Tags - multiple selection

The real flexibility of tags is unlocked when working with multiple values for the field. Think of this like a select with multiple set, but with autocomplete. This can be particularly useful for marking an entry with specific tags (hence the field type name!).

This example is an alternative interface for the one-to-many join example, and you'll be able to see how such an input can be useful when offering a large number of options to the end user. It is worth also noting that the limit option is set for this field, set in this case to four, but it can be removed to allow unlimited options if needed.

First name	Last name	Location	Permissions
First name	Last name	Location	Permissions

Javascript
HTML
CSS
Ajax
Server-side script
Comments

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

var editor = new DataTable.Editor({
	ajax: '../php/joinArray.php',
	fields: [
		{
			label: 'First name:',
			name: 'users.first_name'
		},
		{
			label: 'Last name:',
			name: 'users.last_name'
		},
		{
			label: 'Site:',
			name: 'users.site',
			type: 'select'
		},
		{
			label: 'Permissions:',
			name: 'permission[].id',
			type: 'tags',
			limit: 4
		}
	],
	table: '#example'
});

$('#example').DataTable({
	ajax: {
		url: '../php/joinArray.php',
		type: 'POST'
	},
	columns: [
		{ data: 'users.first_name' },
		{ data: 'users.last_name' },
		{ data: 'sites.name' },
		{ data: 'permission', render: '[, ].name' }
	],
	layout: {
		topStart: {
			buttons: [
				{ extend: 'create', editor: editor },
				{ extend: 'edit', editor: editor },
				{ extend: 'remove', editor: editor }
			]
		}
	},
	select: true
});

const editor = new DataTable.Editor({
	ajax: '../php/joinArray.php',
	fields: [
		{
			label: 'First name:',
			name: 'users.first_name'
		},
		{
			label: 'Last name:',
			name: 'users.last_name'
		},
		{
			label: 'Site:',
			name: 'users.site',
			type: 'select'
		},
		{
			label: 'Permissions:',
			name: 'permission[].id',
			type: 'tags',
			limit: 4
		}
	],
	table: '#example'
});

new DataTable('#example', {
	ajax: {
		url: '../php/joinArray.php',
		type: 'POST'
	},
	columns: [
		{ data: 'users.first_name' },
		{ data: 'users.last_name' },
		{ data: 'sites.name' },
		{ data: 'permission', render: '[, ].name' }
	],
	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 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.

Tags - multiple selection

Other examples

Simple initialisation

Advanced initialisation

Triggering editing

DataTables as an input

Dates and time

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