Note: This was a fun little project, but is no longer maintained.

AjaxTableRails

AjaxTableRails is a super simple, super lightweight library if all you want is fast, JSON-loaded tables with ajax sorting, pagination, and filtering. It provides just enough to get you going and doesn't do anything fancy. It is also still very much in early development, so there are probably bugs.

Usage

Dependencies

Rails and JQuery. C'est ca. If you want to use the Javascript without Rails, feel free.

Install ajax_table_rails gem

Add ajax_table_rails to your Gemfile and run bundle install

gem 'ajax_table_rails'

Include javascript assets

Add the following to your app/assets/javascripts/application.js:

//= require ajaxtable

Basic usage

Table structure

Your table should look like this:

<table data-source="<%= users_path(format: :json)%>" id="users-table">
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th data-sort-column="name">Name</th>
      <th data-sort-column="email">Email</th>
      <th>Actions</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tfoot>
    <td colspan="3">&nbsp;</td>
  </tfoot>
  <tbody>
  </tbody>
</table>

Records are inserted into the tbody and record count and pagination are inserted into the tfoot.

Data Attributes

Attribute	Description
table data-source	JSON path for your table data
th data-sort-column	Matches database column you'd like to sort against.

Filtering results

You can optionally specify a form that will be bound to your table for simple table searching and reseting.

<form id="users-search">
  <input class="ajax-table-search-input">
  <a href="#" class="ajax-table-reset">x</a>
  <input type="submit" value="Search">
</form>

The ajax-table-search-input and ajax-table-reset class names are required. Alternatively, you can call search and reset manually (see Advanced Usage, below).

Init that!

$(function() {
  $('#users-table').ajaxTable({ searchForm: '#users-search' });
});

Build your controller

Call set_ajax_table in a before_action to set your sorting criteria, then setup the query in a JSON response block.

set_ajax_table populates @order, @page, and @search, which you can use directly in your query. I use kaminari for pagination and either a custom scope or pg_search for searching, but you can use whatever you like.

before_action -> {
  set_ajax_table(columns: %w[name email], default_column: "name", default_direction: "desc")
}, only: [:index]

def index
  respond_to do |format|
    format.html {}
    format.json {
      @users = User.order(@order).page(@page)
      @users = @users.search(@search) if @search.present?
      @total_count = @users.except(:order, :limit, :offset).count
    }
  end
end

Data attributes

Attribute	Description
columns	Whitelist of sortable columns
default_column	Your default sort column (if unspecified, defaults to `id`)
default_direction	Your default sort direction (if unspecified, deaults to `asc`)

Build your JSON

You need to render two JSON nodes: rows for your records, and pagination for your pagination details.

json.rows(@users) do |user|
  json.name h(user.name)
  json.email h(user.email)
  json.action link_to("Edit", edit_user_path(user), class: "btn")
end
json.pagination do
  json.per_page User.default_per_page
  json.count @users.size
  json.total_count @total_count
end

Note: AjaxTableRails will pass through any HTML you submit, so remember to h or sanitize that user-generated content.

Advanced usage

Custom settings

AjaxTableRails is built with Bootstrap and FontAwesome in mind, as well as some other defaults that may make you unhappy. You may want to override the classes used for pagination and sorting, as well as some other bits and bops. Here's what a full customization looks like (default values shown):

$(function() {
  $('#users-table').ajaxTable({
    cssClasses: {
      count: 'at-count',          // "Showing xx records out of xx" span
      pagination: 'pagination',   // Pagination ul, defaults to match Bootstrap
      sort: 'at-sort',            // Sort icon base class
      sortAsc: 'fa fa-sort-up',   // Sort icon ascending indicator, defaults to use FontAwesome
      sortDesc: 'fa fa-sort-down' // Sort icon descending indicator, defaults to use FontAwesome
    },
    searchForm: null,             // Form selector to be automatically bound for searching this table
    text: {
      count: 'Showing {count} records out of {total_count}', // Pass null to skip rendering of this element
      nextPage: '&raquo;',
      previousPage: '&laquo;'
    }
  });
});

Custom search and reset

The search() and reset() methods are public, so you're free to forego the simple automagic implementation and realize your wildest interface fantasies.

$('#users-table').ajaxTable('search', 'baby sloths');
$('#users-table').ajaxTable('reset');

Make it shiny

Use whatever CSS you like. Here's a rudimentary example of some things you may want to do.

th[data-sort-column] {
	cursor: pointer;
}
i.at-sort {
  margin-left: 5px;
}
span.at-count {
  float: left;
  margin-top: 10px;
}
ul.pagination {
  float: right;
}

Love it? Hate it?

@uberllama

I also write random tech articles.

Copyright

TODO

Windowed pagination
Show default sort
Allow customization via data attributes

ajax_table_rails

Runtime