# Editor example Custom display controller

Editor has two display controllers built in for use with the `display` option (`lightbox` and `envelope`). However, you might wish to customise how Editor displays your form - this can be done through the use of a display controller plug-in.

Display controllers basically place the form on screen somewhere - they are not interested in the contents of the form, they are simply given an element that needs to be shown, and how exactly they display that element is entirely up to them! This provides a huge amount of flexibility in Editor, allowing your interface to be customised to exactly what you want.

This example shows how a display controller can be built using DataTables child row abilities (`row().child().show()`). When the control icon is clicked upon, we make a call to `edit()` to start the edit. The display controller then creates the child row using the DataTables API and inserts the form control. Note that it uses the built in lightbox control for creating new rows, since attaching the new row form to an existing row doesn't make any sense! As a result of this the styling for this example is locked to the DataTables default, since the other frameworks don't have the styles for the default lightbox. It can be modified to support each individual framework though.

For more detailed information on how to create plug-ins for Editor, please refer to the Editor documentation.

| Name | Position | Office | Salary
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
| Name | Position | Office | Salary

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

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

`// // Plug-in code // (function () { const Editor = DataTable.Editor; Editor.display.details = Object.assign({}, Editor.models.displayController, { init: function (editor) { // Setup the lightbox - we'll use it for new entries Editor.display.lightbox.init(editor); // No other setup needed return Editor.display.details; }, open: function (editor, append, callback) { let table = new DataTable.Api(editor.s.table); let row = editor.s.modifier; // Close any rows which are already open Editor.display.details.close(editor); if (editor.mode() === 'create') { // Its a new row. Use Editor's lightbox Editor.display.lightbox.open(editor, append, callback); } else { // Open the child row on the DataTable table .row(row) .child(append) .show(); table .row(row) .node() .classList.add('shown'); if (callback) { callback(); } } }, close: function (editor, callback) { Editor.display.lightbox.close(editor, callback); let table = new DataTable.Api(editor.s.table); table.rows().every(function () { if (this.child.isShown()) { this.child.hide(); this.node().classList.remove('shown'); } }); if (callback) { callback(); } } }); })(); // // Initialisation code // const editor = new DataTable.Editor({ ajax: '../php/staff.php', display: 'details', fields: [ { label: 'First name:', name: 'first_name' }, { label: 'Last name:', name: 'last_name' }, { label: 'Position:', name: 'position' }, { label: 'Office:', name: 'office' }, { label: 'Extension:', name: 'extn' }, { label: 'Start date:', name: 'start_date', type: 'datetime' }, { label: 'Salary:', name: 'salary' } ], table: '#example' }); const table = new DataTable('#example', { ajax: '../php/staff.php', columns: [ { className: 'dt-control', orderable: false, data: null, defaultContent: '' }, { data: null, render: (data) => data.first_name + ' ' + data.last_name }, { data: 'position' }, { data: 'office' }, { data: 'salary', render: DataTable.render.number(null, null, 0, '$') } ], layout: { topStart: { buttons: [{ extend: 'create', editor: editor }] } }, order: [[1, 'asc']], rowCallback: function (row, data, index) { row.querySelector('td:first-child').setAttribute('title', 'Click to edit'); }, select: true }); table.on('click', 'td.dt-control', function () { var tr = this.parentNode; if (table.row(tr).child.isShown()) { editor.close(); } else { editor.edit(tr, 'Edit row', [ { className: 'delete', label: 'Delete row', fn: () => { // Close the edit display and delete the row immediately editor.close(); editor.remove(tr, '', null, false); editor.submit(); } }, { label: 'Update row', fn: () => { editor.submit(); } } ]); } });`

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.