Preamble

DataTables has most features enabled by default, so all you need to do to use it with one of your own tables is to call the construction function (as shown below).

Live example

Initialisation code

/* Formating function for row details */
function fnFormatDetails ( oTable, nTr )
{
	var aData = oTable.fnGetData( nTr );
	var sOut = '<table cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="padding-left:50px;">';
	sOut += '<tr><td>Rendering engine:</td><td>'+aData[1]+' '+aData[4]+'</td></tr>';
	sOut += '<tr><td>Link to source:</td><td>Could provide a link here</td></tr>';
	sOut += '<tr><td>Extra info:</td><td>And any further details here (images etc)</td></tr>';
	sOut += '</table>';
	
	return sOut;
}

$(document).ready(function() {
	/*
	 * Insert a 'details' column to the table
	 */
	var nCloneTh = document.createElement( 'th' );
	var nCloneTd = document.createElement( 'td' );
	nCloneTd.innerHTML = '<img src="../examples_support/details_open.png">';
	nCloneTd.className = "center";
	
	$('#example thead tr').each( function () {
		this.insertBefore( nCloneTh, this.childNodes[0] );
	} );
	
	$('#example tbody tr').each( function () {
		this.insertBefore(  nCloneTd.cloneNode( true ), this.childNodes[0] );
	} );
	
	/*
	 * Initialse DataTables, with no sorting on the 'details' column
	 */
	var oTable = $('#example').dataTable( {
		"aoColumnDefs": [
			{ "bSortable": false, "aTargets": [ 0 ] }
		],
		"aaSorting": [[1, 'asc']]
	});
	
	/* Add event listener for opening and closing details
	 * Note that the indicator for showing which row is open is not controlled by DataTables,
	 * rather it is done here
	 */
	$('#example tbody td img').live('click', function () {
		var nTr = this.parentNode.parentNode;
		if ( this.src.match('details_close') )
		{
			/* This row is already open - close it */
			this.src = "../examples_support/details_open.png";
			oTable.fnClose( nTr );
		}
		else
		{
			/* Open this row */
			this.src = "../examples_support/details_close.png";
			oTable.fnOpen( nTr, fnFormatDetails(oTable, nTr), 'details' );
		}
	} );
} );

Other examples

Basic initialisation

• Zero configuration
• Feature enablement
• Sorting data
• Multi-column sorting
• Multiple tables
• Hidden columns
• DOM positioning
• State saving
• Alternative pagination styles
• Scrolling: Horizontal / Vertical / Both / Themed
• Change language information (internationalisation)
• ThemeRoller themes (Smoothness)

Advanced initialisation

• Events (pre initialisation)
• Events (post initialisation)
• Column rendering
• Sorting without HTML tags
• Multiple table controls (sDom)
• Defining length menu options
• Custom toolbar (element) around table
• Row highlighting with CSS
• Column grouping through col/row spans
• Row grouping
• Row callback
• Footer callback
• Change language information from a file (internationalisation)

Data sources

• DOM
• Javascript array
• Ajax source
• Server side processing

Server-side processing

• Obtain server-side data
• Add extra HTTP variables
• Use HTTP POST
• Custom column ordering (in callback data)
• Pipelining data (reduce Ajax calls for paging)
• Show and hide details about a particular record
• User selectable rows (multiple rows)

API

• Dynamically add a new row
• Individual column filtering (using "input" elements)
• Individual column filtering (using "select" elements)
• Highlight rows and columns
• Show and hide details about a particular record
• User selectable rows (multiple rows)
• User selectable rows (single row) and delete rows
• Editable rows (with jEditable)
• Submit form with elements in table
• Index column (static number column)
• Show and hide columns dynamically
• API function use in initialisation object (callback)
• DataTables scrolling and tabs
• Regular expression filtering

Plug-ins

• Add custom API functions
• Sorting and type detection
• Custom pagination controls
• Range filtering / custom filtering
• Live DOM sorting
• Automatic HTML type detection

Please refer to the DataTables documentation for full information about its API properties and methods.