Advanced Datatable

DOM / jQuery events

Events assigned to the table can be exceptionally useful for user interaction, however you must be aware that DataTables will add and remove rows from the DOM as they are needed (i.e. when paging only the visible elements are actually available in the DOM). As such, this can lead to the odd hiccup when working with events.

NamePositionOfficeAgeStart dateSalary
Tiger NixonSystem ArchitectEdinburgh612011/04/25$320,800
Garrett WintersAccountantTokyo632011/07/25$170,750
Ashton CoxJunior Technical AuthorSan Francisco662009/01/12$86,000
Cedric KellySenior Javascript DeveloperEdinburgh222012/03/29$433,060
Airi SatouAccountantTokyo332008/11/28$162,700
Brielle WilliamsonIntegration SpecialistNew York612012/12/02$372,000
Herrod ChandlerSales AssistantSan Francisco592012/08/06$137,500
Rhona DavidsonIntegration SpecialistTokyo552010/10/14$327,900
Colleen HurstJavascript DeveloperSan Francisco392009/09/15$205,500
Sonya FrostSoftware EngineerEdinburgh232008/12/13$103,600
Jena GainesOffice ManagerLondon302008/12/19$90,560
Quinn FlynnSupport LeadEdinburgh222013/03/03$342,000
Charde MarshallRegional DirectorSan Francisco362008/10/16$470,600
Haley KennedySenior Marketing DesignerLondon432012/12/18$313,500
Tatyana FitzpatrickRegional DirectorLondon192010/03/17$385,750
Michael SilvaMarketing DesignerLondon662012/11/27$198,500
Paul ByrdChief Financial Officer (CFO)New York642010/06/09$725,000
Gloria LittleSystems AdministratorNew York592009/04/10$237,500
Bradley GreerSoftware EngineerLondon412012/10/13$132,000
Dai RiosPersonnel LeadEdinburgh352012/09/26$217,500
NamePositionOfficeAgeStart dateSalary

Column rendering

Each column has an optional rendering control called columns.render which can be used to process the content of each cell before the data is used. columns.render has a wide array of options available to it for rendering different types of data orthogonally (ordering, searching, display etc), but it can be used very simply to manipulate the content of a cell, as shown here.

NamePositionOfficeAgeStart dateSalary
Tiger NixonSystem ArchitectEdinburgh612011/04/25$320,800
Garrett WintersAccountantTokyo632011/07/25$170,750
Ashton CoxJunior Technical AuthorSan Francisco662009/01/12$86,000
Cedric KellySenior Javascript DeveloperEdinburgh222012/03/29$433,060
Airi SatouAccountantTokyo332008/11/28$162,700
Brielle WilliamsonIntegration SpecialistNew York612012/12/02$372,000
Herrod ChandlerSales AssistantSan Francisco592012/08/06$137,500
Rhona DavidsonIntegration SpecialistTokyo552010/10/14$327,900
Colleen HurstJavascript DeveloperSan Francisco392009/09/15$205,500
Sonya FrostSoftware EngineerEdinburgh232008/12/13$103,600
Jena GainesOffice ManagerLondon302008/12/19$90,560
Quinn FlynnSupport LeadEdinburgh222013/03/03$342,000
Charde MarshallRegional DirectorSan Francisco362008/10/16$470,600
Haley KennedySenior Marketing DesignerLondon432012/12/18$313,500
Tatyana FitzpatrickRegional DirectorLondon192010/03/17$385,750
Michael SilvaMarketing DesignerLondon662012/11/27$198,500
Paul ByrdChief Financial Officer (CFO)New York642010/06/09$725,000
Gloria LittleSystems AdministratorNew York592009/04/10$237,500
Bradley GreerSoftware EngineerLondon412012/10/13$132,000
Dai RiosPersonnel LeadEdinburgh352012/09/26$217,500
NamePositionOfficeAgeStart dateSalary

Read HTML to data objects

When DataTables reads the table content from an HTML table (rather than an Ajax or Javascript data source), by default it will read the information in the table into an array that DataTables stores internally. Each array element represents a column.

NamePositionOfficeAgeStart dateSalary
Tiger NixonSystem ArchitectEdinburgh612011/04/25$320,800
Garrett WintersAccountantTokyo632011/07/25$170,750
Ashton CoxJunior Technical AuthorSan Francisco662009/01/12$86,000
Cedric KellySenior Javascript DeveloperEdinburgh222012/03/29$433,060
Airi SatouAccountantTokyo332008/11/28$162,700
Brielle WilliamsonIntegration SpecialistNew York612012/12/02$372,000
Herrod ChandlerSales AssistantSan Francisco592012/08/06$137,500
Rhona DavidsonIntegration SpecialistTokyo552010/10/14$327,900
Colleen HurstJavascript DeveloperSan Francisco392009/09/15$205,500
Sonya FrostSoftware EngineerEdinburgh232008/12/13$103,600
Jena GainesOffice ManagerLondon302008/12/19$90,560
Quinn FlynnSupport LeadEdinburgh222013/03/03$342,000
Charde MarshallRegional DirectorSan Francisco362008/10/16$470,600
Haley KennedySenior Marketing DesignerLondon432012/12/18$313,500
Tatyana FitzpatrickRegional DirectorLondon192010/03/17$385,750
Michael SilvaMarketing DesignerLondon662012/11/27$198,500
Paul ByrdChief Financial Officer (CFO)New York642010/06/09$725,000
Gloria LittleSystems AdministratorNew York592009/04/10$237,500
Bradley GreerSoftware EngineerLondon412012/10/13$132,000
Dai RiosPersonnel LeadEdinburgh352012/09/26$217,500
NamePositionOfficeAgeStart dateSalary

Row created callback

The following example shows how a callback function can be used to format a particular row at draw time. For each row that is generated for display, the createdRow function is called once and once only. It is passed the create row node which can then be modified.

NamePositionOfficeAgeStart dateSalary
Tiger NixonSystem ArchitectEdinburgh612011/04/25$320,800
Garrett WintersAccountantTokyo632011/07/25$170,750
Ashton CoxJunior Technical AuthorSan Francisco662009/01/12$86,000
Cedric KellySenior Javascript DeveloperEdinburgh222012/03/29$433,060
Airi SatouAccountantTokyo332008/11/28$162,700
Brielle WilliamsonIntegration SpecialistNew York612012/12/02$372,000
Herrod ChandlerSales AssistantSan Francisco592012/08/06$137,500
Rhona DavidsonIntegration SpecialistTokyo552010/10/14$327,900
Colleen HurstJavascript DeveloperSan Francisco392009/09/15$205,500
Sonya FrostSoftware EngineerEdinburgh232008/12/13$103,600
Jena GainesOffice ManagerLondon302008/12/19$90,560
Quinn FlynnSupport LeadEdinburgh222013/03/03$342,000
Charde MarshallRegional DirectorSan Francisco362008/10/16$470,600
Haley KennedySenior Marketing DesignerLondon432012/12/18$313,500
Tatyana FitzpatrickRegional DirectorLondon192010/03/17$385,750
Michael SilvaMarketing DesignerLondon662012/11/27$198,500
Paul ByrdChief Financial Officer (CFO)New York642010/06/09$725,000
Gloria LittleSystems AdministratorNew York592009/04/10$237,500
Bradley GreerSoftware EngineerLondon412012/10/13$132,000
Dai RiosPersonnel LeadEdinburgh352012/09/26$217,500
NamePositionOfficeAgeStart dateSalary