phpDataTables

version 1.0

phpDataTables is a simple wrapper for DataTables, written as a jQuery plugin as well as a universal PHP script that handles communication with an Oracle or MySQL database.

Why?

• You don't need to write a new serverside script for every ajax-sourced datatable.
• It normalizes table structure, in fact, you can instantiate it on a <div> and forget the table entirely as long as you include the columns parameter.

Why Not?

• If you're using this on a public facing website/application and you consider your table structure sensitive information. It's fine for the company intranet.

How?

You need three file on your server and they must all be in the same directory. Create a /phpDataTables directory on the server or just copy the whole project to the server. At minimum you must have these three files:

• phpDataTables.js - To be included in your HTML, after including the relevant jQuery and DataTables scripts.
• phpDataTables.php - This handles the interaction with the database. The JS plugin assumes this is in the same directory as phpDataTables.js.
• config.ini - This holds database access information (User, password, etc) - You must fill in the values in this file to be able to connect.

phpDataTables only requires 1 parameter if instantiating upon a <table> - The dataquery parameter - which is an SQL query that returns ll the data that is to be shown in the table. The columns returned must match the column names in the table header.

<table id='datatable'>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <td>Column A</td>
      <td>Column B</td>
    </tr>
  </thead>
</table>

$("#datatable").phpDataTable({
	dataquery: "SELECT `a` as `Column A`, `b` as `Column B` FROM myTable",
});

If instantiating on a <div> phpDataTables also requires a columns array. The column names in this array must match the column names returned by the query.

<div id="datatable"></div>

$("#datatable").phpDataTable({
	columns: ["Column A","Column B"],
	dataquery: "SELECT `a` as `Column A`, `b` as `Column B` FROM myTable",
});

All other options provided in the settings object are passed directly to the DataTables constructor. Which means you can pass it a columnDefs array or any other DataTables Options.