how can I trigger jquery datatables fnServerData to update a table via AJAX when I click a button?

Question

I\'m using the datatables plugin with server-side data and am updating the table using AJAX.

My dataTables setup looks like this:

tblOrders = parame         


        

Answer 1

I found this script some time ago (so I don't remember where it came from :( and who to credit for it :'( ) but here :

$.fn.dataTableExt.oApi.fnReloadAjax = function (oSettings, sNewSource, fnCallback, bStandingRedraw) {
    if (typeof sNewSource != 'undefined' && sNewSource != null) {
        oSettings.sAjaxSource = sNewSource;
    }
    this.oApi._fnProcessingDisplay(oSettings, true);
    var that = this;
    var iStart = oSettings._iDisplayStart;
    var aData = [];

    this.oApi._fnServerParams(oSettings, aData);

    oSettings.fnServerData(oSettings.sAjaxSource, aData, function (json) {
        /* Clear the old information from the table */
        that.oApi._fnClearTable(oSettings);

        /* Got the data - add it to the table */
        var aData = (oSettings.sAjaxDataProp !== "") ?
            that.oApi._fnGetObjectDataFn(oSettings.sAjaxDataProp)(json) : json;

        for (var i = 0; i < aData.length; i++) {
            that.oApi._fnAddData(oSettings, aData[i]);
        }

        oSettings.aiDisplay = oSettings.aiDisplayMaster.slice();
        that.fnDraw();

        if (typeof bStandingRedraw != 'undefined' && bStandingRedraw === true) {
            oSettings._iDisplayStart = iStart;
            that.fnDraw(false);
        }

        that.oApi._fnProcessingDisplay(oSettings, false);

        /* Callback user function - for event handlers etc */
        if (typeof fnCallback == 'function' && fnCallback != null) {
            fnCallback(oSettings);
        }
    }, oSettings);
}

Add that BEFORE you call the datatable initialization function. then you can just call the reload like this:

$("#userFilter").on("change", function () {
        oTable.fnReloadAjax(); // In your case this would be 'tblOrders.fnReloadAjax();'
    });

userFilter is an ID for a dropdown, so when it changes, it reloads the data for the table. I just added this as an example but you can trigger it on any event.