API Datatable

Add rows

New rows can be added to a DataTable very easily using the row.add() API mThis Monthod. Simply call the API function with the data that is to be used for the new row (be it an array or object). Multiple rows can be added using the rows.add() mThis Monthod (note the plural). Data can be likewise be updated with the row().data() and row().remove() mThis Monthods.

Column 1Column 2Column 3Column 4Column 5
Column 1Column 2Column 3Column 4Column 5

Individual column searching (text inputs)

The searching functionality that is provided by DataTables is very useful for quickly search through the information in the table - however the search is global, and you may wish to present controls to search on specific columns only.

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
Jenette CaldwellDevelopment LeadNew York302011/09/03$345,000
Yuri BerryChief Marketing Officer (CMO)New York402009/06/25$675,000
Caesar VancePre-Sales SupportNew York212011/12/12$106,450
Doris WilderSales AssistantSidney232010/09/20$85,600
Angelica RamosChief Executive Officer (CEO)London472009/10/09$1,200,000
Gavin JoyceDeveloperEdinburgh422010/12/22$92,575
Jennifer ChangRegional DirectorSingapore282010/11/14$357,650
Brenden WagnerSoftware EngineerSan Francisco282011/06/07$206,850
Fiona GreenChief Operating Officer (COO)San Francisco482010/03/11$850,000
Shou ItouRegional MarketingTokyo202011/08/14$163,000
NamePositionOfficeAgeStart dateSalary

Individual column searching (select inputs)

This example is almost identical to text based individual column example and provides the same functionality, but in this case using select input controls.

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
Jenette CaldwellDevelopment LeadNew York302011/09/03$345,000
Yuri BerryChief Marketing Officer (CMO)New York402009/06/25$675,000
Caesar VancePre-Sales SupportNew York212011/12/12$106,450
Doris WilderSales AssistantSidney232010/09/20$85,600
Angelica RamosChief Executive Officer (CEO)London472009/10/09$1,200,000
Gavin JoyceDeveloperEdinburgh422010/12/22$92,575
Jennifer ChangRegional DirectorSingapore282010/11/14$357,650
Brenden WagnerSoftware EngineerSan Francisco282011/06/07$206,850
Fiona GreenChief Operating Officer (COO)San Francisco482010/03/11$850,000
Shou ItouRegional MarketingTokyo202011/08/14$163,000
NamePositionOfficeAgeStart dateSalary

Row selection (multiple rows)

It can be quite useful at times to provide the user with the option to select rows in a DataTable. This can be done by simply using a click event to add / remove a class on the table rows.

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
Jenette CaldwellDevelopment LeadNew York302011/09/03$345,000
Yuri BerryChief Marketing Officer (CMO)New York402009/06/25$675,000
Caesar VancePre-Sales SupportNew York212011/12/12$106,450
Doris WilderSales AssistantSidney232010/09/20$85,600
Angelica RamosChief Executive Officer (CEO)London472009/10/09$1,200,000
Gavin JoyceDeveloperEdinburgh422010/12/22$92,575
Jennifer ChangRegional DirectorSingapore282010/11/14$357,650
Brenden WagnerSoftware EngineerSan Francisco282011/06/07$206,850
Fiona GreenChief Operating Officer (COO)San Francisco482010/03/11$850,000
Shou ItouRegional MarketingTokyo202011/08/14$163,000
NamePositionOfficeAgeStart dateSalary

Row selection and deletion (single row)

This example shows a modification of the multiple row selection example, where just a single can now be selected. This is done simply by checking to see if the row already has a selected class or not, and if so removing it, if not then the class is removed from any other row in the table which does have it and applied to the row to be selected.

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
Jenette CaldwellDevelopment LeadNew York302011/09/03$345,000
Yuri BerryChief Marketing Officer (CMO)New York402009/06/25$675,000
Caesar VancePre-Sales SupportNew York212011/12/12$106,450
Doris WilderSales AssistantSidney232010/09/20$85,600
Angelica RamosChief Executive Officer (CEO)London472009/10/09$1,200,000
Gavin JoyceDeveloperEdinburgh422010/12/22$92,575
Jennifer ChangRegional DirectorSingapore282010/11/14$357,650
Brenden WagnerSoftware EngineerSan Francisco282011/06/07$206,850
Fiona GreenChief Operating Officer (COO)San Francisco482010/03/11$850,000
Shou ItouRegional MarketingTokyo202011/08/14$163,000
NamePositionOfficeAgeStart dateSalary

Using API in callbacks

There are times when you may wish to call API functions inside the DataTables callback functions (for example initComplete, rowCallback etc). The complicating issue with this is that the object hasn't fully initialised, so you can't assign the result to a variable and then use that variable in the callback. However, all of DataTables' callback functions are executed in the scope of the DataTable instance, so you can use the Javascript special variable this to access the API (this.api() will give an API instance) as this is the table node.

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
Jenette CaldwellDevelopment LeadNew York302011/09/03$345,000
Yuri BerryChief Marketing Officer (CMO)New York402009/06/25$675,000
Caesar VancePre-Sales SupportNew York212011/12/12$106,450
Doris WilderSales AssistantSidney232010/09/20$85,600
Angelica RamosChief Executive Officer (CEO)London472009/10/09$1,200,000
Gavin JoyceDeveloperEdinburgh422010/12/22$92,575
Jennifer ChangRegional DirectorSingapore282010/11/14$357,650
Brenden WagnerSoftware EngineerSan Francisco282011/06/07$206,850
Fiona GreenChief Operating Officer (COO)San Francisco482010/03/11$850,000
Shou ItouRegional MarketingTokyo202011/08/14$163,000
NamePositionOfficeAgeStart dateSalary