DataTables Reference
DataTables is, of course, the core component of the DataTables suite of software, and the majority of the extensions can be configured and controlled from the DataTables options and API, which they extend.
This section of the documentation provides full details about each and every option, method and event that can be used with DataTables, and also details other aspects of the API such as feature and button options. For an overview of how to use DataTables, please see the manual documentation.
DataTables reference
Options
DataTables and its extensions have a wealth of options which can be configured using the initialisation object that is passed into the $().DataTable() constructor when creating a new table. This section details all of these options, with code examples of how each option can be used. Read more »
Features
Features in DataTables are control and information components that are displayed around the table and allow the end user to interact with it. Features are placed around the table using the layout option, and features which support customisation options can also be tuned through the layout object. Read more »
API
The DataTables API allows manipulation of the table, data retrieval and other operations on the table after it has been initialised. The DataTables API makes heavy use of chaining to provide an intuitive and expressive API, that allows you to get the maximum amount done with the minimum amount of code. Read more »
Events
It can often be useful to know when a DataTable or one of its extensions has performed a particular operation, since user interfaces, by their very nature are asynchronous with user interaction driving the controls of the table. For this purpose, DataTables will emit custom events which can be listened for and acted upon as needed. Read more »
Buttons
It is often useful to present a button or set of buttons that will affect the DataTable or the data contained in the DataTable, allowing the end user to perform operations on the table. The Buttons extension provides a common core library for such buttons and the various DataTables extensions can provide buttons that are used to access the functionality of that extension. Read more »
Content
The ColumnControl extension for DataTables makes it possible to put column control items in the table header and footer cells - these are termed "content types" for brevity. The content shown can be buttons, search inputs or any other type of HTML content. ColumnControl has a number of built in content types, which are detailed here. Read more »
Types
The interfaces DataTables presents often expect, or return, specific data types. These data types are fully defined here, for clarity in the documentation. Read more »