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 field.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
Comments

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

// Nested editor
var usersEditor = new DataTable.Editor({
	ajax: {
		url: '../php/users.php',
		data: function (d) {
			var 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
var 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) {
							var 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
var siteTable = $('#sites').DataTable({
	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(function (json) {
			// Update the options for the sub-editor. This will be automatic
			// in future versions of Editor
			usersEditor.field('users.site').update(json.options['users.site']);
		});

	// 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();
});

// 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(function (json) {
			// Update the options for the sub-editor. This will be automatic
			// in future versions of Editor
			usersEditor.field('users.site').update(json.options['users.site']);
		});

	// 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 interaction for this demo is shown below. This server uses PHP, so the PHP script is shown, however our download packages include the equivalent script for other platforms, including .NET and Node.js. Server-side scripts can be written in any language, using the protocol described in the Editor documentation.

Parent child editing

Other examples

Simple initialisation

Advanced initialisation

DataTables as an input

Dates and time

DataTables extensions

Inline editing

Bubble editing

API

Standalone

Styling

Plug-ins

DataTables