Easy Data Table Generator with jQuery and JSON - Tabulator

The tabulator currently is a PURE JavaScript plugin since 4.0

Tabulator is a feature-rich jQuery plugin used for generating simple or complex data tables from any JSON data, with the following additional features:

• JSON, array or AJAX data loading
• Column sorting
• Custom data formatting
• Resizable columns
• Auto scaling to fit data/element
• Many theming options
• Custom click and context Events
• Callbacks at every stage of data processing and rendering
• Data filtering.

How to use it (4.0+):

1. Install it with NPM.

# NPM
$ npm install tabulator --save

2. Load the necessary JavaScript and CSS files in the html page.

<link href="dist/css/tabulator.min.css" rel="stylesheet">
<script src="dist/js/tabulator.min.js"></script>

3. Create a container to place the generated table.

<div id="myTable"></div>

4. Generate a data table from a columns array.

var instance = new Tabulator("#myTable", {
    columns:[
      {title:"Name", field:"name", width:200},
      {title:"Age", field:"age"},
      {title:"Gender", field:"gender"},
      {title:"Height", field:"height", width:80},
      {title:"Favourite Color", field:"col"},
      {title:"Date Of Birth", field:"dob"},
      {title:"Likes Cheese", field:"cheese"},
    ]
});

5. All possible options.

var instance = new Tabulator("#myTable", {

    height: false, //height of tabulator

    layout: "fitData", ///layout type "fitColumns" | "fitData"

    layoutColumnsOnNewData: false, //update column widths on setData

    columnMinWidth: 40, //minimum global width for a column

    columnVertAlign: "top", //vertical alignment of column headers

    resizableColumns: true, //resizable columns

    resizableRows: false, //resizable rows

    autoResize: true, //auto resize table

    columns: [], //store for colum header info

    data: [], //default starting data

    tooltips: false, //Tool tip value

    tooltipsHeader: false, //Tool tip for headers

    tooltipGenerationMode: "load", //when to generate tooltips

    initialSort: false, //initial sorting criteria

    initialFilter: false, //initial filtering criteria

    footerElement: false, //hold footer element

    index: "id", //filed for row index

    keybindings: [], //array for keybindings

    clipboard: false, //enable clipboard

    clipboardCopyStyled: true, //formatted table data

    clipboardCopySelector: "active", //method of chosing which data is coppied to the clipboard

    clipboardCopyFormatter: "table", //convert data to a clipboard string

    clipboardCopyHeader: true, //include table headers in copt

    clipboardPasteParser: "table", //convert pasted clipboard data to rows

    clipboardPasteAction: "insert", //how to insert pasted data into the table

    clipboardCopied: function clipboardCopied() {}, //data has been copied to the clipboard

    clipboardPasted: function clipboardPasted() {}, //data has been pasted into the table

    clipboardPasteError: function clipboardPasteError() {}, //data has not successfully been pasted into the table

    downloadDataFormatter: false, //function to manipulate table data before it is downloaded

    downloadReady: function downloadReady(data, blob) {
      return blob;
    }, //function to manipulate download data

    downloadComplete: false, //function to manipulate download data

    addRowPos: "bottom", //position to insert blank rows, top|bottom

    selectable: "highlight", //highlight rows on hover

    selectableRollingSelection: true, //roll selection once maximum number of selectable rows is reached

    selectablePersistence: true, // maintain selection when table view is updated

    selectableCheck: function selectableCheck(data, row) {
      return true;
    }, //check wheather row is selectable

    headerFilterPlaceholder: false, //placeholder text to display in header filters

    history: false, //enable edit history

    locale: false, //current system language

    langs: {},

    virtualDom: true, //enable DOM virtualization

    persistentLayout: false, //store column layout in memory

    persistentSort: false, //store sorting in memory

    persistentFilter: false, //store filters in memory

    persistenceID: "", //key for persistent storage

    persistenceMode: true, //mode for storing persistence information

    responsiveLayout: false, //responsive layout flags

    responsiveLayoutCollapseStartOpen: true, //start showing collapsed data

    responsiveLayoutCollapseUseFormatters: true, //responsive layout collapse formatter

    responsiveLayoutCollapseFormatter: false, //responsive layout collapse formatter

    pagination: false, //set pagination type

    paginationSize: false, //set number of rows to a page

    paginationButtonCount: 5, // set count of page button

    paginationElement: false, //element to hold pagination numbers

    paginationDataSent: {}, //pagination data sent to the server

    paginationDataReceived: {}, //pagination data received from the server

    paginationAddRow: "page", //add rows on table or page

    ajaxURL: false, //url for ajax loading

    ajaxURLGenerator: false,

    ajaxParams: {}, //params for ajax loading

    ajaxConfig: "get", //ajax request type

    ajaxRequestFunc: false, //promise function

    ajaxLoader: true, //show loader

    ajaxLoaderLoading: false, //loader element

    ajaxLoaderError: false, //loader element

    ajaxFiltering: false,

    ajaxSorting: false,

    ajaxProgressiveLoad: false, //progressive loading

    ajaxProgressiveLoadDelay: 0, //delay between requests

    ajaxProgressiveLoadScrollMargin: 0, //margin before scroll begins

    groupBy: false, //enable table grouping and set field to group by

    groupStartOpen: true, //starting state of group

    groupHeader: false, //header generation function

    movableColumns: false, //enable movable columns

    movableRows: false, //enable movable rows

    movableRowsConnectedTables: false, //tables for movable rows to be connected to

    movableRowsSender: false,

    movableRowsReceiver: "insert",

    movableRowsSendingStart: function movableRowsSendingStart() {},

    movableRowsSent: function movableRowsSent() {},

    movableRowsSentFailed: function movableRowsSentFailed() {},

    movableRowsSendingStop: function movableRowsSendingStop() {},

    movableRowsReceivingStart: function movableRowsReceivingStart() {},

    movableRowsReceived: function movableRowsReceived() {},

    movableRowsReceivedFailed: function movableRowsReceivedFailed() {},

    movableRowsReceivingStop: function movableRowsReceivingStop() {},

    scrollToRowPosition: "top",

    scrollToRowIfVisible: true,

    scrollToColumnPosition: "left",

    scrollToColumnIfVisible: true,

    rowFormatter: false,

    placeholder: false
    
});

6. Callback functions available.

var instance = new Tabulator("#myTable", {

    //table building callbacks

    tableBuilding: function tableBuilding() {},

    tableBuilt: function tableBuilt() {},

    //render callbacks

    renderStarted: function renderStarted() {},

    renderComplete: function renderComplete() {},

    //row callbacks

    rowClick: false,

    rowDblClick: false,

    rowContext: false,

    rowTap: false,

    rowDblTap: false,

    rowTapHold: false,

    rowAdded: function rowAdded() {},

    rowDeleted: function rowDeleted() {},

    rowMoved: function rowMoved() {},

    rowUpdated: function rowUpdated() {},

    rowSelectionChanged: function rowSelectionChanged() {},

    rowSelected: function rowSelected() {},

    rowDeselected: function rowDeselected() {},

    rowResized: function rowResized() {},

    //cell callbacks

    //row callbacks

    cellClick: false,

    cellDblClick: false,

    cellContext: false,

    cellTap: false,

    cellDblTap: false,

    cellTapHold: false,

    cellEditing: function cellEditing() {},

    cellEdited: function cellEdited() {},

    cellEditCancelled: function cellEditCancelled() {},

    //column callbacks

    columnMoved: false,

    columnResized: function columnResized() {},

    columnTitleChanged: function columnTitleChanged() {},

    columnVisibilityChanged: function columnVisibilityChanged() {},

    //HTML iport callbacks

    htmlImporting: function htmlImporting() {},

    htmlImported: function htmlImported() {},

    //data callbacks

    dataLoading: function dataLoading() {},

    dataLoaded: function dataLoaded() {},

    dataEdited: function dataEdited() {},

    //ajax callbacks

    ajaxRequesting: function ajaxRequesting() {},

    ajaxResponse: false,

    ajaxError: function ajaxError() {},

    //filtering callbacks

    dataFiltering: false,

    dataFiltered: false,

    //sorting callbacks

    dataSorting: function dataSorting() {},

    dataSorted: function dataSorted() {},

    //grouping callbacks

    groupToggleElement: "arrow",

    groupClosedShowCalcs: false,

    dataGrouping: function dataGrouping() {},

    dataGrouped: false,

    groupVisibilityChanged: function groupVisibilityChanged() {},

    groupClick: false,

    groupDblClick: false,

    groupContext: false,

    groupTap: false,

    groupDblTap: false,

    groupTapHold: false,

    columnCalcs: true,

    //pagination callbacks

    pageLoaded: function pageLoaded() {},

    //localization callbacks

    localized: function localized() {},

    //validation has failed

    validationFailed: function validationFailed() {},

    //history callbacks

    historyUndo: function historyUndo() {},

    historyRedo: function historyRedo() {}
    
});

How to use it (jQuery):

1. Load the necessary jQuery and Tabulator libraries in the html page.

<link href="dist/css/tabulator.min.css" rel="stylesheet">
<script src="dist/js/tabulator.min.js"></script>

2. Just load the jQuery Tabulator wrapper after jQuery library and we're ready to go.

<script src="jquery_wrapper.min.js"></script>

3. Generate a simple data table inside the container 'demo' from the JSON data you specify during initialization.

$("#demo").tabulator({
  columns:[
  {title:"Name", field:"name", width:200},
  {title:"Age", field:"age"},
  {title:"Gender", field:"gender"},
  {title:"Height", field:"height", width:80},
  {title:"Favourite Color", field:"col"},
  {title:"Date Of Birth", field:"dob"},
  {title:"Likes Cheese", field:"cheese"},
  ],
});

Changelog:

v4.2.7 (2019-04-30)

• Fix issue introduced in 4.2.6 that throws an exception when frozen columns and grouped rows are used in the same table
• Fix issue where titleFormatters were adding their contents to the wrong header element

v4.2.6 (2019-04-29)

• change tracking of header filter focus events to improve horizontal scroll render speed
• refactored frozen column rendering to improve render efficiency
• restore render efficiency of horizontal scroll to the level it was at pre 4.2 release
• allow row collapse column formatter to handle returned DOM Nodes as well as HTML strings to allow more formatters to display in collapsed column list
• fix logic issue on tickcross header filter key event trigger
• fixed the blur event on the number editor that regressed in the 4.2.4 release, the editor should now work on Firefox again
• fixed issue with double click on column group resize handle breaking the header layout and causing abnormal resize behaviour
• the autocomplete editor now correctly handles undefined initial values
• the bootstrap 4 theme now correctly displays frozen columns without transparency to the row below

v4.2.5 (2019-04-08)

• Fix Detached DOM Node Memory Leak
• Updates the ajaxLoaderError option now parses in HTML to match the functionality of the ajaxLoaderLoading option
• Updates clicking up/down arrow keys no longer triggers scroll of the table when using editors
• Updates the autocomp editor now passes an array of value objects to the searchFunc callback and expects a return value of a filtered array of those objects
• Updates the responsiveLayoutCollapseFormatter callback now receives an array of value objects rather than an object
• Lots of bugs fixed

v4.2.3 (2019-03-10)

• Fixed error on XSLX download if cell contains date object
• prevent tickCross header filter from triggering on a live change to prevent issues with false triggering of undefined state
• prevent error when calling delete function on grouped row when using reactiveData mode

v4.2.2 (2019-03-04)

• In data tree mode do not show expand element on row when _children property set to null
• In data tree mode allow a single row object to be passed directly to the _children property instead of being passed in an array
• Manual row height adjustments now persist after row re-initialization
• By default data tree elements are now inserted in the first visible column rather than the first defined column
• Data objects are now passed directly into the xlsx downloader rather than being formatted to allow column to be correctly defined as a date in the output file
• Bug fixed

v4.2.1 (2019-02-18)

• reactive data module now correctly unwatches arrays and objects
• reactive data module now better at determining whether a watch binding is current
• fixed context issue in table destroy function
• fixed issue with programmatic selection of rows when row selection is disabled on the table
• initial sorters are now correctly applied to tables with autocolumns enable on initial data set

v4.2.0 (2019-02-11)

• fixed readOnly bug in select editor
• fixed bug so that numbers with more than one comma in them will be parsed correctly.

v4.1.5 (2019-01-07)

• improve null handling in textarea editor

v4.1.4 (2018-12-19)

• if no ajaxURL is set when pagination it set to "remote" load blank array until setData is called

v4.1.3 (2018-11-26)

• prevent render glitch where table vertical scroll position was adjusted by the height of the horizontal scrollbar if present
• fix child node itteration issue on row grouping in IE

v4.1.2 (2018-11-13)

• prevent mutation of data entered into calculation rows

v4.1.1 (2018-11-07)

• handle promise rejection of final page of scroll progressive loading
• fix uncaught rejection handling on page module nextPage function

v4.1.0 (2018-11-05)

• rename selectableRangeType to selectableRangeMode
• add getColumn function to header filters sudo cell component
• fixed issue with formatter deprication map not updating correct param

v4.0.5 (2018-10-18)

• fix missing prentesis on getElement function call in movable rows module
• remove sanitatization of image formatter URL

v4.0.4 (2018-10-14)

• Removal of jQuery Dependancy
• Core Files Package
• Promises
• Ajax: Fetch, URL Generator, Request Function
• Extensions Renamed to Modules
• Callback Context
• Param Object Lookup Functions
• Clipboard Styling
• Formatters
• Filtering
• History Availability
• Pagination URL
• PDF Downloads
• Column Headers
• Row Component
• Column Component
• Cell Component
• Group Component
• Bug Fixes
• Removal of Depricated Functionlaity
• use ajax post form data instad of JSON to be consistent with get request
• ensure that header filters are only triggered on correct value change
• handle creating Tabulator on empy table element without erroring
• fix typo in scrollTo function of column component
• ensure tickCross formatter allows empty value on empty string

v3.5.3 (2018-06-25)

• fix nested row group collapse in classic render mode
• remove unneeded console.log

v3.5.2 (2018-05-20)

• match pagination element style to bootstrap element style for bootstrap 

v3.5.1 (2018-05-19)

• fix scope issue on navigation functions
• remove header filter input type to search conversion on microsoft browsers as they do not corretly implement the clear X button

v3.5.0 (2018-04-22)

• prevent selection of the same row more than once
• Fixed missing index scope issue on row deletion with history mode enabled
• Fix issues with bootstrap 4 row styling not working correctly with row selection enabled
• Unrestrict which attribulat values can be set on html table headers and parsed into Tabulator
• Prevent cell height being shorter than row height

v3.4.6 (2018-03-28)

• set correct max and min attributes on progress formatter to allow editor to correctly set boundries
• prevent infinite loop in cell focus when programatically triggering cell edit
• resolve merge conflicts

v3.4.5 (2018-03-23)

• prevent issues in using a single column definition object between multiple tables

v3.4.4 (2018-03-14)

• fix regresion in localized text loading
• ensure frozen rows are correclt initialize if they have not been rendered yet

v3.4.3 (2018-02-24)

• Rendering Performance
• Column Layout and Resizing
• Grouped Row Updates
• Persistent Configuration
• Resizable Rows
• Validator Updates
• Column Calculation Improvements
• Editing Updates
• Sorter Updates
• Filter Updates
• Formatting Updates
• History Extension Updates
• Row Position Informaton
• HTML Output
• General System Tweaks
• Ensure that componets are correctly generated for updateOrAddRow function
• Fix issues with progress bar formatter, it row respects the column "align" property, and the percentage scalling is now accurate
• Fix scrollTo bug when scrolling to end of table when rows available are less that the virtual dom buffer size

v3.4.2 (2018-02-19)

• Trigger header tooltip update on mouse enter
• Fix issue with unreachable return statments in null handling in number and array sorters
• Set tanle height before choosing render mode

v3.4.1 (2018-02-16)

• Fix regression with scrollTo Row functionality
• Allow local pagination with remote data
• Add tabulator-field attribute to the column header elements

v3.4.0 (2018-02-12)

• Fix default styling on select editor

v3.3.3 (2018-01-17)

• remove erronious initialization of keybindings array
• fix order of magnitude error in left margin of 5th level group element

v3.3.2 (2017-12-26)

• prevent "undefined" in blank table headers for getHTML function
• fixed scoping issue on variable in html import extension

v3.3.1 (2017-10-13)

• fix column header sort order in ajaxSorting mode
• keep horizontal scroll in same position after header filter

v3.3.0 (2017-10-08)

• New Column Layout System
• Input Validation
• Updated Group Functionality
• Multi Column Header Sort
• Column Calculations Updates
• Ajax Updates
• Ajax Sorting and Filtering
• Filter Function Updates
• Select All Filtered Rows
• Insert New Data Anywhere In Table
• Component Obeject Updates
• Pagination Updates
• Format Column Header Titles
• Custom Download Column Titles
• Export table data to HTML table
• General System Tweaks
• make row handles unselectable
• Correctly add group header visibility classes to header when virtual DOM is disabled
• prevent divide by zero error in fitColumns layout function

v3.2.2 (2017-09-18)

• prevent memory leak on row reinitialization
• fix self scope issue in column hide and show function
• fix missing return in getPAge and getPageMax functions
• fix issue with column header tooltip generation from function
• added getField function to header editor cell wrapper object

v3.2.1 (2017-08-06)

• ensure that sum calc only deals with numbers, added concat calc to join strings
• prevent memory leak on row reinitialization

v3.2 (2017-07-28)

• ensure zeros are trimmed from precision
• ensure zeros ave trimed from avg calc result
• ensure movable rows and groupd rows work correctly togeather
• fix typo in filter_type

v3.1.5 (2017-07-16)

• replace page up/down and home and end keybindings to allow for better table control accross browsers
• Revert "added touch events to cells and rows"

v3.1.4 (2017-07-09)

• removed timeout from initial dataload

v3.1.2 (2017-07-02)

• remove unessisary console.log

v3.1.1 (2017-06-28)

• prevent hidden tables from breaking the virtual render and force the redar function to redraw all elements when the second parameter is true
• fix issue in row sort refresh function
• return cell component instead of cell from row.getCell() function
• fix issue in mutator binding on cell change
• fix custom header filter element binding

2017-06-19

• v3.1: fix setvalue behaviour

2017-06-10

• added precision to money formatter

2017-06-05

• changeheader filter text type inputs to search type inputs to allow for clearing of search data

2017-05-23

• New text formatter to prevent HTML injections

2017-04-16

• fix remote progressive rendering scrolling issue and async load problems
• prevent clicks on header filters propagating to table headers

2017-04-13

• added tabulator-row-editing class to rows currently being edited

2017-04-10

• optimised header click event bindings
• handle column group visibility on column deletion
• adjust for vertical scrollbar when using fitColumns mode

2017-04-08

• fix row indexing change on row redraw
• fix issue parsing in attribute names on IE

2017-03-15

• only override ajaxParams if they are passed to the setData function

2017-03-14

• addColumn, handle field and index lookups
• prevent minWith from causing render issues in responsive mode

2017-02-28

• fixed braket styling issue

2017-02-25

• escape column title when generating CSV's

2017-02-20

• fixed issue with row selection function

2017-02-13

• added rownum formatter

2017-02-12

• fixed typo in persistence config option name

2017-01-31

• allow string or number values for index on updateRow and deleteRow

2017-01-29

• fix issue with column resizing referenceing incorrect data attribute

2017-01-22

• frozen column functionality added
• convert arrays and objects to csv safe string when downloading

2017-01-21

• added groupStartOpen option to change open states of row groups

2017-01-17

• fix regression in row selection function

2017-01-15

• added onDblClick event binding to column definitions

2016-12-26

• added getSelectedData function
• initialize all arrays on table construction to prevent inter-table data transfer

2016-12-25

• changed tolerance mode on column sorter to allow for smoother column reordering

2016-12-20

• added momentum scrolling on tableHolder element
• set correct aria-sort value when sortBy option set

2016-12-19

• Fixed issue with checkbox header filter not reading values of false
• Stylesheet fix for overflowing column headers on ie

2016-12-18

• added tableBuilding and tableBuild callbacks

2016-12-15

• fixed issue with function declaration breaking on ie

2016-12-12

• fixed issue with arrays passed by reference when not set in object constructor

2016-12-11

• added ajaxType setup option

2016-12-03

• added update parameter to _getAjaxData, _parseData and _parsePageData to allow addition to existing data set as well as overriting via ajax request;

2016-11-29

• fixed wrapping issue in column headers on resize
• download function added

2016-11-28

• fixed rendering glitch in updateLocaleText function

2016-11-17

• mutators now only update a field if it has been defined in the row being mutated

2016-11-13

• changed default column header vertical alignment to "top"

2016-11-07

• v2.8.0: update html table parser to pull in full cell html not just texxt
• fixed text wrapping issues in column header

2016-10-16

• mutate data in updateRow function

2016-10-15

• added accessor exentsion options

2016-10-10

• refactored cell edit mutators and get data argument calls

2016-10-09

• time formatter added

2016-10-07

• Update tabulator.js

2016-10-04

• improved money formatter to handle non numeric values

2016-09-14

• fix bug with case sensitive header filters

2016-09-10

• styling for moving rows moved to tabulator-row-moving css
• standardised callback naming conventions

2016-08-20

• js update

2016-08-14

• editable column headers added

2016-08-12

•   fixed invertion of array push in addRow function

2016-08-11

• polyfill added for Array.find method on IE

2016-07-27

• fixed rendering bug on moved columns

2016-07-26

• object scope now passed to sorters, formatters and editors

2016-07-04

• Version updated to 2.3.0

2016-06-03

• Optimised Column render and cookie save on setColumns
• input validation added to setColumns

v2.2.0 (2016-05-17)

• added pointer to selectable rows
• getPage function and pageLoaded callback added
• fixed scrolling issues on non fixed height tables
• reordered functions into logical sequence
• fixed function scope issue
• added tooltipsHeader option

2016-05-12

• moved movable row handle styling to CSS and fixed rendering glitch with handle
• moved group header span styling to css

2016-05-11

• trigger appropriate UI response when setOption is called

2016-05-08

• fixed dialog loading popup

2016-05-07

• Updated Version to 2.1

2016-05-02

• Updated Version to 2.0.1

2016-03-10

• fixed missing function definition for _generateTooltip

2016-02-26

• setData can now take optional parameter object

2016-02-10

• deleteRow now updates groups on row deletion

2016-02-07

• v1.9.0:allow column tooltips to override global tooltips

2016-02-04

• dataEdited Event Added

2016-02-03

• allow rowFormatter callback to replace row contents

2016-01-31

• Custom filter functions added

2016-01-30

• css fix in row render

2016-01-27

• v1.8.1: rowAltBackgroundColor parameter added to control alternate row background colours

2016-01-25

• bugfix for colMove

2016-01-23

• Fixed fitColumns width bug

2016-01-22

• Removed unnecessary z-index and refactored table element styling
• Fixed column width resizing on non integer table widths

2016-01-21

• Added cssClass option for columns
• Fixed group header rendering issue

2016-01-20

• v1.7.0: Column Visibility Toggle Functions

2016-01-16

• Bug fix - custom index with empty data

2016-01-15

• Column Visibility Option Added

2016-01-13

• Fixed double rowEdit Trigger

2016-01-11

• multisort array handling added

2016-01-10

• keyboard navigation of editors
• tick editor added

2016-01-09

• Formatter Parameters Added

2015-12-27

• filter trigger events added

2015-12-24

• Data Filter Functions Added
• Cell formatting now re-applied after editing

2015-12-23

• alphanumeric sorter added

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This awesome jQuery plugin is developed by olifolkerd. For more Advanced Usages, please check the demo page or visit the official website.