DataTables
DataTables 1.9 was End Of Life in 2014. Do not use it for new work.
The current release of DataTables can always be found on DataTables.net.
Features
The ability to control the DOM positioning of the elements added by DataTables can be very powerful to a developer, and this is done through the sDom parameter. It is possible to add new 'features' to DataTables (such as a toolbar, or new interaction techniques) through it's inclusion in sDom, retaining the ability of the developer to leverage the flexibility of sDom for their layout.
To add a new feature to DataTables, you need to register some basic information with the DataTables core, through the use of the $.fn.dataTableExt.aoFeatures array. Each array element is an object which has the following parameters:
- fnInit: function which is called which the table is initialisated
- Input parameters: 1. DataTables settings object
- Return parameters: Node (optional) - the element which contains your feature. Note that the return may also be void if your plug-in does not require to inject any DOM elements into DataTables control (sDom) - for example this might be useful when developing a plug-in which allows table control via keyboard entry.
- cFeature: The character that will be used to locate this plug-in in sDom. This should be upper-case (plug-ins by convention use upper case, while built-in features use lower case
- sFeature: The name of the feature. Development use only, not seen by the end user.
The following shows an example of this in use (this in fact is the plug-in registration used for TableTools
$.fn.dataTableExt.aoFeatures.push( {
"fnInit": function( oSettings ) {
return new TableTools( { "oDTSettings": oSettings } );
},
"cFeature": "T",
"sFeature": "TableTools"
} );
Once your plug-in is registered with DataTables, you can put whatever controls and logic you wish into the element that fnInit must create and return.