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JQuery data tables are not working [Solved]

Data tables when implemented properly they serve an important role in HTML tables. They make it easier to view data that is presented in a table and also help to easily search data from the table.

Sometimes when the data tables are not well configured it may not work and if the developer is not well conversant it will bring inconvenience.

In this article, we shall highlight the several errors that make data tables not work and also provide solutions on how to fix the data table errors.

What are data tables in a website

In a previous article, we discussed on how to add data tables in a website whereby we defined what are data tables, their importance, and how they are used in a website

For a recap, a data table is a plugin from jQuery which has powerful features that help during table creation, data display in tables, allowing interaction in a table, inbuilt search, and sorting of data in the defined table

How to add data tables in a website

As we have highlighted above, a data table is a jQuery plugin meaning it gets its resources from jQuery which happens to be an advanced extension of JavaScript features.

To add data tables in a website, jQuery must be working in your website such that it will consume the features that are provided by jQuery for it to work

Add the following three links provided below which will initialize jQuery and data table in your webpage

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://cdn.datatables.net/1.11.3/css/jquery.dataTables.min.css">

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.1.0/jquery.min.js"></script>

<script src="http://cdn.datatables.net/1.11.3/js/jquery.dataTables.min.js"></script>

For the .js files, you can add them in the footer section but they should be before the script that sets the data table for a given data.

An example of table data to add data table into is as follows

<table id="tableid">

    <thead>

        <tr>

            <th>Column1</th>

            <th>Column2</th>

            <th>Column3</th>

        </tr>

    </thead>

    <tbody>

        <tr>

            <td>row1data1</td>

            <td>row1data2</td>

            <td>row1data3</td>

        </tr>

      </tbody>

</table>

To add data table to the above table, add the script below

<script>

$(document).ready( function () {

$('#tableid').DataTable();

 } );

</script>

The above table will produce the result as shown below

JQuery data tables are not working

How to fix error data table is not working in a website

You might want to achieve the result shown above having followed the above steps we have shown of how to add data table in a website

Some errors are either structural or any other errors that might prevent data tables from being visible on your website

The various ways presented below are some of the errors encountered and how to fix them to ensure that the data table is working

Unequal number of columns in the table

Sometimes you might have a table that has an unequal number of columns either in the table body or in the table header and in the body.

For example, in the table header, you might have 5 columns while in the body you have 4 columns, when you try to add a data table in such kind of table it will not work

To fix this error, ensure that the table columns are of equal number from the header, body, and even in the footer if it has. Even when there is a column that is empty ensure it is included both in the header and in the body of the table

The position of data table js file links

If you try to use the Datatable() method before declaring data table JavaScript files, data table functions will not work in your tables

To solve this, ensure you have initialized the data table and jQuery initialization is done before calling the Datatable() method with the table id

JQuery version used in the project

You should note that the data table did not start together when jQuery was launched therefore if you use a jQuery version that did not support the data table in your project and try to add a data table to the project, it will not work

To fix this, you should ensure you use jQuery that is at least version 3 and above, see the one we have included above

Use unique id in the table

You should ensure that the id used in the table that you want to add a data table to is unique and is not used anywhere in the defined webpage again, else if used the data table will not work

Avoid code structural errors

As the final way of fixing data table error not working ensure that your code does not have any structural or code mistake, for example, not closing tags properly and also not closing quotation marks when opened

 

Conclusion

With the above ways that we have discussed am very sure that data tables will work properly on your web page. If you are still experiencing errors despite following the steps we have highlighted, feel free to contact us.

Thank you for following