Introducing Responsive for DataTables
When building a modern web-site you will typically use a responsive design. The advantages of doing so are clear; one site that works on all devices regardless of screen size means much lower maintenance costs and an improved experience for your customers. Even better is that responsive design is built into the core of most ready-rolled CSS frameworks, such as Bootstrap and Foundation, so you can get the benefits with minimal development effort.
While the frameworks handle responsive layout for content extremely well, they don't really handle responsive tables [1]. This is where Responsive for DataTables comes in - it uses DataTables' built in column visibility APIs to optimise the layout of the table for the screen size that the table is being viewed on.
Background
Back in 2011 Chris Coyier wrote an article for CSS-Tricks describing responsive data tables. Then in 2012 he wrote a follow up piece that shows a number of different techniques that can be used to make tables responsive.
There are a number of excellent examples of Javascript libraries which implement responsive tables in addition to Chris Coyier's original implementation, such as FooTable developed by themergency.com and Responsive Tables from Zrub.
So the idea of responsive tables is not new, but Responsive for DataTables is the first library that implements the concept for DataTables, allowing you to build on top of all the other features of DataTables and its other extensions, while now also gaining the benefits from responsive tables.
Using Responsive
Responsive for DataTables is designed to be as simple as possible to use. To get started, you just need to include the Responsive CSS and Javascript, when you can get by downloading the Responsive package or using the files on the DataTables CDN:
Then simply add the class responsive (or dt-responsive if responsive already means something in your CSS framework, as it does in Bootstrap) to your table and Responsive will be initialised automatically when you create the DataTable.
As an alternative to class initialisation you can add the responsive option to your DataTable configuration object. For example:
$('#myTable').DataTable( {
responsive: true
} );
That's it!
You may wish to add the class nowrap to your DataTable as well, which will stop the browser reflowing text in cells onto multiple lines (a feature provided by the DataTables stylesheet) and there are a range of options that you can use to configure how Responsive behaves if you so wish.
Features
Designed to be simple to use both for you the developer using Responsive and the end user using the table with Responsive enabled, the default settings and feature set are intentionally fairly basic. However, Responsive provides configuration options to allow customisation of almost every aspect of its operation:
- Columns that that don't fit into the available area are removed automatically
- Classes can be used to specify which columns should be shown on particular devices.
- DataTables' child row API capabilities are used to show data from the hidden columns
- Child row functionality can be disabled or customised with your own renderer (
responsive.details.renderer) - The activation for display of the child row can be customised (
responsive.details.type)
The above, and more, are documentation on the Responsive manual pages of this site. Also included are:
- Examples - showing the different aspects of how Responsive can be customised.
- Reference - detailed documentation of each configuration option.
It is worth noting that Responsive requires DataTables 1.10.1 or newer (available from the download page). Additionally, although more of an internal implementation point, Responsive is the first DataTables extension to be built using the new DataTables 1.10 documentation style, so the reference for Responsive will always be clear, well presented and tightly integrated with DataTables. The other extensions will also be updated to this newer style in future.
Example
The table below shows an example of Responsive being used on a table. Resize your browser window to see it automatically adjust the table layout for the browser size.
| Name | Position | Office | Age | Start date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tiger Nixon | System Architect | Edinburgh | 61 | 2011-04-25 | $320,800 |
| Garrett Winters | Accountant | Tokyo | 63 | 2011-07-25 | $170,750 |
| Ashton Cox | Junior Technical Author | San Francisco | 66 | 2009-01-12 | $86,000 |
| Cedric Kelly | Senior Javascript Developer | Edinburgh | 22 | 2012-03-29 | $433,060 |
| Airi Satou | Accountant | Tokyo | 33 | 2008-11-28 | $162,700 |
| Brielle Williamson | Integration Specialist | New York | 61 | 2012-12-02 | $372,000 |
| Herrod Chandler | Sales Assistant | San Francisco | 59 | 2012-08-06 | $137,500 |
| Rhona Davidson | Integration Specialist | Tokyo | 55 | 2010-10-14 | $327,900 |
| Colleen Hurst | Javascript Developer | San Francisco | 39 | 2009-09-15 | $205,500 |
| Sonya Frost | Software Engineer | Edinburgh | 23 | 2008-12-13 | $103,600 |
| Jena Gaines | Office Manager | London | 30 | 2008-12-19 | $90,560 |
| Quinn Flynn | Support Lead | Edinburgh | 22 | 2013-03-03 | $342,000 |
| Charde Marshall | Regional Director | San Francisco | 36 | 2008-10-16 | $470,600 |
| Haley Kennedy | Senior Marketing Designer | London | 43 | 2012-12-18 | $313,500 |
| Tatyana Fitzpatrick | Regional Director | London | 19 | 2010-03-17 | $385,750 |
| Michael Silva | Marketing Designer | London | 66 | 2012-11-27 | $198,500 |
| Paul Byrd | Chief Financial Officer (CFO) | New York | 64 | 2010-06-09 | $725,000 |
| Gloria Little | Systems Administrator | New York | 59 | 2009-04-10 | $237,500 |
| Bradley Greer | Software Engineer | London | 41 | 2012-10-13 | $132,000 |
| Dai Rios | Personnel Lead | Edinburgh | 35 | 2012-09-26 | $217,500 |
| Jenette Caldwell | Development Lead | New York | 30 | 2011-09-03 | $345,000 |
| Yuri Berry | Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) | New York | 40 | 2009-06-25 | $675,000 |
| Caesar Vance | Pre-Sales Support | New York | 21 | 2011-12-12 | $106,450 |
| Doris Wilder | Sales Assistant | Sydney | 23 | 2010-09-20 | $85,600 |
| Angelica Ramos | Chief Executive Officer (CEO) | London | 47 | 2009-10-09 | $1,200,000 |
| Gavin Joyce | Developer | Edinburgh | 42 | 2010-12-22 | $92,575 |
| Jennifer Chang | Regional Director | Singapore | 28 | 2010-11-14 | $357,650 |
| Brenden Wagner | Software Engineer | San Francisco | 28 | 2011-06-07 | $206,850 |
| Fiona Green | Chief Operating Officer (COO) | San Francisco | 48 | 2010-03-11 | $850,000 |
| Shou Itou | Regional Marketing | Tokyo | 20 | 2011-08-14 | $163,000 |
| Michelle House | Integration Specialist | Sydney | 37 | 2011-06-02 | $95,400 |
| Suki Burks | Developer | London | 53 | 2009-10-22 | $114,500 |
| Prescott Bartlett | Technical Author | London | 27 | 2011-05-07 | $145,000 |
| Gavin Cortez | Team Leader | San Francisco | 22 | 2008-10-26 | $235,500 |
| Martena Mccray | Post-Sales support | Edinburgh | 46 | 2011-03-09 | $324,050 |
| Unity Butler | Marketing Designer | San Francisco | 47 | 2009-12-09 | $85,675 |
| Howard Hatfield | Office Manager | San Francisco | 51 | 2008-12-16 | $164,500 |
| Hope Fuentes | Secretary | San Francisco | 41 | 2010-02-12 | $109,850 |
| Vivian Harrell | Financial Controller | San Francisco | 62 | 2009-02-14 | $452,500 |
| Timothy Mooney | Office Manager | London | 37 | 2008-12-11 | $136,200 |
| Jackson Bradshaw | Director | New York | 65 | 2008-09-26 | $645,750 |
| Olivia Liang | Support Engineer | Singapore | 64 | 2011-02-03 | $234,500 |
| Bruno Nash | Software Engineer | London | 38 | 2011-05-03 | $163,500 |
| Sakura Yamamoto | Support Engineer | Tokyo | 37 | 2009-08-19 | $139,575 |
| Thor Walton | Developer | New York | 61 | 2013-08-11 | $98,540 |
| Finn Camacho | Support Engineer | San Francisco | 47 | 2009-07-07 | $87,500 |
| Serge Baldwin | Data Coordinator | Singapore | 64 | 2012-04-09 | $138,575 |
| Zenaida Frank | Software Engineer | New York | 63 | 2010-01-04 | $125,250 |
| Zorita Serrano | Software Engineer | San Francisco | 56 | 2012-06-01 | $115,000 |
| Jennifer Acosta | Junior Javascript Developer | Edinburgh | 43 | 2013-02-01 | $75,650 |
| Cara Stevens | Sales Assistant | New York | 46 | 2011-12-06 | $145,600 |
| Hermione Butler | Regional Director | London | 47 | 2011-03-21 | $356,250 |
| Lael Greer | Systems Administrator | London | 21 | 2009-02-27 | $103,500 |
| Jonas Alexander | Developer | San Francisco | 30 | 2010-07-14 | $86,500 |
| Shad Decker | Regional Director | Edinburgh | 51 | 2008-11-13 | $183,000 |
| Michael Bruce | Javascript Developer | Singapore | 29 | 2011-06-27 | $183,000 |
| Donna Snider | Customer Support | New York | 27 | 2011-01-25 | $112,000 |
| Name | Position | Office | Age | Start date | Salary |
Discussion
Feedback on Responsive, as it is with all other DataTables software, is always warmly welcomed. If you have any questions about Responsive please open a new thread in the forums and describe the issue or question that you have.
Footnotes
[1] Bootstrap does have responsive tables which allow the table to scroll horizontally, rather than reflowing the layout as Responsive does for DataTables.