DataTable (<b:dataTable />)since 0.8.0breaking changes in 0.9.0

The <b:dataTable > is a convenient component rendering the table mostly on the client. This, in turn, imposes certain limitations over server-side datatables. For instance, user interactions don't use AJAX to redraw the table, so you can't easily implement lazy loading. On the plus side is the speed of the data table. Only very large tables may suffer from long initial load times. Once the table is loaded, it's completely available on the client, which makes filtering and pagination very fast.

The BootsFaces data table is based on the jQuery plugin DataTables.net, which has been published under a MIT licence. Most settings BootsFaces offers translate more or less directly into JavaScript options. So chances are you find a more detailed description of the attributes of the data table at their web site. The data table object is stored in a JavaScript variable (the widgetVar). If you don't specify a widgetVar, BootsFaces generates a variable based on the id of the <b:dataTable >. Following the tradition of Angular and other popular JS frameworks, the kebab-case of the id translates to a camelCase widgetVar.

Basic usage

Getting started with the BootsFaces datatable is pretty easy. Basically, it support the same syntax as its standard JSF counterpart <h:dataTable />, but is also supports a more compact syntax. The simplest way to define a column is to simply use the value attribute. If you don't set a header, it's automatically derived from the variable name of the value.

Live preview

BrandTypeColorYearPriceEngine Power (hp)
HondaCivicgreen201916471134
VolvoV50white202332008119
HondaCivicwhite20191353886
VWGolfred201616463101
RenaultMeganewhite201510153141
FiatPuntowhite20061142565
VolvoV50white19821411120
VWGolfgreen1994309571
FiatPuntowhite19915988122
SeatIbizagreen20111145377
OpelAstrayellow202338174118
CitroenPicassored200110403129
VolvoV50green1997955280
FiatPuntowhite20151562683
RenaultMeganered20051209568

Using the datatable with the Patternfly theme

For some reason, Patterfly sets the width of the table to a fixed value based on the width of the window. However, it doesn't change that value when the browser window is resized. So responsive design is broken. You can fix this by adding a style attribute like so:

Accessibility since 1.4.0

Use the attribute caption to provide a hint what the table is used for. The most common use case are screen readers.

Those among us who rely primarily on spoken language have often a hard time to figure out what a table is about, so please add a short and concise message helping these users to grasp the intent of the table quickly.

Live preview

This is a BootsFaces example table. It shows a list of cars, but that's not what it's about. The cars are just a placeholder for your content.
BrandTypeColorYearPriceEngine Power (hp)
HondaCivicgreen201916471134
VolvoV50white202332008119
HondaCivicwhite20191353886
VWGolfred201616463101
RenaultMeganewhite201510153141
FiatPuntowhite20061142565
VolvoV50white19821411120
VWGolfgreen1994309571
FiatPuntowhite19915988122
SeatIbizagreen20111145377
OpelAstrayellow202338174118
CitroenPicassored200110403129
VolvoV50green1997955280
FiatPuntowhite20151562683
RenaultMeganered20051209568

Buttons and row classes

There are a couple of pre-defined buttons to export the table as an Excel file, as a CSV file, as a PDF file, to copy it to the clipboard or to print it.

You can also add CSS classes to the rows using the attribute row-style-class. This attribute may contain an EL expression. It may also contain a comma-separated list of CSS classes. In this case, the CSS classes are cyclically assigned to the rows. There's a caveat: if the client reorders the rows, the order of the `row-style-classes` is not updated. You can see the effect in the example below.

Live preview

BrandTypeColorYearPriceEngine Power (hp)
HondaCivicgreen201916471134
VolvoV50white202332008119
HondaCivicwhite20191353886
VWGolfred201616463101
RenaultMeganewhite201510153141
FiatPuntowhite20061142565
VolvoV50white19821411120
VWGolfgreen1994309571
FiatPuntowhite19915988122
SeatIbizagreen20111145377
OpelAstrayellow202338174118
CitroenPicassored200110403129
VolvoV50green1997955280
FiatPuntowhite20151562683
RenaultMeganered20051209568

Exclude columns from print or export

Sometimes you want to exclude one or more columns from the PDF or Excel export. You can achieve this using the customOptions attribute. To understand the idea you have to know that the shorthand attributes columnVisibility, copy, csv, excel, csv, and print add this line to the Json object initializing the datatable:

Looking at the documentation of the underlying JavaScript library, we learn that Datatables.net supports excluding columns with a modified buttons object:

The next demo use this idea to exclude the price from the PDF export and from the Excel export.

Live preview

BrandTypeColorYearPriceEngine Power (hp)
HondaCivicgreen201916471134
VolvoV50white202332008119
HondaCivicwhite20191353886
VWGolfred201616463101
RenaultMeganewhite201510153141
FiatPuntowhite20061142565
VolvoV50white19821411120
VWGolfgreen1994309571
FiatPuntowhite19915988122
SeatIbizagreen20111145377
OpelAstrayellow202338174118
CitroenPicassored200110403129
VolvoV50green1997955280
FiatPuntowhite20151562683
RenaultMeganered20051209568

You can also use jQuery expressions instead of the numerical column indexes.

Autocompletion:h:column vs. b:dataTableColumn

BootsFaces supports a couple of attributes lacking in standard JSF. If you want to benefit from autocompletion, or if you're using a strict IDE like NetBeans, you'll want to use <b:dataTableColumn />. We couldn't use <b:column /> because this widget is already used for the grid system. However, if you don't mind your IDE complaining, you can use <h:column /> and even <b:column /> with the extra attributes of BootsFaces.

Defining the content cells

You can either use the value attribute as seen above, or you can put arbitray JSF into the column. For instance, the example below shows how to put an input field into the column.

Live preview

  • Brand
  • Type
  • Color
  • Year
  • Price
  • Engine Power
Honda
Civic
green
2019
€ 16471
99 KW (134 hp)
Volvo
V50
white
2023
€ 32008
88 KW (119 hp)
Honda
Civic
white
2019
€ 13538
63 KW (86 hp)
VW
Golf
red
2016
€ 16463
74 KW (101 hp)
Renault
Megane
white
2015
€ 10153
104 KW (141 hp)
Fiat
Punto
white
2006
€ 11425
48 KW (65 hp)
Volvo
V50
white
1982
€ 1411
88 KW (120 hp)
VW
Golf
green
1994
€ 3095
52 KW (71 hp)
Fiat
Punto
white
1991
€ 5988
90 KW (122 hp)
Seat
Ibiza
green
2011
€ 11453
57 KW (77 hp)
Opel
Astra
yellow
2023
€ 38174
87 KW (118 hp)
Citroen
Picasso
red
2001
€ 10403
95 KW (129 hp)
Volvo
V50
green
1997
€ 9552
59 KW (80 hp)
Fiat
Punto
white
2015
€ 15626
61 KW (83 hp)
Renault
Megane
red
2005
€ 12095
50 KW (68 hp)

Defining the header

You can use either the attribute label of the column, or you can define a facet named "header" inside the column. The latter option gives you more flexibility, because you can put arbitrary JSF code in a header. The example above shows how it's done.

Note that the header is always embedded in a table header tag (i.e. in a <tr><th>code> tag). So you can not use attributes like colspan or rowspan. If you need that, you can define a header for the entire table. In this case, the column headers are not rendered. You have to make sure that the number of header columns matches the number of the columns of the data table. The example below shows how do to it:

Live preview

Car Appearance Technical Data
Color Year Price Power
Honda Civic green201916471134
Volvo V50 white202332008119
Honda Civic white20191353886
VW Golf red201616463101
Renault Megane white201510153141
Fiat Punto white20061142565
Volvo V50 white19821411120
VW Golf green1994309571
Fiat Punto white19915988122
Seat Ibiza green20111145377
Opel Astra yellow202338174118
Citroen Picasso red200110403129
Volvo V50 green1997955280
Fiat Punto white20151562683
Renault Megane red20051209568

Defining the column widths

By default, the datatable tries to guess the optimal column width, based on the contents of the table cells and the header. Alternatively, you can specify the width manually by adding the width attribute to the column definitions. If you specify a number, BootsFaces assumes you want to define the with in Pixels ('px'). Alternatively, you can use any other of the units used in CSS, such as em, rem, %, and vw.

Caveat: The table width may be wider than the sum of the colum widths. If so, the columns widths are scaled accordingly. In other words, the column widths are more like a recommendation than a pixel-exact definition. If you need that, you also have to specify the width of the <b:dataTable />.

Live preview

BrandTypeColorAge
HondaCivicgreen65 months
VolvoV50white17 months
HondaCivicwhite65 months
VWGolfred101 months
RenaultMeganewhite113 months
FiatPuntowhite221 months
VolvoV50white509 months
VWGolfgreen365 months
FiatPuntowhite401 months
SeatIbizagreen161 months
OpelAstrayellow17 months
CitroenPicassored281 months
VolvoV50green329 months
FiatPuntowhite113 months
RenaultMeganered233 months

Customizing the table

The datatable has a couple of options to configure it. Some of them are shown in the example below.

Live preview

BrandTypeColorAge
Hondagreen65 months
Volvowhite17 months
Hondawhite65 months
VWred101 months
Renaultwhite113 months
Fiatwhite221 months
Volvowhite509 months
VWgreen365 months
Fiatwhite401 months
Seatgreen161 months
Opelyellow17 months
Citroenred281 months
Volvogreen329 months
Fiatwhite113 months
Renaultred233 months


Note that the search has an interesting twist: it's a full-text search allowing to search for the construction year, although this column isn't shown. That's a feature activated by setting the data-search attribute with both the age and the construction year of the car.

Grouping the rows

You can pick a column to define row groups. This feature is highly customizable; see the full reference here. Here we describe only a few features.

In the simplest case, you pass only a number. This number is the index of the column that's used for grouping. The first column has index 0:

Alternatively, you can pass a Json object. In this case, you define the column like so:

Actually, this example passes two parameters. The first parameter orders the table before grouping it.

The difference between the regular order attribute of the <b:dataTableColumn /> and orderFix is that the user still can order the table. Doing to orders the data within each group individually. Unfortunately, you can't combine orderFix and order. To group both the groups and one of the other columns, pass an array like so:

You also generate arbitrary texts in the rows below and/or above each group using the functions endRender and startRender:

Live preview

BrandTypeColorYearPriceEngine Power (hp)
HondaCivicgreen201916471134
VolvoV50white202332008119
HondaCivicwhite20191353886
VWGolfred201616463101
RenaultMeganewhite201510153141
FiatPuntowhite20061142565
VolvoV50white19821411120
VWGolfgreen1994309571
FiatPuntowhite19915988122
SeatIbizagreen20111145377
OpelAstrayellow202338174118
CitroenPicassored200110403129
VolvoV50green1997955280
FiatPuntowhite20151562683
RenaultMeganered20051209568

Sorting input fields

By default, the data table only sorts plain text. If you want to sort input field, checkboxes or comboboxes, you have to tell the column which the data type of the input field is:

You can see the effect in the example above.

Fine-tuning search and sort order

Sometimes specifying the data type isn't enough. For instance, in the table above, the age is a string, consisting of a numeric value and a fixed string. Another example is the time shown in the commit history of GitHub: it displays not the real date, but user-friendly texts like "just now", "5 minutes ago" or "last month". In such as case, you can specify a second, hidden, field indicating the order of the rows. In the table above, that's the year when the car was constructed. In the GitHub commit history, this would be the commit date. You specify this hint in a /lt;b:dataTableColumn /> using the attribute data-order:

Caveat: data-order doesn't support every data type. However, it's guaranteed to work with numbers. If you want to order your table by a java.util.Date, convert it to a number like so: #{car.date.time}.

A similar challenge sometimes occurs with search. The table above allows you to search both for the visible age in months and for the (invisible) construction date. Another interesting use case might be to allow search for both American and your local date format. In both cases, you provide a data-search attribute and populate it with both texts:

Setting the initial search filter

You can set an initial search filter by adding the attribute search-value to the <dataTableColumn />.

  • search-value="red" set the initial search value to the string. You can test this feature in the example above by filling the input field below the checkbox "multi-column-search".
  • search-value="" resets the search filter. This comes in handy if you want to remove the filters after an AJAX request.
  • search-value="" doesn't modify the search filter. If you've activated the flag save-state='true', the old filter is restored after an AJAX request. Note that this feature only works with <dataTableColumn />. The standard JSF <h:column /> doesn't distinguish between null and empty strings. Therefore, the filter is always removed if you set search-value="" on an <h:column />.

Note that the example above maps an empty filter to a null value. We chose to do so in order to be able to demonstrate the effect of save-state:

Updating a datatable with AJAX

If you want to update a datatable by an AJAX request, you must destroy the datatable before sending the AJAX request. You can do this using the widget variable. Currently (BootsFaces 1.0), there's no attribute widgetVar yet, so you best find out the name of the widget var using the developer tools of the browser. Basically, the name of the widget variable is the id of the datatable without the colons, plus the suffix Widget. For instance, the id of the datatable below is i18n:bcarPool2, so the code to call an AJAX request looks like so:

Internationalizationnl + pt since 1.4.0

This example below shows how to use the i18n support of <b:dataTable >. For i18n there are three ways:

  • BootsFaces comes with a limited set of predefined translation files: English, German, Spanish, French, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Russian, Dutch and Portuguese. You can either rely on the browser's default setting, or you can override the browser's language choice using the lang attribute.
  • Use other translations using a remote URL (e.g. a CDN):
  • Use your own translation using a local resource file:

Custom options

The JavaScript dataTable widgets has quite a few options. It's almost impossible to cover them all by a JSF component (see https://datatables.net/reference/option/). Therefore, you can pass custom-options to both the dataTable and to each column. These options are added to the Json object used to initialize the datatable.

Note that this feature may lead to incompatibilities in future versions of BoofsFaces. In particular, if your custom option is added to the <b:dataTable /> component, it may be added twice.

Live preview


BrandTypeColorYearBrandTypeColorYear
HondaCivicgreen2019HondaCivicgreen2019
VolvoV50white2023VolvoV50white2023
HondaCivicwhite2019HondaCivicwhite2019
VWGolfred2016VWGolfred2016
RenaultMeganewhite2015RenaultMeganewhite2015
FiatPuntowhite2006FiatPuntowhite2006
VolvoV50white1982VolvoV50white1982
VWGolfgreen1994VWGolfgreen1994
FiatPuntowhite1991FiatPuntowhite1991
SeatIbizagreen2011SeatIbizagreen2011
OpelAstrayellow2023OpelAstrayellow2023
CitroenPicassored2001CitroenPicassored2001
VolvoV50green1997VolvoV50green1997
FiatPuntowhite2015FiatPuntowhite2015
RenaultMeganered2005RenaultMeganered2005

Selecting rows, columns or cellsImproved in BootsFaces 1.2.0

The datatable allows you to select either rows, columns or individual cells. By default, this feature is deactivated, so you have to activate it by setting select="true". There are a couple of options:

  • selection-mode="single" vs. selection-mode="multiple" Determines how many rows the user can select. Setting the selection-mode to "multiple" allows them to select multiple rows using the SHIFT and CTRL key, pretty much the way they're used from their operating system. The underlying JavaScript library (datatables.net) supports more options than single and multiple, but we omitted them for the sake of simplicity.
  • selected-items="rows" In most cases, you want to select rows. Plus, JSF supports selecting rows better than the other options because the loop variable var represents a row.. So we made this the default. Clicking somewhere in the datatable highlights the surrounding row. However, there are two other options:
  • selected-items="columns" Clicking a cell highlights the surrounding column.
  • selected-items="cells" Clicking a cell highlights the surrounding cell.

You can optionally define which cells of the datatable are selected when the table is initially rendered:

  • selected-columns="2,3" Determine the selected columns by providing the numerical index of the selected column or by providing a comma-separated list of the column indexes.
  • selected-rows="2,4"Determine the selected rows by providing the numerical index of the selected row or by providing a comma-separated list of the row indexes.
  • selected-rows="# {some.el.expression()}" Determine the (single) selected row by passing the object representing the selected row.
  • selected-rows=".jquery-expression" You can also use a jQuery expression to select the selected rows. This also allows you to select multiple rows.
  • Row bearing the CSS class bf-selected-row are also selected unless the attribute selected-rows overrides this defaults selection.

The example below demonstrates most of these options. It even allows you to experiment with pathological combinations, such as activating both selected-columns and selected-rows. Note that you have to check the checkbox select="true" to enable selecting. In real-world application, you hardly ever have to do that. It's a peculiarity of this demo.

Live preview

BrandTypeColorYearPriceEngine Power (hp)
HondaCivicgreen201916471134
VolvoV50white202332008119
HondaCivicwhite20191353886
VWGolfred201616463101
RenaultMeganewhite201510153141
FiatPuntowhite20061142565
VolvoV50white19821411120
VWGolfgreen1994309571
FiatPuntowhite19915988122
SeatIbizagreen20111145377
OpelAstrayellow202338174118
CitroenPicassored200110403129
VolvoV50green1997955280
FiatPuntowhite20151562683
RenaultMeganered20051209568

Adding a mobile-friendly checkbox to select rowsSince BootsFaces 1.4.1

Checkboxes make it easier for users to select rows. Among other things, they see at first glance you can select a row. Plus, it's easier so select multiple rows on mobile devices.

BootsFaces uses the same API as PrimeFaces to implement this feature. Add an empty column with the attribute selectionMode="multiple" or selectionMode="single":

Live preview

Column #0BrandTypeColorYearPriceEngine Power (hp)
1HondaCivicgreen201916471134
2VolvoV50white202332008119
3HondaCivicwhite20191353886
4VWGolfred201616463101
5RenaultMeganewhite201510153141
6FiatPuntowhite20061142565
7VolvoV50white19821411120
8VWGolfgreen1994309571
9FiatPuntowhite19915988122
10SeatIbizagreen20111145377
11OpelAstrayellow202338174118
12CitroenPicassored200110403129
13VolvoV50green1997955280
14FiatPuntowhite20151562683
15RenaultMeganered20051209568

If you're targeting an international audience, you have to provide the translation for the number of selected rows yourself. The example shows how to pass the translations as customOptions. The translation is a Json object with the key "language.select.rows" and three values:

'_'
the text for an arbitrary number of entries
'0'
the text for zero selected entries (usually empty)
'1'
the text for a single selected entry

Server-side selection APIBreaking changes in BootsFaces 1.2.0

There are two JavaScript callback functions you can use to react to select events:

  • select is called if a row, a cell or an item is selected.
  • deleselect is called if a row, a cell or an item is deselected.

As usual, you can pass these events to the server by jotting down a method name, preceeded by the prefix ajax:. You can pass three predefined variables to this method:

  • The loop variable. In our example, that's car. This parameter only works if the attribute selected-items is set to rows. Caveat: if you activate column or cell select mode, this parameter is still passed to the server, and it seems to be valid. However, every attribute of this object is null.
  • typeOfSelection. This is either row, column or item. It determines what the user has selected. That, in turn, is determined by the attribute selected-items, so you hardly ever have to use this parameter. Just omit it from the parameter list.
  • indexes tells the JSF bean which rows, columns or cells have been selected. Note that in the first two cases this is either an individual number or - if multiple items have been selected - a comma separated list. If you've set selected-items="cell", indexes is a comma-separated list of objects containing the row and column index.

Unified AJAX and JavaScript API

The datatable offers a couple of JavaScript and jQuery events you can use to call your own JavaScript or even your own bean method on the backend. Currently, the BootsFaces datatable offers only a subset of the events of the underlying JavaScript widget (see https://datatables.net/reference/event).

Note that the standard JavaScript callbacks like onclick and ondblclick are also there, but they don't distinguish between the rows and columns. To know which row and/or column has been clicked, either use the jQuery callbacks onselect and ondeselect or add onclick listeners to the individual columns.

Live preview

BrandTypeColorYearPriceEngine Power (hp)
HondaCivicgreen201916471134
VolvoV50white202332008119
HondaCivicwhite20191353886
VWGolfred201616463101
RenaultMeganewhite201510153141
FiatPuntowhite20061142565
VolvoV50white19821411120
VWGolfgreen1994309571
FiatPuntowhite19915988122
SeatIbizagreen20111145377
OpelAstrayellow202338174118
CitroenPicassored200110403129
VolvoV50green1997955280
FiatPuntowhite20151562683
RenaultMeganered20051209568

As the example above shows, onselect usually tells you which rows have been added. However, if the users selects an entire range using SHIFT+click, the parameter indexes also contains rows that were already selected. Hence, you have to be careful not to add rows twice. In our example, we added an if statement to make the problem explicit. In general, you could replace the ArrayList by a Set.

If the user adds a single row, the parameter matching the loop variable (i.e. car in our example) contains the selected object.

If the user adds multiple rows in a single AJAX request, the parameter matching the loop variable is null. In this case the parameter indexes tells you which rows have been selected. indexes is a comma-separated list of integers, each indicating the index of the selected row. The index always corresponds to the array index of the array in the Java bean. If the users filters or re-orders the table, the row number may be different from the array index. However, the API has been designed in such a way that you won't notice this.

Each of the three parameters of the Java bean method is optional. You can omit one or several of them in the onclick listener. For instance, onclick="ajax:onSelect(car)" calls the Java method onSelect(Car car), and onclick="ajax:onSelect(indexes)" calles the Java method onSelect(String indexes).

Responsiveness

Like most BootsFaces components, the datatable supports the responsive attributes like col-*, visible and hidden. If you want to update the datatable by an AJAX request, you should wrap it in a b:column nonetheless. For technical reasons, the id does not belong to the div bearing the CSS style classes for responsiveness. Instead, it belong to the table. So updating the table by its id means it's wrapped into another div each time it's updated by an AJAX request.

If there's not enough screen estate to display the table, the last couple of columns are hidden, as you can see in this example. Plus, a button allowing you to expand the row is added. There's a catch: If you put a <b:commandButton /> into the first column, clicking it also clicks the expand/collapse button.

Live preview

BrandTypeColorYearPrice
HondaCivicgreen201916471
VolvoV50white202332008
HondaCivicwhite201913538
VWGolfred201616463
RenaultMeganewhite201510153
FiatPuntowhite200611425
VolvoV50white19821411
VWGolfgreen19943095
FiatPuntowhite19915988
SeatIbizagreen201111453
OpelAstrayellow202338174
CitroenPicassored200110403
VolvoV50green19979552
FiatPuntowhite201515626
RenaultMeganered200512095

Empty data table:

Live preview

BrandTypeColorYear

Inputfields, command buttons and AJAXsince 1.0

The BootsFaces datatable also supports input fields, buttons and AJAX calls.

The next demo shows how to switch a cell between text-only and editable mode on a button click. Some users observed that this feature may modify the sort order (i.e. the editable row becomes the first row of the table, although it shouldn't be there according to the sort order). For instance, this happens if every cell in a row is made editable. In this case you can enforce the correct sort order by adding the attribute data-order, as described above.

Live preview

BrandTypeColorYearPriceColumn #5Column #6Column #7
HondaCivicgreen201916471
VolvoV50white202332008
HondaCivicwhite201913538
VWGolfred201616463
RenaultMeganewhite201510153
FiatPuntowhite200611425
VolvoV50white19821411
VWGolfgreen19943095
FiatPuntowhite19915988
SeatIbizagreen201111453
OpelAstrayellow202338174
CitroenPicassored200110403
VolvoV50green19979552
FiatPuntowhite201515626
RenaultMeganered200512095

Reference section

Attribute Default value Description
ajax false Whether the Button submits the form with AJAX.
auto-update
autoUpdate (alternative writing)
false Setting this flag updates the widget on every AJAX request.
border true If set, this will surround the table by a border. Defaults to true.
caption (none) Optional attribute describing what the datatable is for. Usually, this attribute is used by screen readers to help the user to quickly grasp the intent of the table.
col-lg
colLg (alternative writing)
-1 Integer value to specify how many columns to span on large screens (≥1200 pixels wide). The number may optionally be followed by "column" or "columns". Alternative legal values: half, one-third, two-thirds, one-fourth, three-fourths.
col-md
colMd (alternative writing)
-1 Integer value to specify how many columns to span on medium screens (≥992 pixels wide). The number may optionally be followed by "column" or "columns". Alternative legal values: half, one-third, two-thirds, one-fourth, three-fourths.
col-sm
colSm (alternative writing)
-1 Integer value to specify how many columns to span on small screens (≥768p pixels wide). The number may optionally be followed by "column" or "columns". Alternative legal values: half, one-third, two-thirds, one-fourth, three-fourths.
col-xs
colXs (alternative writing)
-1 Integer value to specify how many columns to span on tiny screens (≤ 767 pixels wide). The number may optionally be followed by "column" or "columns". Alternative legal values: half, one-third, two-thirds, one-fourth, three-fourths.
column-visibility
columnVisibility (alternative writing)
false Adds a button allowing the user to show and hide of the columns.
content-disabled
contentDisabled (alternative writing)
false Enables or disables every child element of this container. By default, child elements are enabled.
copy false Adds a 'copy to clipboard' button.
csv false Adds a 'export CSV file' button.
custom-lang-url
customLangUrl (alternative writing)
(none) Defines a custom lang file url for languages BootsFaces doesn't support out-of-the-box.
custom-options
customOptions (alternative writing)
(none) Allows you to pass an arbitrary option to the datatable widget. Separate the options by a comma if you pass more than one. Note that this may cause incompatibilities when the next version of BootsFaces is released. Use at own risk.
delay (none) Delays the AJAX request.
deselect-on-backdrop-click
deselectOnBackdropClick (alternative writing)
false If you set this option to true, the user can de-select rows by simply clicking outside the table. Defaults to false.
disabled false Boolean value to specify if the button is disabled.
display block If you use the "visible" attribute, the value of this attribute is added. Legal values: block, inline, inline-block. Default: block.
excel false Adds a 'export Excel file' button.
fixed-header
fixedHeader (alternative writing)
false Activates the fixed header plugin of the dataTable.
hidden (none) This column is hidden on a certain screen size and below. Legal values: lg, md, sm, xs.
id (none) Unique identifier of the component in a namingContainer.
immediate false Flag indicating that, if this component is activated by the user, notifications should be delivered to interested listeners and actions immediately (that is, during Apply Request Values phase) rather than waiting until Invoke Application phase. Default is false.
info true If set, this will enable the information about record count. Defaults to true.
lang (none) Configured lang for the dataTable. If no default language is configured, the language configured in the browser is used.
large-screen
largeScreen (alternative writing)
-1 Alternative spelling to col-lg. Integer value to specify how many columns to span on large screens (≥1200 pixels wide). The number may optionally be followed by "column" or "columns". Alternative legal values: half, one-third, two-thirds, one-fourth, three-fourths.
length-change
lengthChange (alternative writing)
true Activates the page length menu of the dataTable. Default value is 'true'.
mark-search-results
markSearchResults (alternative writing)
false If true, search results are marked yellow as you type. Based on mark.js (see https://datatables.net/blog/2017-01-19).
medium-screen
mediumScreen (alternative writing)
-1 Alternative spelling to col-md. Integer value to specify how many columns to span on medium screens (≥992 pixels wide). The number may optionally be followed by "column" or "columns". Alternative legal values: half, one-third, two-thirds, one-fourth, three-fourths.
multi-column-search
multiColumnSearch (alternative writing)
false If true, <b:inputText /> fields will be generated at the bottom of each column which allow you to perform per-column filtering.
multi-column-search-position
multiColumnSearchPosition (alternative writing)
bottom Should the multi-column-search attributes be at the bottom or the top of the table? Legal values: 'top','botton', and 'both'. Default to 'bottom'.
offset (none) Integer value to specify how many columns to offset.
offset-lg
offsetLg (alternative writing)
(none) Integer value to specify how many columns to offset.
offset-md
offsetMd (alternative writing)
(none) Integer value to specify how many columns to offset.
offset-sm
offsetSm (alternative writing)
(none) Integer value to specify how many columns to offset.
offset-xs
offsetXs (alternative writing)
(none) Integer value to specify how many columns to offset.
onclick (none) The onclick attribute.
oncomplete (none) JavaScript to be executed when ajax completes.
ondblclick (none) Client side callback to execute when input element is double clicked.
ondeselect (none) Client side and/or AJAX callback to execute when a row is deselected.
onerror (none) JavaScript to be executed when ajax results on an error (including both network errors and Java exceptions).
onmousedown (none) Client side callback to execute when a pointer input element is pressed down over input element.
onmousemove (none) Client side callback to execute when a pointer input element is moved within input element.
onmouseout (none) Client side callback to execute when a pointer input element is moved away from input element.
onmouseover (none) Client side callback to execute when a pointer input element is moved onto input element.
onmouseup (none) Client side callback to execute when a pointer input element is released over input element.
onorder (none) Client side and/or AJAX callback to execute when the table is sorted.
onpage (none) Client side and/or AJAX callback to execute when the current table page changes.
onsearch (none) Client side and/or AJAX callback to execute when the user starts a search.
onselect (none) Client side and/or AJAX callback to execute when a row is selected.
onsuccess (none) JavaScript to be executed when ajax completes with success (i.e. there's neither a network error nor a Java exception).
page-length
pageLength (alternative writing)
10 Sets the default page length for paginated dataTable. The default value is 10.
page-length-menu
pageLengthMenu (alternative writing)
[ 10, 25, 50, 100 ] Sets the default page length for paginated dataTable. The default value is [10, 25, 50, 100]. The brackets are optional. Read https://www.datatables.net/examples/advanced_init/length_menu.html for details.
paginated true Activates the pagination of the dataTable. Default value is 'true'.
pdf false Adds a 'export PDF file' button.
print false Adds a 'print' button.
process (none) Comma or space separated list of ids or search expressions denoting which values are to be sent to the server.
rendered false Boolean value to specify the rendering of the component, when set to false the component will not be rendered.
responsive false Activates the responsive plugin of the dataTable
row-group
rowGroup (alternative writing)
(none) Group the rows by a common column value. Can be a number or a Json-object, as documented at https://datatables.net/reference/option/#rowgroup.
row-highlight
rowHighlight (alternative writing)
true Enable the row highlight css. Default: true.
row-style-class
rowStyleClass (alternative writing)
(none) Optional CSS class for each row. If it's an EL expression, it's evaluated for each row. You can also provide a comma-separated list. In this case, the CSS classes are assigned cyclically to the row.
save-state
saveState (alternative writing)
true Stores the state of the datatable on the client, so that after a page reload the same filters are active, the same page is shown etc.
scroll-collapse
scrollCollapse (alternative writing)
true If set, this will have the container match the height of the rows shown in the table if that height is smaller than that given height by the scroll-size. Default: true.
scroll-horizontally
scrollHorizontally (alternative writing)
false Adds a horizontal scroll bar on small screens. Similar to scroll-x, but wraps the entire table within the scroll area. Defaults to false.
scroll-size
scrollSize (alternative writing)
(none) If set, force the height of table to the size specified. You can optionally to add the unit (e.g. scroll-size="200px"). By default, it's px.
scroll-x
scrollX (alternative writing)
false If set, the table can scroll horizontally. Similar to scroll-horizontally, but uses a different approach, so the page selector and the search are not scrolled with the table. Defaults to false.
searching true If set to false, this feature completely disables the search functionality of the datatable (i.e. both the UI and the JavaScript API).
select false Allows the user to select rows. Defaults to false. Is automatically set to true if selected-column, selected-row or selection-mode is set.
selected-column
selectedColumn (alternative writing)
(none) Optional parameter defining which columns are selected when the datatable is initially rendered. If this attribute is an integer, it's the column index. If it's a string, it's a jQuery expression. Automatically sets selection='true' and selected-items='column'.
selected-items
selectedItems (alternative writing)
(none) Determines whether rows, columns or individual cells are selected. Legal values are 'row', 'column', and 'cell'. The default value is 'row'. Automatically sets select='true'.
selected-row
selectedRow (alternative writing)
(none) Optional parameter defining which rows are selected when the datatable is initially rendered. If this attribute is an integer, it's the row index. If it's a string, it's a jQuery expression. If it's another object, it's compared to the loop var. Automatically sets selection='true' and selected-items='row'.
selection-info
selectionInfo (alternative writing)
true The datatable shows below the table how many rows are selected. Setting this option to false deactivates this feature. Defaults to true.
selection-mode
selectionMode (alternative writing)
multiple Set this property to "single" if you want to prevent multiple selections. Default is "multiple".
small-screen
smallScreen (alternative writing)
-1 Alternative spelling to col-sm. Integer value to specify how many columns to span on small screens (≥768p pixels wide). The number may optionally be followed by "column" or "columns". Alternative legal values: half, one-third, two-thirds, one-fourth, three-fourths.
span (none) Integer value to specify how many columns to span on medium screens (≥992 pixels). The number may optionally be followed by "column" or "columns". Alternative legal values: half, one-third, two-thirds, one-fourth, three-fourths.
striped true If set, this will show the row in alternating background colors (typically shades of gray). Defaults to true.
style (none) Inline style of the input element.
style-class
styleClass (alternative writing)
(none) Style class of this element.
tiny-screen
tinyScreen (alternative writing)
-1 Alternative spelling to col-xs. Integer value to specify how many columns to span on tiny screens (≤ 767 pixels wide). The number may optionally be followed by "column" or "columns". Alternative legal values: half, one-third, two-thirds, one-fourth, three-fourths.
tooltip (none) The text of the tooltip.
tooltip-container
tooltipContainer (alternative writing)
body Where is the tooltip div generated? That's primarily a technical value that can be used to fix rendering errors in special cases. Also see data-container in the documentation of Bootstrap. The default value is body.
tooltip-delay
tooltipDelay (alternative writing)
0 The tooltip is shown and hidden with a delay. This value is the delay in milliseconds. Defaults to 0 (no delay).
tooltip-delay-hide
tooltipDelayHide (alternative writing)
0 The tooltip is hidden with a delay. This value is the delay in milliseconds. Defaults to 0 (no delay).
tooltip-delay-show
tooltipDelayShow (alternative writing)
0 The tooltip is shown with a delay. This value is the delay in milliseconds. Defaults to 0 (no delay).
tooltip-position
tooltipPosition (alternative writing)
(none) Where is the tooltip to be displayed? Possible values: "top", "bottom", "right", "left", "auto", "auto top", "auto bottom", "auto right" and "auto left". Default to "bottom".
update (none) Component(s) to be updated with ajax.
value (none) EL expression referring to the back-end bean attribute providing the value of the field.
var (none) The var attribute sets the name of a request-scope attribute exposing the data for each iteration over the rows in the underlying data model for this table.
visible (none) This column is shown on a certain screen size and above. Legal values: lg, md, sm, xs.
widgetVar (none) optional widget variable to access the datatable widget in JavaScript code.
Attribute Default value Description
content-style
contentStyle (alternative writing)
(none) Inline style of the cells in the content area.
content-style-class
contentStyleClass (alternative writing)
(none) Style class of cells in the content area..
custom-options
customOptions (alternative writing)
(none) Allows you to pass an arbitrary option to the datatable widget. Separate the options by a comma if you pass more than one. Note that this may cause incompatibilities when the next version of BootsFaces is released. Use at own risk.
data-order
dataOrder (alternative writing)
(none) Allows you to specify a value for ordering. Useful i.E. for ordering formatted values.
data-search
dataSearch (alternative writing)
(none) Allows you to specify a value for searching. The search doesn't consider the real content of this column. Instead, it considers the value of the data-search attribute. Useful i.E. for searching formatted values.
data-type
dataType (alternative writing)
(none) Specifies order-by more precisely. Is also used by the filtering methods. Legal values are 'string', 'date', 'numeric'.
footer-style
footerStyle (alternative writing)
(none) Inline style of the footer cell.
footer-style-class
footerStyleClass (alternative writing)
(none) Style class of this footer cell.
header-style
headerStyle (alternative writing)
(none) Inline style of the header cell.
header-style-class
headerStyleClass (alternative writing)
(none) Style class of this header cell.
label (none) Label in the header of the colum.
label-style
labelStyle (alternative writing)
(none) The CSS inline style of the label.
label-style-class
labelStyleClass (alternative writing)
(none) The CSS class of the label.
order (none) Is the table to be sorted by this column? Legal values are 'asc' and 'desc'.
order-by
orderBy (alternative writing)
(none) Allows you to sort input field. Legal values are dom-text, dom-text-numeric, dom-select and dom-checkbox.
orderable true Disables or enables the sort button for this column.
search-value
searchValue (alternative writing)
(none) Initial content of the search filter field.
searchable true If set to false, this column is excluded from the multi-column-search feature of b:dataTable. Defaults to true. Note that this feature is active only if both searching='true' and multi-column-search='true' are set on the datatable.
selection-mode
selectionMode (alternative writing)
(none) Add a checkbox column to select rows. Legal values are 'single' and 'multi'.
style (none) Inline style of the input element.
style-class
styleClass (alternative writing)
(none) Style class of this element.
value (none) EL expression referring to the back-end bean attribute providing the value of the field.
width (none) Width of the column. If you don't specify the unit, BootsFaces assumes you want to use 'px'. You can use the other units by adding them to the value, such as '50%', '5em', '16vw', etc.