how to load dynamic json to jquery datatable

Question

I want to load dynamic data into my jquery datatable. That means, before I get the json data from server, I don't know what fields it contains, but I'm sure the json is valid. It will looks like below,

"data": [
{
  "first_name": "Airi",
  "last_name": "Satou",
  "position": "Accountant",
  "office": "Tokyo",
  "start_date": "28th Nov 08",
  "salary": "$162,700"
},
{
  "first_name": "Angelica",
  "last_name": "Ramos",
  "position": "Chief Executive Officer (CEO)",
  "office": "London",
  "start_date": "9th Oct 09",
  "salary": "$1,200,000"
}

]

sometimes, it may only contains 'first_name' and 'last_name'.

I've searched a long time, all of the samples specify 'aoColumnsDef' or 'aoColumns'. But I don't know the exact fileds. Is there a way to fill jquery datatable using the field name in json as the header of the table and the field value as the body of the table? For example, the json data only contains two fields, 'first_name' and 'last_name', the table should contains two columns 'first_name' and 'last_name'. If the json contains 3 fields, the table should display the 3 columns. I'm sure all of the items in "data" have the same fields.

Thanks in advance!

I understand that you don't know what kind of object you are going to receive in the array of data, but all the objects in the array would be equal? — josedefreitasc

BLSully BLSully · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-06T17:07:46

Using your example data, loop over the first record as your 'example' data, then create the column definitions on the fly like so:

EDIT: example of original code with an xhr call to retrieve data

$(document).ready(function() {
  
  //callback function that configures and initializes DataTables
  function renderTable(xhrdata) {
    var cols = [];

    var exampleRecord = xhrdata[0];

    var keys = Object.keys(exampleRecord);

    keys.forEach(function(k) {
      cols.push({
        title: k,
        data: k
          //optionally do some type detection here for render function
      });
    });

    var table = $('#example').DataTable({
      columns: cols
    });

    table.rows.add(xhrdata).draw();
  }

  //xhr call to retrieve data
  var xhrcall = $.ajax('/path/to/data');

  //promise syntax to render after xhr completes
  xhrcall.done(renderTable);
});

var data = [{
  "first_name": "Airi",
  "last_name": "Satou",
  "position": "Accountant",
  "office": "Tokyo",
  "start_date": "28th Nov 08",
  "salary": "$162,700"
},
{
  "first_name": "Angelica",
  "last_name": "Ramos",
  "position": "Chief Executive Officer (CEO)",
  "office": "London",
  "start_date": "9th Oct 09",
  "salary": "$1,200,000"
}];

$(document).ready( function () {
  var cols = [];
  
  var exampleRecord = data[0];
  
  //get keys in object. This will only work if your statement remains true that all objects have identical keys
  var keys = Object.keys(exampleRecord);
  
  //for each key, add a column definition
  keys.forEach(function(k) {
    cols.push({
      title: k,
      data: k
      //optionally do some type detection here for render function
    });
  });
  
  //initialize DataTables
  var table = $('#example').DataTable({
    columns: cols
  });
  
  //add data and draw
  table.rows.add(data).draw();
});

body {
  font: 90%/1.45em "Helvetica Neue", HelveticaNeue, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
  color: #333;
  background-color: #fff;
}


div.container {
  min-width: 980px;
  margin: 0 auto;
}

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.11.1.min.js"></script>

    <link href="//datatables.net/download/build/nightly/jquery.dataTables.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
    <script src="//datatables.net/download/build/nightly/jquery.dataTables.js"></script>

    <meta charset=utf-8 />
    <title>DataTables - JS Bin</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div class="container">
      <table id="example" class="display" width="100%">
      </table>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

how to load dynamic json to jquery datatable

2 Answers