I just purchased the Smart Contend which has the Datatables component. I now testing and evaluating the product for Tech Reviews and our internal standards. In all honesty and fairness, the documentation is terrible. Reasons:

(1) No clue what it means or how it is to be used
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"Advanced styling if the parameter is enabled then unique CSS classes will be added to each cell and row in the table. Rows will have ari-tbl-row-ROWINDEX class name. Where ROWINDEX is zero-based row index. It means the first row will have ari-tbl-row-0 class name, the seconds row will have ari-tbl-row-1 class name and etc. Cells will have ari-tbl-col-COLINDEX class name. Where COLINDEX is zero-based cell index. It means the first column will have ari-tbl-col-0 class name, the seconds column will have ari-tbl-col-1 class name and etc."

(2) Items do not exist in the module and also (1) applies
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"Rows CSS classes is used to specify rows CSS classes, CSS classes for different groups separate by semicolons. These CSS classes will be applied to rows in cyclic order. For example if you want to add row_odd class for each odd rows and row_even class for each even rows, use row_odd;row_even value"

(3) This in SQL Queries, i define the class name? Where do i define the properties?
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"CSS Class this property is used by table applications (Datatable, HTML table and etc.) to add the entered CSS class for the column in a table. Can be used to defined specific styles for the column."

(4) Total lack of examples and outdated Youtube tutorial (2014)

(5) How do i add action buttons such as "edit, Delete, View"?. I am lost


I tried all the tricks and frankly speaking, though i like the component's intend, none of what i did worked (except for basic setup) because the documentation, which is fundamental, is totally weak or absolutely vague for beginner-users. I tried the forum which does not help in the least bit.

I seek your assistance on where i can find full help on your products. Seriously i cannot be going in and out of the forum and asking the same question repeatedly. Please help.

Hello,

Sorry that the documentation does not meet your expectation. BTW, "DataTable" add-on from "ARI Smart Content" is not the same as "ARI Data Tables" module. About your comments:

1. It is used if want to apply custom CSS styles to a table (for example for specific rows/columns based on rows/columns index). It requires a little CSS knowledge.

2. "ARI Smart Content - DataTable" module contains "Row CSS classes" parameter. Check "Additional settings" section.

3. The class with is defined for the desired column will be used by table extension automatically. If you want to specify some CSS properties for the class then class definition can be added to a site template CSS file.

5. The extension doesn't support ability to modify data. It shows data in read-only mode.

Regards,
ARI Soft

Hi,
Thank you for the update. The "Smart Content" extensions did not state the difference between the ARI Datatable and the addon. Does the same apply to other components in the "smart Content" as well? In my opinion, this is misleading the buyers. The products did not highlight the differences between the 2 components.

I purchased the package because i was given the impression that it is a bundled price.

Can i seek a refund and let me purchase the Ari Datatable module separately?

"ARI Smart Content - DataTable" add-on supports more features then "ARI Data Tables" module. At least it supports child rows, responsive mode, HTML5 action buttons (print, export, ...).

Regards,
ARI Soft

Hi,

Thank you for the reply. In essence, what you are saying is that the datatable product is merely for the display of information in a table form.

If that is true, then the product is just an HTML Table generator and nothing more.

Can you confirm this, please?

It can show data from CSV files and SQL databases using powerful table widget. You can see it in action here. It is not just a plain HTML table, it supports paging, sorting and etc.

If you need a plain HTML table then ARI Smart Content - HTML Table add-on can be used. It is included into "ARI Smart Content" package.

Regards,
ARI Soft