# Editor example Repeated data entry

This example demonstrates how the new record form can be reused for rapid data entry. The "Create" button has three buttons configured:

- The default submit button, which is defined with just the string to show in the button
- A custom button ("Create and add another") which will keep the form open, then trigger new row creation again, setting the form's values to what was just submitted. Note that you must also set the `nest` form option to `false` to allow the button to be triggered like this.
- There is also a "Close" button to provide the end user with an additional way to exit the form.

The form buttons have full access to the Editor API, so you can provide a wide range of customisations, such as this one.

Name | Position | Office | Extn. | Start date | Salary
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Name | Position | Office | Extn. | Start date | Salary

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

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

`const editor = new DataTable.Editor({ ajax: '../php/staff.php', 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: [ { data: null, render: (data) => data.first_name + ' ' + data.last_name }, { data: 'position' }, { data: 'office' }, { data: 'extn' }, { data: 'start_date' }, { data: 'salary', render: DataTable.render.number(null, null, 0, '$') } ], layout: { topStart: { buttons: [ { extend: 'create', editor: editor, formButtons: [ { text: 'Close', action: function () { this.close(); }, className: 'pull-left' }, { text: 'Create and add another', action: function () { let vals = this.val(); // Stop the form from closing on complete, and then submit this .on('preClose.again', () => false) .submit( function () { // Set the values to what they were, so the // end user can reuse them editor.one('open', function () { editor.val(vals); editor.field('first_name').focus(); }); // Trigger the create button again table.buttons(0).trigger(); // Remove the preClose blocker editor.off('preClose.again'); }); } }, 'Create' ], formOptions: { nest: false } }, { extend: 'edit', editor: editor }, { extend: 'remove', editor: editor } ] } }, select: true });`

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:

`div.DTE_Form_Buttons { width: 100%; } div.DTE_Form_Buttons button.pull-left { margin-right: auto; }`

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.