UPDATE: The new version of Quick Tables was released on November 5, 2010. To learn more, read this post or just download the latest package: Single PHP file installation or PHP/JavaScript sources.

It’s a first step in our attempt to get the DHTMLX library closer to people who do not want or do not know how to write the code, but need to have something for showing/updating the data they store in the database. Even programmers sometimes need this to minimize the time spent on routine tasks.

Wanna Get a Data Table Quickly?

The secret is in one file, which can be downloaded here. It is based on dhtmlxGrid Standard Edition, dhtmlxLayout, and dhtmlxConnector. The tool is distributed under GNU GPL for free. We call it… Well, we’re still choosing the name for the “baby”. I’ll call it DHX Quick Tables. After all, it creates tables really quickly…

So what can it be used for, and how does it work? Let’s say, for example, that you need a back end for your site, which is built on a database. Or maybe you want to show your price list on the site, or any other information stored in the database. You can spend some time building forms and linking them to the database. This is the usual way, but not always necessary. Our solution offers a simpler and faster alternative.

With Quick Tables, you get the necessary number of web pages with tables linked to the database records. Two access modes are available: for guests (just view the tables) and for the administrator (view, edit, add/delete pages). Thus, you can put Quick Tables on the back end of your database-driven site and be able to access and update data. Or you can show the resulting table on your website, if tabulated data is what you need.

Visitors will be able to navigate through a huge number of records (as we’ve added smart rendering to the page), then sort and filter the information. In the next build of the tool, we’ll also add printing and other nice features.

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