Preamble

DataTables has most features enabled by default, so all you need to do to use it with one of your own tables is to call the construction function (as shown below).

Live example

Initialisation code

/* Formating function for row details */
function fnFormatDetails ( oTable, nTr )
{
	var aData = oTable.fnGetData( nTr );
	var sOut = '<table cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="padding-left:50px;">';
	sOut += '<tr><td>Rendering engine:</td><td>'+aData[1]+' '+aData[4]+'</td></tr>';
	sOut += '<tr><td>Link to source:</td><td>Could provide a link here</td></tr>';
	sOut += '<tr><td>Extra info:</td><td>And any further details here (images etc)</td></tr>';
	sOut += '</table>';
	
	return sOut;
}

$(document).ready(function() {
	/*
	 * Insert a 'details' column to the table
	 */
	var nCloneTh = document.createElement( 'th' );
	var nCloneTd = document.createElement( 'td' );
	nCloneTd.innerHTML = '<img src="../examples_support/details_open.png">';
	nCloneTd.className = "center";
	
	$('#example thead tr').each( function () {
		this.insertBefore( nCloneTh, this.childNodes[0] );
	} );
	
	$('#example tbody tr').each( function () {
		this.insertBefore(  nCloneTd.cloneNode( true ), this.childNodes[0] );
	} );
	
	/*
	 * Initialse DataTables, with no sorting on the 'details' column
	 */
	var oTable = $('#example').dataTable( {
		"aoColumnDefs": [
			{ "bSortable": false, "aTargets": [ 0 ] }
		],
		"aaSorting": [[1, 'asc']]
	});
	
	/* Add event listener for opening and closing details
	 * Note that the indicator for showing which row is open is not controlled by DataTables,
	 * rather it is done here
	 */
	$('#example tbody td img').live('click', function () {
		var nTr = $(this).parents('tr')[0];
		if ( oTable.fnIsOpen(nTr) )
		{
			/* This row is already open - close it */
			this.src = "../examples_support/details_open.png";
			oTable.fnClose( nTr );
		}
		else
		{
			/* Open this row */
			this.src = "../examples_support/details_close.png";
			oTable.fnOpen( nTr, fnFormatDetails(oTable, nTr), 'details' );
		}
	} );
} );

Other examples