(enhancement) add checkbox to DT

[smartinsightsfromdata]

@yihui It would be great to add checkbox on datatables / DT.
I've toyed a bit with this on earlier version and I found the following issues, that would require addressing in view of a larger more general adoption:

• In the old datatables a "ticked" check box didn't survive pagination or sorting: at the very least it is important to have means to "save" server-side the info on which checkboxes have been selected before allowing paging or sorting (or allow checkboxes only when 'Scroller" is T & pagination is F.
• As a way to manage the info from the boxes this should be implemented alongside the indexing strategy (as discussed here)
• Full abillity to set a checkbox on or off from server-side
• In an ideal world checkboxes on columns as well as on rows (through lists?)

[yihui]

Please see http://rstudio.github.io/DT/shiny.html and let me know if there is anything that you want me to improve or change. Thanks!

[smartinsightsfromdata]

@yihui Perhaps I'm missing something, but I am not able to make this work for me.
Let me clarify. As you'll see from the code below, I intend to use the checkbox to alter the table itself.

Sadly this nullify the checkbox: as soon as the new value is entered the checkbox is lost / not-persisted: this means for example that I cannot use sliders etc.

Is there a way to update the datatable preserving the checkbox?
Here is the code:

library(shiny)
library(DT)


df_ <- data.frame(col1 = as.numeric(11:22), col2 = 1:12,
                  col3 = 31:42, mth = month.abb, 
                   stringsAsFactors = F) 


runApp(list( 
  ui = fluidPage(
    fluidRow( 
      column(1, actionButton("loadButtn", label="Load")),
      column(6, DT::dataTableOutput('dtTb')),
      column(3, uiOutput("outSel")) 
    )                        
  ), 
server = function(input, output, session) {

output$dtTb <- DT::renderDataTable({
  if(input$loadButtn ==0) return() 
  if(! is.null(input$dtTb_selected)) {
  isolate({
  index <- input$dtTb_selected 
  picked <- month.abb[index]
  loop <- length(picked)
  buttn <- 1
  }) # end isolate
  vals <- sapply(1:loop, function(i) {
    if(is.null(input[[paste0(picked[i],buttn)]] )) {
      0
    } else {  
      as.numeric(input[[paste0(picked[i],buttn)]])  
    }
  }) 
  df_$col2[which(df_$mth %in% picked)]  <- vals
  }
  DT::datatable(df_, rownames = checkboxRows(df_),
                escape = -1,
                options=list(
                  deferRender = TRUE,
                  autoWidth = FALSE,
                  searching=F
                ))
    })


####

  output$outSel <- renderUI({
      if (length(input$dtTb_selected)==0) return() 
      index <- input$dtTb_selected
      picked <- month.abb[index]
      buttn <- 1
      loop <- length(picked)
      valsTv <- sapply(1:loop, function(i) {
        if(is.null(input[[paste0(picked[i],buttn)]])) {
          0
        } else {
          as.numeric(input[[paste0(picked[i],buttn)]])
        }
      })
      toRender <- lapply(1:loop, function(i) {
      sliderInput(inputId = paste0(picked[i],buttn),
                    label =  h6(paste0(picked[i],"")),
                    min =  0,
                    max = 10,
                    step = 1,
                    value = as.numeric(valsTv[i]) ,
                    #post="%",
                    ticks = FALSE, animate = FALSE)
      })
      return(toRender) 
    })
  }
))

[yihui]

If you change the data in a table, the table will be re-rendered, and datatable() knows nothing about the relationship between the new data and the old data, so it may not make sense to preserve the previous selections by default. Anyway, I just added a new argument checked in checkboxRows(), and you can use checkboxRows(df_, input$dtTb_selected) to preserve previous selections. Please note you should not use deferRender = TRUE, though. The checkboxes should be rendered immediately and not deferred.

[smartinsightsfromdata]

@yihui it works like a charm! Thanks.

[yihui]

Glad to know that :) It is not very efficient, though, to redraw the whole table every time you check/uncheck a row in the table. It may not be a real issue when the data is small. I did not test substantially larger data objects.

[smartinsightsfromdata]

@yihui I agree this method does not scale well to large amount of data. In principle one could a) cache the table each time; b) calculate the deltas for each update; c) send only the deltas after the first time (taking into account issues like partials etc.). But it is quite complex to do it right within a reactive framework. I'm still looking for someone to provide the magic...

[frajuegies]

Dear all,
is the use of 'rownames = checkboxRows limited to server=FALSE ?
Thank you very much for any hint
Jürgen

[yihui]

@frajuegies Currently, yes, but I have been thinking about what to do for server = TRUE.

[frajuegies]

Great...
Best regards,
Jürgen

[jasdumas]

The https://yihui.shinyapps.io/DT-checkbox/ link returns a 404 error. Any fix or is the example available at a different location?

[yihui]

@jasdumas Please see http://rstudio.github.io/DT/shiny.html