# DataTables example Ajax data source (objects)

This example shows how the `ajax` option can be used with the native Fetch API. Note that you can still use the `jQuery.ajax` options for `ajax` if you prefer, without writing any jQuery code yourself, but this method is useful if you are using jQuery Slim which does not include Ajax support.

Name | Position | Office | Extn. | Start date | Salary
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Name | Position | Office | Extn. | Start date | Salary

- Javascript
- HTML
- CSS
- Ajax
- Server-side script

The Javascript shown below is used to initialise the table shown in this example:

`document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function () { let table = new DataTable('#example', { ajax: function (d, cb) { fetch('../ajax/data/objects.txt') .then(response => response.json()) .then(data => cb(data)); }, columns: [ { data: 'name' }, { data: 'position' }, { data: 'office' }, { data: 'extn' }, { data: 'start_date' }, { data: 'salary' } ] } ); } );`

In addition to the above code, the following Javascript library files are loaded for use in this example:

- https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.5.1.js
- ../../media/js/jquery.dataTables.js

The HTML shown below is the raw HTML table element, before it has been enhanced by DataTables:

This example uses a little bit of additional CSS beyond what is loaded from the library files (below), in order to correctly display the table. The additional CSS used is shown below:

``

The following CSS library files are loaded for use in this example to provide the styling of the table:

- ../../media/css/jquery.dataTables.css

This table loads data by Ajax. The latest data that has been loaded is shown below. This data will update automatically as any additional data is loaded.

The script used to perform the server-side processing for this table is shown below. Please note that this is just an example script using PHP. Server-side processing scripts can be written in any language, using the protocol described in the DataTables documentation.