After using the free version of DataTables to display some information from a database table in an ongoing project, I was looking for a way to allow user to edit records.

The application required a large number of pages for handling CRUD operations, and after starting down the route of writing individual forms for handling edits, I decided to investigate the Editor extension for DataTables.

Over the years, I have used many commercially supported libraries which claim to offer all sorts of advanced functionality but fall short under scrutiny, so I am generally wary of spending money on such libraries. With Editor however, the experience has been entirely different.

Not only does Editor make it trivial to add editing to an existing DataTable, but it provides a set of hooks allowing the editor to operate as a stand alone tool for editing information held elsewhere within a page. If you need to allow users to manipulate fields contained in div elements, Editor can do it.

If you need to allow users to edit records within the database but without displaying a full table of rows, again, Editor can do it. It's simply a case of running an AJAX operation to pull back the relevant record (an operation which is just as trivial to implement as it is to load a complete table), then passing the fields into the Editor call.

The most time consuming part of using Editor is reading the documentation, but this is down to the huge wealth of information containing within it.

The documentation itself is noteworthy as it is not only comprehensive, but exceptionally well structured. A large number of use cases are documented, and well described examples are provided which can serve as a starting point for almost any real world application that you might run into.

When the documentation does not cover all elements of your project, the forums pick up the slack. Incorporating the Editor into a calendar component was so ridiculously simple thanks to the active and extensive forum that I was able to implement almost all of the functionality I needed in less than one hour of work.

When I did run into an issue that was not covered, I posted a question on the forum and within a few hours was engaged in a discussion which has helped me debug the problem and work toward a solution.

In 20 years of professional development work, I have never encountered a library which has been so meticulously designed and documented.

Put quite simply, if you need to display tables of data within your web application and to allow users to manipulate the data, DataTables combined with the Editor extension will make the task so trivial that you can focus on adding new functionality which adds genuine value to your product.

This is a product built by seasoned and experienced developers who have found an area which needs to be improved, and have solved the problem completely and elegantly.

The real icing on the cake is in the form of the pricing model. A licence is per developer, and perpetual. You can build as many products as you like on that licence, and if you subscribe on a rolling payment, you receive upgrades as they become available.

When backed by a team who clearly understand their industry to this extent, this shows absolute confidence in the quality of their product.

This is a text book example of the correct way to built tools for developers, and it is quite frankly a pleasure to use.

Alex - Yolk Software