Custom display controller
Editor has two display controllers built in for use with the display
option (lightbox
and envelope
). However, you might wish to customise how Editor
displays your form - this can be done through the use of a display controller plug-in.
Display controllers basically place the form on screen somewhere - they are not interested in the contents of the form, they are simply given an element that needs to be shown, and how exactly they display that element is entirely up to them! This provides a huge amount of flexibility in Editor, allowing your interface to be customised to exactly what you want.
This example shows how a display controller can be built using DataTables child row abilities (row().child().show()
). When the control icon
is clicked upon, we make a call to edit()
to
start the edit. The display controller then creates the child row using the DataTables API and inserts the form control. Note that it uses the built in
lightbox control for creating new rows, since attaching the new row form to an existing row doesn't make any sense! As a result of this the styling for this
example is locked to the DataTables default, since the other frameworks don't have the styles for the default lightbox. It can be modified to support each
individual framework though.
For more detailed information on how to create plug-ins for Editor, please refer to the Editor documentation.
Name | Position | Office | Salary | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Position | Office | Salary |
- Javascript
- HTML
- CSS
- Ajax
- Server-side script
- Comments
The Javascript shown below is used to initialise the table shown in this example:
//
// Plug-in code
//
(function () {
var Editor = DataTable.Editor;
Editor.display.details = $.extend(true, {}, Editor.models.displayController, {
init: function (editor) {
// Setup the lightbox - we'll use it for new entries
Editor.display.lightbox.init(editor);
// No other setup needed
return Editor.display.details;
},
open: function (editor, append, callback) {
var table = $(editor.s.table).DataTable();
var row = editor.s.modifier;
// Close any rows which are already open
Editor.display.details.close(editor);
if (editor.mode() === 'create') {
// Its a new row. Use Editor's lightbox
Editor.display.lightbox.open(editor, append, callback);
}
else {
// Open the child row on the DataTable
table
.row(row)
.child(append)
.show();
$(table.row(row).node()).addClass('shown');
if (callback) {
callback();
}
}
},
close: function (editor, callback) {
Editor.display.lightbox.close(editor, callback);
var table = $(editor.s.table).DataTable();
table.rows().every(function () {
if (this.child.isShown()) {
this.child.hide();
$(this.node()).removeClass('shown');
}
});
if (callback) {
callback();
}
}
});
})();
//
// Initialisation code
//
var editor = new DataTable.Editor({
ajax: '../php/staff.php',
display: 'details',
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 = $('#example').DataTable({
ajax: '../php/staff.php',
columns: [
{
className: 'dt-control',
orderable: false,
data: null,
defaultContent: ''
},
{
data: null,
render: function (data, type, row) {
// Combine the first and last names into a single table field
return data.first_name + ' ' + data.last_name;
}
},
{ data: 'position' },
{ data: 'office' },
{ data: 'salary', render: DataTable.render.number(null, null, 0, '$') }
],
layout: {
topStart: {
buttons: [{ extend: 'create', editor: editor }]
}
},
order: [[1, 'asc']],
rowCallback: function (row, data, index) {
$('td:first-child', row).attr('title', 'Click to edit');
},
select: true
});
$('#example').on('click', 'td.dt-control', function () {
var tr = this.parentNode;
if (table.row(tr).child.isShown()) {
editor.close();
}
else {
editor.edit(tr, 'Edit row', [
{
className: 'delete',
label: 'Delete row',
fn: function () {
// Close the edit display and delete the row immediately
editor.close();
editor.remove(tr, '', null, false);
editor.submit();
}
},
{
label: 'Update row',
fn: function () {
editor.submit();
}
}
]);
}
});
//
// Plug-in code
//
(function () {
const Editor = DataTable.Editor;
Editor.display.details = Object.assign({}, Editor.models.displayController, {
init: function (editor) {
// Setup the lightbox - we'll use it for new entries
Editor.display.lightbox.init(editor);
// No other setup needed
return Editor.display.details;
},
open: function (editor, append, callback) {
let table = new DataTable.Api(editor.s.table);
let row = editor.s.modifier;
// Close any rows which are already open
Editor.display.details.close(editor);
if (editor.mode() === 'create') {
// Its a new row. Use Editor's lightbox
Editor.display.lightbox.open(editor, append, callback);
}
else {
// Open the child row on the DataTable
table
.row(row)
.child(append)
.show();
table
.row(row)
.node()
.classList.add('shown');
if (callback) {
callback();
}
}
},
close: function (editor, callback) {
Editor.display.lightbox.close(editor, callback);
let table = new DataTable.Api(editor.s.table);
table.rows().every(function () {
if (this.child.isShown()) {
this.child.hide();
this.node().classList.remove('shown');
}
});
if (callback) {
callback();
}
}
});
})();
//
// Initialisation code
//
const editor = new DataTable.Editor({
ajax: '../php/staff.php',
display: 'details',
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 = $('#example').DataTable({
ajax: '../php/staff.php',
columns: [
{
className: 'dt-control',
orderable: false,
data: null,
defaultContent: ''
},
{
data: null,
render: (data) => data.first_name + ' ' + data.last_name
},
{ data: 'position' },
{ data: 'office' },
{ data: 'salary', render: DataTable.render.number(null, null, 0, '$') }
],
layout: {
topStart: {
buttons: [{ extend: 'create', editor: editor }]
}
},
order: [[1, 'asc']],
rowCallback: function (row, data, index) {
row.querySelector('td:first-child').setAttribute('title', 'Click to edit');
},
select: true
});
table.on('click', 'td.dt-control', function () {
var tr = this.parentNode;
if (table.row(tr).child.isShown()) {
editor.close();
}
else {
editor.edit(tr, 'Edit row', [
{
className: 'delete',
label: 'Delete row',
fn: () => {
// Close the edit display and delete the row immediately
editor.close();
editor.remove(tr, '', null, false);
editor.submit();
}
},
{
label: 'Update row',
fn: () => {
editor.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.
Other examples
Simple initialisation
- Basic initialisation
- Multi-row editing
- Field types
- Setting defaults
- Local table editing
- Internationalisation (local)
- Internationalisation (from JSON file)
- In table form controls
- Server-side processing
- Custom form layout / templates (attributes)
- Custom form layout / templates (tags)
- Join tables - working with multiple SQL tables
Advanced initialisation
- Data shown only in the form
- Data shown in table only
- Multi-item editing (rows, columns, cells)
- REST interface
- Complex (nested) JSON data source
- Ajax override - using localStorage for the data source
- Row ID source specification
- Compound database primary key
- DOM sourced table
- SQL VIEW
- Join tables - self referencing join
- Join tables - link table
- Join tables - Cascading lists
- Join tables - one-to-many join
- File upload
- File upload (many)
- Parent child editor
DataTables extensions
- Excel like keyboard navigation
- Excel like AutoFill feature
- AutoFill and KeyTable together
- CSV import
- Export buttons
- Responsive table extension
- Row reordering
- SearchBuilder Integration for Editor
- SearchBuilder Integration for Editor with PreDefined Criteria
- SearchBuilder Integration for Editor with Select Elements
- SearchPanes Integration for Editor
- SearchPanes Integration for Editor with CascadePanes
- SearchPanes Integration for Editor with ViewTotal
Inline editing
- Simple inline editing
- Tab between columns
- Editing options - submit on blur
- Editing options - submit full row data
- Inline editing with a submit button
- Edit icon
- Joined tables
- Selected columns only
- Responsive integration
- FixedColumns integration
- Server-side processing
- Whole row - icon controls
- Whole row - any cell activation
- Whole row - inline create
- Whole row - blur submit
Styling
- Bootstrap 3
- Bootstrap 4
- Bootstrap 5
- Bootstrap 5 with floating labels
- Foundation
- Bulma
- Fomantic-UI (formally Semantic-UI)
- jQuery UI
- Field display styling options
- Multi-column layout
- Large window layout
- Stacked inputs
- Envelope display controller
- Envelope display with in table controls
- Custom form layout / templates