# Editor example Dependent fields

When working with complex forms, you often have fields whose state is dependent upon the input values of other fields in the form. For example you might have a `select` list of options, the options for which depend upon the value selected for another `select` list.

The `dependent()` method is available in Editor to make this type of complex interaction trivial. You simply attach the `dependent()` method to the field that you want to trigger an update form when its value changes. You then have the option of defining a local callback or an Ajax call that will return an object that will reconfigure the form. You have the options of showing, hiding, enabling and disabling fields. You can also update labels, options, values, information messages and error messages! See the `dependent()` documentation for full details.

This example shows `dependent()` attached to a simple `select` field that is used to show and hide additional fields in the table (a simple and complex view). This is just a very simple example to show how easy it is to get started with `dependent()`.

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:

`var editor = new DataTable.Editor({ ajax: '../php/staff.php', fields: [ { label: 'First name:', name: 'first_name' }, { label: 'Last name:', name: 'last_name' }, { label: 'Show options:', name: 'options', type: 'select', options: ['Simple', 'All'], def: 'Simple' }, { 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' }); editor.dependent('options', function (val) { return val === 'Simple' ? { hide: ['position', 'office', 'extn', 'start_date', 'salary'] } : { show: ['position', 'office', 'extn', 'start_date', 'salary'] }; }); 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 }, { 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:

``

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.