# Editor example Parent child editing

This example is effectively the same as the parent / child example which shows both the parent and child DataTables on the page. The difference with this example is that we use the `datatable` to display the list of connected values.

This is a small change in thinking from how the `datatable` field type is normally used, where is is a list of options that you select from. Here, all of the options shown belong to the parent row. The link is actually submitted as part of the child table. As such we don't want to submit the `datatable` information, which is done using the `fields.submit` option, as you'll see in the code below.

Note that the Users table is hidden while creating a new site. This is because the site does not yet exist while creating it, until the form is actually submitted, and therefore cannot be assigned to a user until that time. The inverse of this example where users are created first, does not have this limitation.

Name | Users
--- | ---

- JavaScript
- HTML
- CSS
- Ajax
- Server-side script

The JavaScript shown below is used to initialise the table shown in this example:

`// Nested editor const usersEditor = new DataTable.Editor({ ajax: { url: '../php/users.php', data: function (d) { let selected = siteTable.row({ selected: true }); if (selected.any()) { d.site = selected.data().id; } } }, fields: [ { label: 'First name:', name: 'users.first_name' }, { label: 'Last name:', name: 'users.last_name' }, { label: 'Phone #:', name: 'users.phone' }, { label: 'Site:', name: 'users.site', type: 'select', placeholder: 'Select a location' } ], table: '#users' }); // Main / parent / top level Editor let siteTable; const siteEditor = new DataTable.Editor({ ajax: '../php/sites.php', table: '#sites', fields: [ { label: 'Site name:', name: 'name' }, { label: 'Users:', name: 'users.site', type: 'datatable', editor: usersEditor, submit: false, optionsPair: { value: 'users.id' }, config: { ajax: { url: '../php/users.php', type: 'post', data: function (d) { if (siteTable) { let selected = siteTable.row({ selected: true }); if (selected.any()) { d.site = selected.data().id; } } } }, buttons: [ { extend: 'create', editor: usersEditor }, { extend: 'edit', editor: usersEditor }, { extend: 'remove', editor: usersEditor } ], columns: [ { data: 'users.first_name', title: 'First name' }, { data: 'users.last_name', title: 'Last name' }, { data: 'users.phone', title: 'Phone' } ] } } ] }); // Sites DataTable shown in the page siteTable = new DataTable('#sites', { ajax: '../php/sites.php', columns: [ { data: 'name' }, { data: 'users', render: function (data) { return data.length; } } ], layout: { topStart: { buttons: [ { extend: 'create', editor: siteEditor }, { extend: 'edit', editor: siteEditor }, { extend: 'remove', editor: siteEditor } ] } }, select: { style: 'single' } }); siteEditor.on('initEdit', function () { // Unhide in case of being hidden by create siteEditor.field('users.site').show(); // Get users for the selected site siteEditor .field('users.site') .dt() .ajax.reload(); // Set the default for the "new" user site field usersEditor .field('users.site') .def(siteTable.row({ selected: true }).data().id); }); // Disable the ability to create a new user on a new site siteEditor.on('initCreate', function () { siteEditor.field('users.site').hide(); });`

In addition to the above code, the following JavaScript library files are loaded for use in this example:

The HTML shown below is the raw HTML table element, before it has been enhanced by DataTables:

This example uses a little bit of additional CSS beyond what is loaded from the library files (below), in order to correctly display the table. The additional CSS used is shown below:

``

The following CSS library files are loaded for use in this example to provide the styling of the table:

This table loads data by Ajax. The latest data that has been loaded is shown below. This data will update automatically as any additional data is loaded.

The script used to perform the server-side processing for this table is shown below. Please note that this is just an example script using PHP. Server-side processing scripts can be written in any language, using the protocol described in the DataTables documentation.