DataTable: improve empty space handling of scrollable DataTable

[sudheerj]

Hi,

When we have less number of records in vertical scrollable table then it has empty space between content and footer section.This can be replicated on showcase with less number of records as below.

Regards,

[sudheerj]

Ofcourse the workaround is conditionally declare scrollheight based on number of records.

[kukel]

And how should it behave? Shrink? Or populate the free space with zebra-striped empty and non-selectable rows? The latter is not that difficult (I did it once). And it would even be easier if PF used css odd/even selectors with (either via real css or applying via jquery
) instead of applying odd/even in the renderer

[mtbadi39]

populate the free space with zebra-striped empty and non-selectable rows :) I agree

[sudheerj]

In that case it shoudn't show any empty space.In my opinion when there are no records why we need free space with zebra-striped empty and non-selectable rows.

[kukel]

Because it is 'good practice' In UX. It creates a less 'jumpy'/'flashy' userinterface. Things stay at the same place (e.g. datatable footers ,column footers, paginator at the bottom etc...)

[mtbadi39]

@kukel : +1
May be in non-responsives pages, it is preferable that dataTable to occupy all available space with no care for the number of records.

[mauromol]

I think there are cases in which the useless wasted space is unwanted, even if it may produce a "jumpy" UI (the web is full of such kind of things, anyway...).
Having an option to either fill the empty space with empty rows or rather shrink the table would be a useful feature for me. For both dataTable and treeTable.
Here is my CSS workaround to make the table shrink:
http://forum.primefaces.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=42088&p=150132#p150132

[kukel]

I still have a client-side jquery based 'patch' for this. I'll look for it and try to create a PR. Most of the complexity is in the usage of the odd-row and even-row classes that PF (or rather jquery) uses. Using nth-child selectors would have made it easier. Not sure if jquery 3 still uses these but it might be the right time for PF to switch.

[melloware]

@tandraschko @kukel I believe this issue was fixed with this ticket: #4357 It can be marked for 6.3