Editor example Multi-column layout

For complex forms that have a lot of visible fields, it can be useful to style the form to show in a multi-column layout, rather than in a single column. This can readily be done using a little CSS.

There are a number options to perform multi-column layout in CSS:

Floating elements - shown in this example. This is compatible with all browsers and the flow is left to right.
Multi-column layout - A CSS specification for multi-column layout but is somewhat buggy and not supported in IE9-. Flow is top to bottom.
Flex-box - A modern standard for repeating layouts in CSS - not supported in IE9-. Flow can be top to bottom or left to right.

This examples shows the floating options due to its wide compatibility. Click the CSS tab below the table to see the CSS used.

For completeness, if you wish to use Flex-box, the CSS to use is:

CSS
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11 div.DTE_Body div.DTE_Body_Content div.DTE_Field {
    width: 50%;
    padding: 5px 20px;
    box-sizing: border-box;
}
 
div.DTE_Body div.DTE_Form_Content {
    display:flex;
    flex-direction: row;
    flex-wrap: wrap;
}

Search:

Name	Position	Office	Extn.	Start date	Salary
Loading...
Name	Position	Office	Extn.	Start date	Salary

Showing 0 to 0 of 0 entries

PreviousNext

Javascript
HTML
CSS
Server-side script
Ajax load
Ajax data

The Javascript shown below is used to initialise the table shown in this example:

var editor; // use a global for the submit and return data rendering in the examples
 
$(document).ready(function() {
    editor = new $.fn.dataTable.Editor( {
        ajax: "../../controllers/staff.php",
        table: "#example",
        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"
            }
        ]
    } );
 
    $('#example').DataTable( {
        dom: "Bfrtip",
        ajax: "../../controllers/staff.php",
        columns: [
            { 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: "extn" },
            { data: "start_date" },
            { data: "salary", render: $.fn.dataTable.render.number( ',', '.', 0, '$' ) }
        ],
        select: true,
        buttons: [
            { extend: "create", editor: editor },
            { extend: "edit",   editor: editor },
            { extend: "remove", editor: editor }
        ]
    } );
} );

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:

				<table id="example" class="display" style="width:100%">
					<thead>
						<tr>
							<th>Name</th>
							<th>Position</th>
							<th>Office</th>
							<th>Extn.</th>
							<th>Start date</th>
							<th>Salary</th>
						</tr>
					</thead>
					<tfoot>
						<tr>
							<th>Name</th>
							<th>Position</th>
							<th>Office</th>
							<th>Extn.</th>
							<th>Start date</th>
							<th>Salary</th>
						</tr>
					</tfoot>
				</table>

Editor submits and retrieves information by Ajax requests. The two blocks below show the data that Editor submits and receives, to and from the server. This is updated live as you interact with Editor so you can see what is submitted.

Submitted data:

The following shows the data that has been submitted to the server when a request is made to add, edit or delete data from the table.

// No data yet submitted

Server response:

The following shows the data that has been returned by the server in response to the data submitted on the left and is then acted upon.

// No data yet received

Editor example Multi-column layout

Submitted data:

Server response:

Other examples

Simple initialisation

Advanced initialisation

DataTables as an input

Dates and time

DataTables extensions

Inline editing

Bubble editing

API

Standalone

Styling

Plug-ins