitWidths( - define initial widths of columns

most other commands may be executed before or after grid.init

In case of loading configuration from XML - you need not grid.init at all ( it will be executed automatically )