DataTables logo DataTables

This site contains the legacy documentation for DataTables v1.9 and earlier for reference only.
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.
FixedColumns example - row grouping using the fixed column

Preamble

This example shows how it is possible to manipulate the DOM of the fixed column to create the effect of row grouping in the table (or more generally any manipulation you wish to make). When ordered by the first column it is possible to see the grouping in full effect - if you then change the ordering to one of the other columns the grouping is dynamically changed to combine like cells. It would be readily possible to extend this example to use two fixed columns and only 'group' rows in one of the columns, potentially achieving quite a powerful effect.

Live example

Rendering engine Browser Platform(s) Engine version CSS grade
Trident Internet Explorer 4.0 Win 95+ 4 X
Trident Internet Explorer 5.0 Win 95+ 5 C
Trident Internet Explorer 5.5 Win 95+ 5.5 A
Trident Internet Explorer 6 Win 98+ 6 A
Trident Internet Explorer 7 Win XP SP2+ 7 A
Trident AOL browser (AOL desktop) Win XP 6 A
Gecko Firefox 1.0 Win 98+ / OSX.2+ 1.7 A
Gecko Firefox
1.5
Win 98+ / OSX.2+ 1.8 A
Gecko Firefox 2.0 Win 98+ / OSX.2+ 1.8 A
Gecko Firefox 3.0 Win 2k+ / OSX.3+ 1.9 A
Gecko Camino 1.0 OSX.2+ 1.8 A
Gecko Camino 1.5 OSX.3+ 1.8 A
Gecko Netscape 7.2 Win 95+ / Mac OS 8.6-9.2 1.7 A
Gecko Netscape Browser 8 Win 98SE+ 1.7 A
Gecko Netscape Navigator 9 Win 98+ / OSX.2+ 1.8 A
Gecko Mozilla 1.0 Win 95+ / OSX.1+ 1 A
Gecko Mozilla 1.1 Win 95+ / OSX.1+ 1.1 A
Gecko Mozilla 1.2 Win 95+ / OSX.1+ 1.2 A
Gecko Mozilla 1.3 Win 95+ / OSX.1+ 1.3 A
Gecko Mozilla 1.4 Win 95+ / OSX.1+ 1.4 A
Gecko Mozilla 1.5 Win 95+ / OSX.1+ 1.5 A
Gecko Mozilla 1.6 Win 95+ / OSX.1+ 1.6 A
Gecko Mozilla 1.7 Win 98+ / OSX.1+ 1.7 A
Gecko Mozilla 1.8 Win 98+ / OSX.1+ 1.8 A
Gecko Seamonkey 1.1 Win 98+ / OSX.2+ 1.8 A
Gecko Epiphany 2.20 Gnome 1.8 A
Webkit Safari 1.2 OSX.3 125.5 A
Webkit Safari 1.3 OSX.3 312.8 A
Webkit Safari 2.0 OSX.4+ 419.3 A
Webkit Safari 3.0 OSX.4+ 522.1 A
Webkit OmniWeb 5.5 OSX.4+ 420 A
Webkit iPod Touch / iPhone iPod 420.1 A
Webkit S60 S60 413 A
Presto Opera 7.0 Win 95+ / OSX.1+ - A
Presto Opera 7.5 Win 95+ / OSX.2+ - A
Presto Opera 8.0 Win 95+ / OSX.2+ - A
Presto Opera 8.5 Win 95+ / OSX.2+ - A
Presto Opera 9.0 Win 95+ / OSX.3+ - A
Presto Opera 9.2 Win 88+ / OSX.3+ - A
Presto Opera 9.5 Win 88+ / OSX.3+ - A
Presto Opera for Wii Wii - A
Presto Nokia N800 N800 - A
Presto Nintendo DS browser Nintendo DS 8.5 C/A
KHTML Konqureror 3.1 KDE 3.1 3.1 C
KHTML Konqureror 3.3 KDE 3.3 3.3 A
KHTML Konqureror 3.5 KDE 3.5 3.5 A
Tasman Internet Explorer 4.5 Mac OS 8-9 - X
Tasman Internet Explorer 5.1 Mac OS 7.6-9 1 C
Tasman Internet Explorer 5.2 Mac OS 8-X 1 C
Misc NetFront 3.1 Embedded devices - C
Misc NetFront 3.4 Embedded devices - A
Misc Dillo 0.8 Embedded devices - X
Misc Links Text only - X
Misc Lynx Text only - X
Misc IE Mobile Windows Mobile 6 - C
Misc PSP browser PSP - C
Other browsers All others - - U

Initialisation code

$(document).ready( function () {
	var oTable = $('#example').dataTable( {
		"sScrollY": "300px",
		"sScrollX": "100%",
		"sScrollXInner": "150%",
		"bScrollCollapse": true,
		"bPaginate": false
	} );

	new FixedColumns( oTable, {
		"iLeftWidth": 150,
		"fnDrawCallback": function ( left, right ) {
			var that = this, groupVal = null, matches = 0, heights = [], index = -1;
			
			/* Get the heights of the cells and remove redundant ones */
			$('tbody tr td', left.body).each( function ( i ) {
				var currVal = this.innerHTML;
				
				/* Reset values on new cell data. */
				if (currVal != groupVal) {
					groupVal = currVal;
					index++;
					heights[index] = 0;
					matches = 0;
				} else  {
					matches++;
				}
				
				heights[ index ] += $(this.parentNode).height();
				if ( currVal == groupVal && matches > 0 ) {
					this.parentNode.parentNode.removeChild(this.parentNode);
				}
			} );

			/* Now set the height of the cells which remain, from the summed heights */
			$('tbody tr td', left.body).each( function ( i ) {
				that.fnSetRowHeight( this.parentNode, heights[ i ] );
			} );
		}
	} );
} );

Documentation

Basic examples

Advanced examples