DataTables add column dynamically to table

Question

I'm using DataTables (datatables.net) to display data from an Ajax source and having trouble customizing it. One thing I would like to do is add a column so I can have for example an 'edit' button for each row.

The closest thing to that in the examples is here but I can't get that to work with an ajax source.

Currently, I'm using the following code to display my table:

fnServerObjectToArray = function ( aElements ){
    return function ( sSource, aoData, fnCallback ) {
        $.ajax( {
            "dataType": 'json', 
            "type": "POST", 
            "url": sSource, 
            "data": aoData, 
            "success": function (json) {
                var a = [];
                for ( var i=0, iLen=json.aaData.length ; i<iLen ; i++ ) {
                    var inner = [];
                    for ( var j=0, jLen=aElements.length ; j<jLen ; j++ ) {

                        inner.push( json.aaData[i][aElements[j]] );
                    }
                    a.push( inner );
                }
                json.aaData = a;
                fnCallback(json);
            }
        } );
    }
}

$(document).ready(function() {
    $('#example').dataTable( {
        "bProcessing": true,
        "sAjaxSource": 'get_data.php',
        "fnServerData": fnServerObjectToArray( [ 'username', 'email' ] )
    } );
}); 

Answer 1

Why don't you use fnRenderFunction in the aoColumns? As an example:

aoColumns: [ { "bVisible": false} , null, null, null, null,
  { "sName": "ID",
    "bSearchable": false,
    "bSortable": false,
    "fnRender": function (oObj) {
       return "<a href='EditData.php?id=" + oObj.aData[0] + "'>Edit</a>";
     }
  }
]

You can use it to format the value from the server side.

See similar example on the http://jquery-datatables-editable.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/ajax-inlinebuttons.html (ignore specific settings for the editable plugin)

Answer 2

I've created columns with edit button and links and so on, but usually i do everything server side by custominzg the data i return and then show/hide them with the aoColumns option. I don't really understand what you are tring to achieve: display server side data as a link?