Selected columns only

It can sometimes be useful to allow editing on specific columns only. This is done by only calling the inline() method for the cells that you wish to be editable when activated (typically a click). There are a number of methods for doing this, primarily involving the CSS selector + an event handler for which cells the event should activate on.

This example uses the method of applying a class name (editable in this case, but it could be anything) to the columns that should be editable (using columns.className). Then the selector for the event handler for inline() simply becomes tbody td.editable.

In this example only the first name, last name and salary columns are inline editable. They are styled using the class name to indicate this.

	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: 'Salary:',
			name: 'salary'
		}
	],
	table: '#example'
});

$('#example').DataTable({
	ajax: '../php/staff.php',
	columns: [
		{
			data: null,
			orderable: false,
			render: DataTable.render.select(),
		},
		{ data: 'first_name', className: 'editable' },
		{ data: 'last_name', className: 'editable' },
		{ data: 'position' },
		{ data: 'office' },
		{ data: 'start_date' },
		{
			data: 'salary',
			render: DataTable.render.number(null, null, 0, '$'),
			className: 'editable'
		}
	],
	layout: {
		topStart: {
			buttons: [
				{ extend: 'create', editor: editor },
				{ extend: 'edit', editor: editor },
				{ extend: 'remove', editor: editor }
			]
		}
	},
	order: [[1, 'asc']],
	select: {
		style: 'os',
		selector: 'td:first-child'
	}
});

// Activate an inline edit on click of a table cell
$('#example').on('click', 'tbody td.editable', function (e) {
	editor.inline(this);
});

const editor = new DataTable.Editor({
	ajax: '../php/staff.php',
	fields: [
		{
			label: 'First name:',
			name: 'first_name'
		},
		{
			label: 'Last name:',
			name: 'last_name'
		},
		{
			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', className: 'editable' },
		{ data: 'last_name', className: 'editable' },
		{ data: 'position' },
		{ data: 'office' },
		{ data: 'start_date' },
		{
			data: 'salary',
			render: DataTable.render.number(null, null, 0, '$'),
			className: 'editable'
		}
	],
	layout: {
		topStart: {
			buttons: [
				{ extend: 'create', editor: editor },
				{ extend: 'edit', editor: editor },
				{ extend: 'remove', editor: editor }
			]
		}
	},
	order: [[1, 'asc']],
	select: {
		style: 'os',
		selector: 'td:first-child'
	}
});

// Activate an inline edit on click of a table cell
table.on('click', 'tbody td.editable', function (e) {
	editor.inline(this);
});

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:

td.editable {
		font-weight: bold;
	}

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.

Selected columns only

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