Excel like keyboard navigation

Editor's inline editing ability (inline()) can make for quick and easy updating of data, but if you combine it with KeyTable you can make your DataTable much more like an Excel spreadsheet with keyboard navigation.

KeyTable's keys.editor option binds your Editor instance with the key interface so that typing in a cell will automatically activate its inline editing. Data is then submitted when the cell looses focus.

Additional styling is used here to hide the borders of the input element, making it similar to editing a traditional spreadsheet.

	First name	Last name	Position	Office	Start date	Salary

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/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'
});

var table = $('#example').DataTable({
	ajax: '../php/staff.php',
	columns: [
		{
			data: null,
			orderable: false,
			render: DataTable.render.select()
		},
		{ data: 'first_name' },
		{ data: 'last_name' },
		{ data: 'position' },
		{ data: 'office' },
		{ data: 'start_date' },
		{ data: 'salary', render: DataTable.render.number(null, null, 0, '$') }
	],
	keys: {
		columns: ':not(:first-child)',
		editor: editor
	},
	layout: {
		topStart: {
			buttons: [
				{ extend: 'create', editor: editor },
				{ extend: 'edit', editor: editor },
				{ extend: 'remove', editor: editor }
			]
		}
	},
	order: [[1, 'asc']],
	select: {
		blurable: true,
		selector: 'td:first-child',
		style: 'os'
	}
});

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,
			orderable: false,
			render: DataTable.render.select()
		},
		{ data: 'first_name' },
		{ data: 'last_name' },
		{ data: 'position' },
		{ data: 'office' },
		{ data: 'start_date' },
		{ data: 'salary', render: DataTable.render.number(null, null, 0, '$') }
	],
	keys: {
		columns: ':not(:first-child)',
		editor: editor
	},
	layout: {
		topStart: {
			buttons: [
				{ extend: 'create', editor: editor },
				{ extend: 'edit', editor: editor },
				{ extend: 'remove', editor: editor }
			]
		}
	},
	order: [[1, 'asc']],
	select: {
		blurable: true,
		selector: 'td:first-child',
		style: 'os'
	}
});

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_Inline input {
		border: none;
		background-color: transparent;
		padding: 0 !important;
		font-size: 90%;
	}

	div.DTE_Inline input:focus {
		outline: none;
		background-color: transparent;
	}

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.

Excel like keyboard navigation

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