Datatables + PHP: Server-Side Processing on Multiple Tables

How can I get Datatables Server-Side Processing script to work with a custom query? I need to select columns from multiple tables and have Datatables render them.

Datatables.net’s Server-Side Processing (SSP) with PHP is summarized here: https://datatables.net/examples/server_side/simple.html

I found this SO question, but the original poster never provided his solution. I don’t have sufficient reputation to ask him to provide more detail.

Here is my raw SQL without using Datatable’s SSP

SELECT tbl_houses.style, tbl_houses.roomCount, tbl_residents.firstName, tbl_residents.lastName
FROM tbl_houses, tbl_residents
WHERE tbl_houses.houseID = tbl_residents.residentID

/* 
* # Equivalent query using JOIN suggested by @KumarRakesh
* # Note: JOIN ... ON is a synonym for INNER JOIN ... ON
* # Using JOIN conforms to syntax spec'd by ANSI-92 https://stackoverflow.com/a/894855/946957
*
* SELECT tbl_houses.style, tbl_houses.roomCount, tbl_residents.firstName, tbl_residents.lastName 
* FROM tbl_houses 
* JOIN tbl_residents ON tbl_houses.houseID = tbl_residents.residentID
*/

JavaScript
​x
 
SELECT tbl_houses.style, tbl_houses.roomCount, tbl_residents.firstName, tbl_residents.lastNameFROM tbl_houses, tbl_residentsWHERE tbl_houses.houseID = tbl_residents.residentID​/* * # Equivalent query using JOIN suggested by @KumarRakesh* # Note: JOIN ... ON is a synonym for INNER JOIN ... ON* # Using JOIN conforms to syntax spec'd by ANSI-92 https://stackoverflow.com/a/894855/946957** SELECT tbl_houses.style, tbl_houses.roomCount, tbl_residents.firstName, tbl_residents.lastName * FROM tbl_houses * JOIN tbl_residents ON tbl_houses.houseID = tbl_residents.residentID*/​

How can I get Datatables to run queries off the above using SSP?

It appears server_processing.php only accepts 1 table and no custom filtering (i.e., WHERE clauses).

// DB table to use
$table = 'datatables_demo';

// Table's primary key
$primaryKey = 'id';

/* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
 * If you just want to use the basic configuration for DataTables with PHP
 * server-side, there is no need to edit below this line.
 */

require( 'ssp.class.php' );

echo json_encode(
    SSP::simple( $_GET, $sql_details, $table, $primaryKey, $columns )
);

JavaScript
 
// DB table to use$table = 'datatables_demo';​// Table's primary key$primaryKey = 'id';​/* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * If you just want to use the basic configuration for DataTables with PHP * server-side, there is no need to edit below this line. */​require( 'ssp.class.php' );​echo json_encode(    SSP::simple( $_GET, $sql_details, $table, $primaryKey, $columns ));​

However, ssp.class.php does support filtering using WHERE. I’m thinking I need to modify ssp.class.php to force in my WHERE clause

UPDATE

Found a solution. Will post when I have free time.

Answer

TL;DR: I ended up using a modification of the original Datatables ssp.class.php called ssp.php implemented by Emran Ul Hadi: https://github.com/emran/ssp

His modification accepts JOIN, WHERE, GROUP BY and column aliases. Although the file hasn’t been updated in over a year, it still works with DataTables 1.12.x. I made some modifications to his version that increases its robustness and improves the documentation with clearer examples.

Will post my mods/updates here when I have a bit more time. Eventually I hope to put in a pull-request to get my updates into his repository.

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Answer