DataTables with form elements example

# Preamble

The following example shows how form elements can be used within a DataTables enhanced table. The trick here is that DataTables does not include the DOM elements which are not currently being displayed, therefore you need to add a submit event handler to gather together all of the input elements from the table, and then use the handy jQuery serialize() function to string together the data. It can then be posted to the server as you wish.

# Live example

Rendering engine | Browser | Platform(s) | Engine version | CSS grade | Check
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Trident | Internet Explorer 4.0 | Win 95+ | 4 | X |
Trident | Internet Explorer 5.0 | Win 95+ | 5 | C |
Trident | Internet Explorer 5.5 | Win 95+ | 5.5 | A |
Trident | Internet Explorer 6 | Win 98+ | 6 | A |
Trident | Internet Explorer 7 | Win XP SP2+ | 7 | A |
Trident | AOL browser (AOL desktop) | Win XP | 6 | A |
Gecko | Firefox 1.0 | Win 98+ / OSX.2+ | 1.7 | A |
Gecko | Firefox 1.5 | Win 98+ / OSX.2+ | 1.8 | A |
Gecko | Firefox 2.0 | Win 98+ / OSX.2+ | 1.8 | A |
Gecko | Firefox 3.0 | Win 2k+ / OSX.3+ | 1.9 | A |
Gecko | Camino 1.0 | OSX.2+ | 1.8 | A |
Gecko | Camino 1.5 | OSX.3+ | 1.8 | A |
Gecko | Netscape 7.2 | Win 95+ / Mac OS 8.6-9.2 | 1.7 | A |
Gecko | Netscape Browser 8 | Win 98SE+ | 1.7 | A |
Gecko | Netscape Navigator 9 | Win 98+ / OSX.2+ | 1.8 | A |
Gecko | Mozilla 1.0 | Win 95+ / OSX.1+ | 1 | A |
Gecko | Mozilla 1.1 | Win 95+ / OSX.1+ | 1.1 | A |
Gecko | Mozilla 1.2 | Win 95+ / OSX.1+ | 1.2 | A |
Gecko | Mozilla 1.3 | Win 95+ / OSX.1+ | 1.3 | A |
Gecko | Mozilla 1.4 | Win 95+ / OSX.1+ | 1.4 | A |
Gecko | Mozilla 1.5 | Win 95+ / OSX.1+ | 1.5 | A |
Gecko | Mozilla 1.6 | Win 95+ / OSX.1+ | 1.6 | A |
Gecko | Mozilla 1.7 | Win 98+ / OSX.1+ | 1.7 | A |
Gecko | Mozilla 1.8 | Win 98+ / OSX.1+ | 1.8 | A |
Gecko | Seamonkey 1.1 | Win 98+ / OSX.2+ | 1.8 | A |
Gecko | Epiphany 2.20 | Gnome | 1.8 | A |
Webkit | Safari 1.2 | OSX.3 | 125.5 | A |
Webkit | Safari 1.3 | OSX.3 | 312.8 | A |
Webkit | Safari 2.0 | OSX.4+ | 419.3 | A |
Webkit | Safari 3.0 | OSX.4+ | 522.1 | A |
Webkit | OmniWeb 5.5 | OSX.4+ | 420 | A |
Webkit | iPod Touch / iPhone | iPod | 420.1 | A |
Webkit | S60 | S60 | 413 | A |
Presto | Opera 7.0 | Win 95+ / OSX.1+ | - | A |
Presto | Opera 7.5 | Win 95+ / OSX.2+ | - | A |
Presto | Opera 8.0 | Win 95+ / OSX.2+ | - | A |
Presto | Opera 8.5 | Win 95+ / OSX.2+ | - | A |
Presto | Opera 9.0 | Win 95+ / OSX.3+ | - | A |
Presto | Opera 9.2 | Win 88+ / OSX.3+ | - | A |
Presto | Opera 9.5 | Win 88+ / OSX.3+ | - | A |
Presto | Opera for Wii | Wii | - | A |
Presto | Nokia N800 | N800 | - | A |
Presto | Nintendo DS browser | Nintendo DS | 8.5 | C/A1 |
KHTML | Konqureror 3.1 | KDE 3.1 | 3.1 | C |
KHTML | Konqureror 3.3 | KDE 3.3 | 3.3 | A |
KHTML | Konqureror 3.5 | KDE 3.5 | 3.5 | A |
Tasman | Internet Explorer 4.5 | Mac OS 8-9 | - | X |
Tasman | Internet Explorer 5.1 | Mac OS 7.6-9 | 1 | C |
Tasman | Internet Explorer 5.2 | Mac OS 8-X | 1 | C |
Misc | NetFront 3.1 | Embedded devices | - | C |
Misc | NetFront 3.4 | Embedded devices | - | A |
Misc | Dillo 0.8 | Embedded devices | - | X |
Misc | Links | Text only | - | X |
Misc | Lynx | Text only | - | X |
Misc | IE Mobile | Windows Mobile 6 | - | C |
Misc | PSP browser | PSP | - | C |
Other browsers | All others | - | - | U |
Rendering engine | Browser | Platform(s) | Engine version | CSS grade | Check

# Initialisation code

    var oTable;

    $(document).ready(function() {
    	$('#form').submit( function() {
    		var sData = $('input', oTable.fnGetNodes()).serialize();
    		alert( "The following data would have been submitted to the server: \n\n"+sData );
    		return false;
    	} );

    	oTable = $('#example').dataTable();
    } );

# Other examples

## Basic initialisation

- Zero configuration
- Feature enablement
- Sorting data
- Multi-column sorting
- Multiple tables
- Hidden columns
- Complex headers - grouping with colspan
- DOM positioning
- State saving
- Alternative pagination styles
- Scrolling:
  Horizontal / Vertical / Both / Themed / Infinite
- Change language information (internationalisation)
- ThemeRoller themes (Smoothness)

## Advanced initialisation

- Events:
  Live events / Pre-init / Post-init with fnGetNodes
- Column rendering
- Sorting without HTML tags
- Multiple table controls (sDom)
- Defining length menu options
- Complex headers and hidden columns
- Custom toolbar (element) around table
- Row highlighting with CSS
- Row grouping
- Row callback
- Footer callback
- Control sorting direction of columns
- Change language information from a file (internationalisation)

## API

- Dynamically add a new row
- Individual column filtering (using "input" elements)
- Individual column filtering (using "select" elements)
- Highlight rows and columns
- Show and hide details about a particular record
- User selectable rows (multiple rows)
- User selectable rows (single row) and delete rows
- Editable rows (with jEditable)
- Submit form with elements in table
- Index column (static number column)
- Show and hide columns dynamically
- API function use in initialisation object (callback)
- DataTables scrolling and tabs
- Regular expression filtering

## Data sources

- DOM
- Javascript array
- Ajax source
- Server side processing

## Server-side processing

- Obtain server-side data
- Add extra HTTP variables
- Use HTTP POST
- Automatic addition of IDs and classes to rows
- Reading table data from objects
- Show and hide details about a particular record
- User selectable rows (multiple rows)
- JSONP for a cross domain data source
- jEditable integration with DataTables
- Deferred loading of Ajax data
- Custom column ordering (in callback data)
- Pipelining data (reduce Ajax calls for paging)

## Ajax data source

- Ajax sourced data (array of arrays)
- Ajax sourced data (array of objects)
- Deferred DOM creation for extra speed
- Empty data source columns
- Use a data source other than aaData (the default)
- Read column data from sub-arrays
- Read column data from deeply nested properties

## Plug-ins

- Add custom API functions
- Sorting and automatic type detection
- Sorting without automatic type detection
- Custom pagination controls
- Range filtering / custom filtering
- Live DOM sorting
- Automatic HTML type detection