DataTables example - Order direction sequence control

At times you may wish to change the default ordering direction sequence for columns (some or all of them) to be 'descending' rather than DataTables' default ascending. This can be done through the use of the columns.orderSequence initialisation parameter. This parameter also allows you to limit the ordering to a single direction, or you could add complex behaviour to the ordering interaction.

The example below shows:

  • Column 1 - default ordering
  • Column 2 - default ordering
  • Column 3 - ascending ordering only
  • Column 4 - descending ordering, followed by ascending and then ascending again
  • Column 5 - descending ordering only
  • Column 6 - default ordering

It's worth noting that I don't have a good use case for when you might what to mix such complex ordering behaviour into a single table, but the example shows how these options can be use and therefore applied across all columns.

Name Position Office Age Start date Salary
Name Position Office Age Start date Salary
Tiger Nixon System Architect Edinburgh 61 2011/04/25 $3,120
Garrett Winters Director Edinburgh 63 2011/07/25 $5,300
Ashton Cox Technical Author San Francisco 66 2009/01/12 $4,800
Cedric Kelly Javascript Developer Edinburgh 22 2012/03/29 $3,600
Jenna Elliott Financial Controller Edinburgh 33 2008/11/28 $5,300
Brielle Williamson Integration Specialist New York 61 2012/12/02 $4,525
Herrod Chandler Sales Assistant San Francisco 59 2012/08/06 $4,080
Rhona Davidson Integration Specialist Edinburgh 55 2010/10/14 $6,730
Colleen Hurst Javascript Developer San Francisco 39 2009/09/15 $5,000
Sonya Frost Software Engineer Edinburgh 23 2008/12/13 $3,600
Jena Gaines System Architect London 30 2008/12/19 $5,000
Quinn Flynn Financial Controller Edinburgh 22 2013/03/03 $4,200
Charde Marshall Regional Director San Francisco 36 2008/10/16 $5,300
Haley Kennedy Senior Marketing Designer London 43 2012/12/18 $4,800
Tatyana Fitzpatrick Regional Director London 19 2010/03/17 $2,875
Michael Silva Senior Marketing Designer London 66 2012/11/27 $3,750
Paul Byrd Javascript Developer New York 64 2010/06/09 $5,000
Gloria Little Systems Administrator New York 59 2009/04/10 $3,120
Bradley Greer Software Engineer London 41 2012/10/13 $3,120
Dai Rios System Architect Edinburgh 35 2012/09/26 $4,200
Jenette Caldwell Financial Controller New York 30 2011/09/03 $4,965
Yuri Berry System Architect New York 40 2009/06/25 $3,600
Caesar Vance Technical Author New York 21 2011/12/12 $4,965
Doris Wilder Sales Assistant Edinburgh 23 2010/09/20 $4,965
Angelica Ramos System Architect London 36 2009/10/09 $2,875
Gavin Joyce Developer Edinburgh 42 2010/12/22 $4,525
Jennifer Chang Regional Director London 28 2010/11/14 $4,080
Brenden Wagner Software Engineer San Francisco 18 2011/06/07 $3,750
Ebony Grimes Software Engineer San Francisco 48 2010/03/11 $2,875
Russell Chavez Director Edinburgh 20 2011/08/14 $3,600
Michelle House Integration Specialist Edinburgh 37 2011/06/02 $3,750
Suki Burks Developer London 53 2009/10/22 $2,875
Prescott Bartlett Technical Author London 27 2011/05/07 $6,730
Gavin Cortez Technical Author San Francisco 22 2008/10/26 $6,730
Martena Mccray Integration Specialist Edinburgh 46 2011/03/09 $4,080
Unity Butler Senior Marketing Designer San Francisco 47 2009/12/09 $3,750
Howard Hatfield Financial Controller San Francisco 51 2008/12/16 $4,080
Hope Fuentes Financial Controller San Francisco 41 2010/02/12 $4,200
Vivian Harrell System Architect San Francisco 62 2009/02/14 $4,965
Timothy Mooney Financial Controller London 37 2008/12/11 $4,200
Jackson Bradshaw Director New York 65 2008/09/26 $5,000
Miriam Weiss Support Engineer Edinburgh 64 2011/02/03 $4,965
Bruno Nash Software Engineer London 38 2011/05/03 $4,200
Odessa Jackson Support Engineer Edinburgh 37 2009/08/19 $3,600
Thor Walton Developer New York 61 2013/08/11 $3,600
Finn Camacho Support Engineer San Francisco 47 2009/07/07 $4,800
Elton Baldwin Data Coordinator Edinburgh 64 2012/04/09 $6,730
Zenaida Frank Software Engineer New York 63 2010/01/04 $4,800
Zorita Serrano Software Engineer San Francisco 56 2012/06/01 $5,300
Jennifer Acosta Javascript Developer Edinburgh 43 2013/02/01 $2,875
Cara Stevens Sales Assistant New York 46 2011/12/06 $4,800
Hermione Butler Director London 47 2011/03/21 $4,080
Lael Greer Systems Administrator London 21 2009/02/27 $3,120
Jonas Alexander Developer San Francisco 30 2010/07/14 $5,300
Shad Decker Regional Director Edinburgh 51 2008/11/13 $5,300
Michael Bruce Javascript Developer Edinburgh 29 2011/06/27 $4,080
Donna Snider System Architect New York 27 2011/01/25 $3,120

The Javascript shown below is used to initialise the table shown in this example:

$(document).ready(function() {
	$('#example').dataTable( {
		"aoColumns": [
			null,
			null,
			{ "orderSequence": [ "asc" ] },
			{ "orderSequence": [ "desc", "asc", "asc" ] },
			{ "orderSequence": [ "desc" ] },
			null
		]
	} );
} );

In addition to the above code, the following Javascript library files are loaded for use in this example:

The HTML shown below is the raw HTML table element, before it has been enhanced by DataTables:

This example uses a little bit of additional CSS beyond what is loaded from the library files (below), in order to correctly display the table. The additional CSS used is shown below:


The following CSS library files are loaded for use in this example to provide the styling of the table:

This table loads data by Ajax. The latest data that has been loaded is shown below. This data will update automatically as any additional data is loaded.