Joined tables

The data shown in a DataTable does not always need a 1:1 match to the fields shown in the Editor form (as shown by the table only and form only example), something which is frequently used in joined table - e.g. the table shows the information from the joined table, while the Editor modifies the reference for the record that is being joined to. In this example the Location comes from the sites.name parameter, while Editor will modify users.site.

When using inline editing Editor will attempt to automatically determine the field to be edited based on the DataTables configuration, but this will only work if columns.data matches the fields.name. In the Location case here it does not. This would result in a Unable to automatically determine field from source error being emitted by Editor if it wasn't resolved.

It is possible to use inline() to specify the field to be edited, but that requires an additional event handler to be used for the special column.

To resolve this, Editor supports an additional property on the DataTables columns called editField which tells Editor which field to edit when inline or bubble editing this field. In this example editField: "users.site" is used for the Location column.

	First name	Last name	Phone #	Location
	First name	Last name	Phone #	Location

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/join.php',
	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'
		}
	],
	table: '#example'
});

$('#example').DataTable({
	ajax: {
		url: '../php/join.php',
		type: 'POST'
	},
	columns: [
		{
			data: null,
			orderable: false,
			render: DataTable.render.select()
		},
		{ data: 'users.first_name' },
		{ data: 'users.last_name' },
		{ data: 'users.phone' },
		{ data: 'sites.name', editField: 'users.site' }
	],
	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:not(:first-child)', function (e) {
	editor.inline(this, {
		onBlur: 'submit'
	});
});

const editor = new DataTable.Editor({
	ajax: '../php/join.php',
	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'
		}
	],
	table: '#example'
});

const table = new DataTable('#example', {
	ajax: {
		url: '../php/join.php',
		type: 'POST'
	},
	columns: [
		{
			data: null,
			orderable: false,
			render: DataTable.render.select()
		},
		{ data: 'users.first_name' },
		{ data: 'users.last_name' },
		{ data: 'users.phone' },
		{ data: 'sites.name', editField: 'users.site' }
	],
	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:not(:first-child)', function (e) {
	editor.inline(this, {
		onBlur: 'submit'
	});
});

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.

Joined tables

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