Folding rows in a DataTable

[ajwood]

I'm playing around with a DataTable and wondering if there's a way I could implement collapsible rows. Specifically what I'm trying to do: when there are multiple successive rows with a repeated value in a particular column, display the first N rows in the sequence, and hide the rest; indicate somehow that there are folded rows, and provide a way to expose them.

folder  foo
a       1
a       2
a       3
a       4
b       5
c       6
a       7
b       8
a       9

would start out looking something like this (note the repeated 'a' rows are folded):

folder  foo
a       1
a       2
..*     ..*
b       5
c       6
a       7
b       8
a       9

My first thought was simply not add the collapsed rows, and only insert them when the user unfolds, however there doesn't seem to be a way to insert rows in the middle of the table, only at the bottom.

Next I tried looking for a CSS solution, add all the rows to the table upfront, but style with display: none when they're folded, however there doesn't seem to be a way to style specific rows like this.

Is what I'm attempting going to be possible? Or would it require deeper changes to the DataTable class to make it doable?

[misterek]

I had a similar question, I think, here: #3067

My solution was basically:

• A hidden column for sorting. That allowed me to sort how I wanted (In your example, it wouldn't quite work, but the hidden column would be may be "a-1", "a-2", etc..
• Manual code to fold/unfold rows. Basically "if you click on a folded row, unfold it by adding a bunch of new rows, then re-sort based on the hidden column"

It works ok, but isn't great. I don't bother allowing sorting by any other columns, or it would get too complicated.

[davep]

Next I tried looking for a CSS solution, add all the rows to the table upfront, but style with display: none when they're folded, however there doesn't seem to be a way to style specific rows like this.

Rows in a DataTable aren't widgets so can't be styled that way.

Is what I'm attempting going to be possible? Or would it require deeper changes to the DataTable class to make it doable?

DataTable doesn't support this sort of thing as it stands; yes, it would likely require deeper changes to support such a feature.