vue-datatables-net

This library is a Vue 2 wrapper for jQuery DataTables. It's a tiny wrapper that doesn't include anything, not even the datatables.net core library.

View Demo View Github

Development

laravel-mix is use to simplify build and packaging.

Requirement: Install NodeJS, NPM

Then:

git clone https://github.com/niiknow/vue-datatables-net
cd vue-datatables-net
npm install

or in one command:

npm install git+https://github.com/niiknow/vue-datatables-net.git

To run locally (automatically launch firefox):

npm run watch

To build library for npm publish:

npm run build

This library is available on NPM, to install:

npm install vue-datatables-net

Usage

This library default configuration and provide example for bootstrap4 styling. Though, it allow for complete flexibility of customization with any other jQuery DataTables supported theme.

Example of imports for Bootstrap 4:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://stackpath.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.3.1/css/bootstrap.min.css" integrity="sha384-ggOyR0iXCbMQv3Xipma34MD+dH/1fQ784/j6cY/iJTQUOhcWr7x9JvoRxT2MZw1T" crossorigin="anonymous">
<link rel="stylesheet" href='https://cdn.datatables.net/1.10.19/css/dataTables.bootstrap4.min.css'>

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/[email protected]/dist/vue.js"></script>

<script>
import VdtnetTable from 'vue-datatables-net'

import 'datatables.net-bs4'

// below you should only import what you need
// Example: import buttons and plugins
import 'datatables.net-buttons/js/dataTables.buttons.js'
import 'datatables.net-buttons/js/buttons.html5.js'
import 'datatables.net-buttons/js/buttons.print.js'

// import the rest for your specific theme
import 'datatables.net-buttons-bs4'
import 'datatables.net-select-bs4'

import 'datatables.net-select-bs4/css/select.bootstrap4.min.css'
import 'datatables.net-buttons-bs4/css/buttons.bootstrap4.min.css'
</script>

See example App

Example App demonstrate how to pass overrides for our jQuery DataTable default options - https://github.com/niiknow/vue-datatables-net/blob/master/example/app.vue

NOTE:
Our example use a free API endpoint from typicode, which is simply a JSON endpoint. As a result, we needed to define a dataSrc wrapper like so:

ajax: {
  url: 'https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users',
  dataSrc: (json) => {
    return json
  }
}

Of course, for your implementation, simply use a server-side compatible parser. Below are some jQuery DataTables server-side parsers:

Documentation

Since it's a wrapper, all/most features are provided by the jQuery DataTables library.

Parameters

Our component parameters:

  props: {
    /**
     * The table id - useful for saveState
     *
     * @type String
     */
    id: {
      type: String
    },
    /**
     * Set the container classes.
     *
     * @type String
     */
    containerClassName: {
      type: String,
      default: 'table-responsive d-print-inline'
    },
    /**
     * Set the table classes you wish to use, default with bootstrap4
     * but you can override with: themeforest, foundation, etc..
     *
     * @type String
     */
    className: {
      type: String,
      default: 'table table-striped table-bordered nowrap w-100'
    },
    /**
     * the options object: https://datatables.net/manual/options
     *
     * @type Object
     */
    opts: {
      type: Object
    },
    /**
     * List all fields to be converted to opts columns
     *
     * @type Object
     */
    fields: {
      type: Object
    },
    /**
     * Pass in DataTables.Net jQuery to resolve any conflict from
     * multiple jQuery loaded in the browser
     *
     * @type Object
     */
    jquery: {
      type: Object
    },
    /**
     * Pass in Vue to resolve any conflict from multiple loaded
     *
     * @type Object
     */
    vue: {
      type: Object
    },
    /**
     * The select-checkbox column index (start at 1)
     * Current implementation require datatables.net-select
     *
     * @type Number
     */
    selectCheckbox: {
      type: Number
    },
    /**
     * Provide custom local data loading.  Warning: this option has not been
     * thoroughly tested.  Please use ajax and serverSide instead.
     *
     * @type Function
     */
    dataLoader: {
      type: Function
    },
    /**
     * true to hide the footer of the table
     *
     * @type Boolean
     */
    hideFooter: {
      type: Boolean
    },
    /**
     * The details column configuration of master/details.
     *
     * @type {Object}
     */
    details: {
      type: Object
    }
  }

fields is an schema object that identify all datatables.net columns, example:

Example:

fields: {
  _id: { label: "ID" },
  title: { label: "Title", searchable: true, sortable: true },
  type: { label: "Type" }
}

Field properties

  • label Title for display
  • searchable true to enable search of field
  • sortable false to disable sorting
  • name to override the name
  • data differentiate server-side sorting field - optional default to name
  • visible false to hide
  • width to provide custom width
  • className set column class names
  • defaultContent provide default html when no data available
  • render custom cell rendering function https://datatables.net/reference/option/columns.render
  • template simple vue template for the field. See example App.
  • defaultOrder null, asc/desc - the default/initial sort order
  • isLocal same as setting both searchable and sortable to false
  • index allow for column positioning

It is important to understand why it is better to use fields and not opts.columns. Though, fields is optional if one wish to use the raw opts.columns definition.

One Purpose of this component is to extend jQuery DataTables function and features, example:

  • Simplification of features configuration, such as select-checkbox column, custom action buttons, and/or future Vue specific features.
  • Allow for customizable table heading on a per-column basis; thereby, not having to define all html for each column header.
  • Ability to have simple template field so you can pass schema JSON from static file or some API, instead of requiring to define a javascript render function. Though, the render function would provide best performance.
  • Having schema also allow for future features, such as editable column/cell.

events

Custom events for this component.

<vdtnet-table ...
  @table-creating="doSomethingBeforeDataTableCreate"
  @table-created="doSomethingImmediatelyAfterTableCreatedAndInitialized"
  @reloaded="doSomethingAfterDataLoadOrReloaded"
/>

   doSomethingImmediatelyAfterTableCreatedAndInitialized(vdtnet) {
    // use vdtnet.dataTable to access the jQuery DataTables object, example:
     vdtnet.dataTable.on( 'order.dt',  function () { eventFired( 'Order' ); } )
   }
  • table-creating this is right before jQuery(el).DataTable(component.options) is called allowing you to modify component options.
  • table-created this is after we called jQuery(el).DataTable and initialized all the columns.
  • reloaded this is after data has been load/reloaded

Additional Headers

Many server-side usage require CSRF and/or API token headers. Since jQuery DataTables options are completely exposed as opts, simply use the native method per jQuery DataTables example

i.e, something like:

opts: {
  'ajax': {
    'url': url,
    'type': 'GET',
    'beforeSend': function (request) {
        request.setRequestHeader("token", token);
    }
  }
}

// or as headers parameter
opts: {
  'ajax': {
    'url': url,
    'type': 'GET',
    'headers': {
      'CSRFToken': TOKEN
    }
  }
}

// or as query parameter
opts: {
  'ajax': {
    'url': url,
    'type': 'GET',
    'data': function ( d ) {
      d.CSRFToken = TOKEN;
    }
  }
}

If you haven't already guessed, ajax is basically the signature of jQuery.ajax, which can be seen in this jQuery DataTables ajax pipeline code demonstration.

Row Action Buttons

Use data-action attribute to automatically wire up any action button/elements. To render action button/element in a row, simply define dummy field like so:

actions: {
  label: 'Actions',
  defaultContent: '<a href="javascript:void(0);" data-action="edit" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm"><i class="mdi mdi-square-edit-outline"></i> Edit</a>' +
    '<span data-action="delete" class="btn btn-danger btn-sm"><i class="mdi mdi-delete"></i> Delete</span>'
}

Reload method and reloaded event

Allow you to refresh ajax content after some event. Let say you have something like this:

<template>
  <div id="app">
    <vdtnet-table
      :fields="fields"
      :opts="options"
      ref="table"
      @delete="doAjaxDelete"
      @reloaded="doSomethingAfterReload"
    />
  </div>
</template>
<script>
// ... component top ...
  methods: {
    doAjaxDelete(data, row, tr, target) {
      // do some ajax delete
      // then reload after ajax complete
      this.$refs.table.reload()
    },
    doSomethingAfterReload(data, table) {
      // some something after data loaded from server
    }
  }
// ... component bottom ...

Customizable table head (th) columns

Let say you have a column description, you can provide table head template for the description column like so:

<template slot="HEAD_description">
  <h1>desc</h1>
</template>

dom (Searching and Toolbar)

dom configuration defines how jQuery DataTables components are rendered - https://datatables.net/reference/option/dom

Our default configuration compatible with Bootstrap4 is:

"tr<'row vdtnet-footer'<'col-sm-12 col-md-5'i><'col-sm-12 col-md-7'pl>>"

This is based on the configuration lftiprB, also see: https://datatables.net/reference/option/dom

Note, we do not include toolbar buttons (B) or search control (s). This is because we defer these functions to you (the User). Toolbar Buttons are client-side; and since we do not use client-side, we don't need these buttons. We expose a search method on vdtnet-table so you can use this method to perform search.

Simply create your own Buttons for server-side exports, bulk, and/or other things. Create your own search control and use the search method. See example App. All these things are now Vue natives.

Though, if you really insists on using these client-side controls, simply override the default opts.dom and opts.buttons with your own settings.

getServerParams method

This function return the parameters last used by our server-side endpoint. It allow you to use for server-side export API call. Example:

const parms = this.$refs.table.getServerParams()
parms.export = 'csv'
// boom export
const url = 'export.php?' + $.param(data)
window.open(url)

Responsive

  1. In Bootstrap4, there's a class called table-responsive that wrap the table at each screen breakpoint. We apply this class on our wrapper div to make the table scroll horizontally. We also include d-print-inline for print.

  2. Alternatively, you can set options.responsive = true to use jQuery DataTable responsive plugin. WARNING: This plugin does not play well with select-checkbox, master-details, and many other features. It is recommended to use option 1 above.

Master-details pattern

details configuration allow you to create template for displaying details row in Master-details pattern. Schema:

{
  index: 'a number (start at 1) representing the column position',
  template: 'the template where {{ data.column }} is the item/row data',
  render: 'provide a custom render function as alternative to template'
}

Native templating (sort-of) explained

Take a look at example app, you can template:

 <template
  slot="address2"
  slot-scope="ctx"
>
  <span>{{ ctx.data.city }}, {{ ctx.comp.formatCode(ctx.data.zipcode) }}</span>
</template>
  • slot is the field/column name
  • slot-scope define the context object as ctx in this example
  • The context object will have the following properties
    1. data the column value, in this case is address property which is an object with sub-properties (street, suite, city, zipcode, geo, etc...)
    2. type the jQuery DataTables rendering type, usually display
    3. row the entire row data
    4. meta jQuery DataTables column config
    5. vdtnet the vdtnet table object
    6. def vdtnet field config
    7. comp your component, notice how it demonstrate calling of a function on the example component to strip out all number after the dash. You can use this to do things like permission checking. Also see Note below.

Note: Things that are related to display rendering should work. Event handling doesn't work and I'm still looking for better way handle this. Of course, you can still use data-action to handle clicks.

Export

This is something you want to explore on your own. We try our best to provide as much example of export as possible in our demo, but Server-Side and/or Language/Framework Specific Code is too much/time-consuming to dive into. Also, sometime output rendering are ties to specific requirement and cannot generically meet everyone needs. We suggest that you create a Bounty for your specific needs.

Client-Side
This is mostly provided by jQuery DataTables. We demonstrate in our default demo. You can find the documentation for Buttons directly on the jQuery DataTables website.

Server-Side
Our demo for server-side export is here: https://laratt.niiknow.org/home/contacts

The source of the demo can be found here: https://github.com/niiknow/laratt-api
And, specifically, the client-side vue component usage source: https://github.com/niiknow/laratt-api/blob/5117bfae1273b31f95af6aa99c51aae7fc413d2f/resources/js/components/DataTableNet.vue#L148

The code use convention to calculate a route/url as:

url: that.$app.apiRoute(that.rName, that.rPath),

Which result to a URL like so: https://laratt.niiknow.org/api/v1/democontact/example?x-tenant=test&x-api-key=demo123

And the server-side source for the export is simply: https://github.com/niiknow/laratt-api/blob/876ce385fc64d83b564f2e697790465675741634/api/Controllers/DemoContactController.php#L90

As far as PDF export, you will need to handle this yourself. Tip, use laravel-snappy. The basic concept is to render your result to some html/blade template and use laravel-snappy to convert HTML to PDF.

Export Tip
Outside of csv export, most modern OS and Browser support PDF printing. As a result, simply instruct the user to Print your page and use printing CSS to manipulate for exporting of PDF.

Tips

If you're like us, you want to write as little code as possible; as in, application of the DRY Principle. This mean the UI has a standard look/feel/behavior; where toolbar, search, and other controls are place at specific location. So this mean you want to wrap this component inside your own component? Our sample App give you a good idea on how to start. Below are a few things to consider:

  1. Identify all properties of the new component and howto translate into this component. Example: hidePageLength -> opts.lengthChange, hideQuickSearch -> v-if on quickSearch form, hideToolbar -> v-if on toolbar div, etc...
  2. Identify methods to wrap, i.e. your component API: reload, getServerParams, etc...
  3. Wrap individual action events you want to expose, or simply wrap with v-on="$listeners" to pipe all events from this component to your component.

GitHub