README.md

In DT2: 'DataTables' 2.x for R

DT2

DataTables v2 for R — modular, lightweight, works with or without Shiny.

DT2 is a modern htmlwidgets binding for DataTables.net v2 with:

• 1:1 R ↔ JS mapping — configure DataTables using plain R lists
• Modular extensions — load only Buttons, Select, Responsive, etc. when needed
• Auto-detection — DT2 scans your options and loads required extensions
• Bootstrap 5 styling (or plain DataTables CSS)
• Standalone use in R Markdown, Quarto, and the Viewer (no Shiny required)
• Full Shiny integration: proxy, events, inline inputs, server-side processing

Credits & Acknowledgments

DT2 is an R wrapper around the excellent DataTables JavaScript library created by SpryMedia Ltd (Allan Jardine). All table rendering, sorting, searching, pagination, and extensions are powered entirely by the DataTables engine — DT2 simply provides the bridge between R / htmlwidgets and the JavaScript API.

| Component | Author | License | |---|---|---| | DataTables core + extensions | SpryMedia Ltd | MIT | | Bootstrap 5 integration | DataTables / Bootstrap | MIT | | DT2 R package | André Leite, Marcos Wasilew, Hugo Vasconcelos, Carlos Amorin, Diogo Bezerra | MIT |

This package takes inspiration from the original DT package by Yihui Xie (RStudio / Posit), which wraps DataTables v1.x. DT2 was written from scratch to support the DataTables v2 API, the modern layout system, and new extensions like ColumnControl.

Installation

# From CRAN
install.packages("DT2")

# Development version from GitHub
# install.packages("remotes")
remotes::install_github("StrategicProjects/DT2")

Quick Start

Standalone (no Shiny)

library(DT2)

# Minimal
dt2(iris)

# With styling
dt2(mtcars,
    compact = TRUE, striped = TRUE, hover = TRUE, font_scale = 0.85,
    options = list(pageLength = 10))

# With export buttons
dt2(iris, options = list(
  pageLength = 10,
  buttons    = list("copy", "csv", "excel"),
  layout     = list(topEnd = "buttons")
))

# Save as standalone HTML
htmlwidgets::saveWidget(dt2(iris), "table.html")

In Shiny (with bslib)

library(shiny)
library(bslib)
library(DT2)

ui <- page_fillable(
  theme = bs_theme(version = 5, bootswatch = "flatly"),
  card(
    card_header("DT2 in Shiny"),
    card_body(dt2_output("tbl"))
  )
)

server <- function(input, output, session) {
  output$tbl <- render_dt2({
    dt2(iris,
        compact = TRUE, striped = TRUE, hover = TRUE,
        options = list(
          pageLength = 10,
          buttons    = list("copy", "csv", "excel"),
          layout     = list(topEnd = "buttons")
        ))
  })
}

shinyApp(ui, server)

Extension System

DT2 ships with 15 DataTables extensions. See what's available:

dt2_extensions()
#>            name version          dir
#> 1       Buttons   3.2.5      buttons
#> 2    ColReorder   2.1.1    colreorder
#> 3 ColumnControl   1.1.0 columncontrol
#> ...

Extensions are loaded automatically when DT2 detects them in your options, or explicitly via the extensions argument:

# Auto-detected (buttons in layout → loads Buttons extension)
dt2(iris, options = list(
  layout = list(topEnd = list(buttons = list("copy", "csv")))
))

# Explicit
dt2(iris, extensions = c("Buttons", "Select"))

Translating DataTables.net Examples to R

Any example from datatables.net translates directly to R lists:

| JavaScript | R | |---|---| | { pageLength: 25 } | list(pageLength = 25) | | [1, 2, 3] | c(1, 2, 3) | | { layout: { topEnd: "buttons" } } | list(layout = list(topEnd = "buttons")) | | function(d) { ... } | htmlwidgets::JS("function(d) { ... }") |

See vignette("js-config") for a complete translation guide.

Internationalization (i18n)

DataTables renders all interface text (pagination labels, search placeholder, info line, button captions, etc.) from the language option. Override any term by passing a named list.

Minimal — just the essentials

dt2(iris, options = list(
  language = list(
    search       = "Buscar:",
    lengthMenu   = "Mostrar _MENU_ registros",
    info         = "Mostrando _START_ a _END_ de _TOTAL_",
    infoEmpty    = "Nenhum registro",
    zeroRecords  = "Nenhum resultado encontrado",
    paginate     = list(
      first = "«", previous = "‹", `next` = "›", last = "»"
    )
  )
))

Complete pt-BR example

Below is a comprehensive Portuguese (Brazil) translation that covers the core table, Buttons extension, and ColumnControl extension:

lang_ptbr <- list(
  # ── Core table ──────────────────────────────────────────────
  lengthMenu     = "Mostrar _MENU_",
  search         = "Buscar",
  info           = "Mostrando _START_ a _END_ de _TOTAL_ registros",
  infoEmpty      = "Mostrando 0 a 0 de 0 registros",
  infoFiltered   = "(filtrado de _MAX_ registros no total)",
  zeroRecords    = "Nenhum registro encontrado",
  emptyTable     = "Nenhum dado disponível",
  loadingRecords = "Carregando dados...",
  decimal        = ",",
  thousands      = ".",
  infoThousands  = ".",
  paginate       = list(
    first = "«", previous = "‹", `next` = "›", last = "»"
  ),
  # Rótulos do menu "entries per page"
  # (mapeia o valor numérico → texto exibido no select)
  lengthLabels = list(
    `10` = "10", `25` = "25", `50` = "50", `-1` = "Todas"
  ),

  # ── Buttons extension ──────────────────────────────────────
  buttons = list(
    copyTitle   = "Copiado para a área de transferência",
    copyKeys    = paste0(
      "Pressione <i>Ctrl</i> ou <i>\u2318</i> + <i>C</i> para copiar. ",
      "Pressione Esc para cancelar."
    ),
    copySuccess = list(`_` = "%d linhas copiadas", `1` = "1 linha copiada")
  ),

  # ── ColumnControl extension ────────────────────────────────
  columnControl = list(
    colVis         = "Visibilidade da coluna",
    colVisDropdown = "Visibilidade da coluna",
    dropdown       = "Mostrar mais...",
    orderAsc       = "Ordem crescente",
    orderDesc      = "Ordem decrescente",
    orderClear     = "Remover ordenação",
    orderRemove    = "Remover ordenação",
    searchClear    = "Limpar pesquisa",
    searchDropdown = "Pesquisar",
    reorder        = "Reordenar",
    reorderLeft    = "Mover para a esquerda",
    reorderRight   = "Mover para a direita",
    list = list(
      all = "Todos", empty = "Vazio", none = "Nenhum",
      search = "Pesquisar..."
    ),
    search = list(
      text = list(
        contains = "Contém", empty = "Vazio", ends = "Termina em",
        equal = "Igual a", notContains = "Não contém",
        notEmpty = "Não está vazio", notEqual = "Diferente de",
        starts = "Começa por"
      ),
      number = list(
        empty = "Vazio", equal = "Igual a",
        greater = "Maior que", greaterOrEqual = "Maior ou igual a",
        less = "Menor que", lessOrEqual = "Menor ou igual a",
        notEmpty = "Não está vazio", notEqual = "Diferente de"
      ),
      datetime = list(
        empty = "Vazio", equal = "Igual a",
        greater = "Posterior a", less = "Anterior a",
        notEmpty = "Não está vazio", notEqual = "Diferente de"
      )
    )
  )
)

# Use it
dt2(iris, options = list(pageLength = 10, language = lang_ptbr))

Using DataTables CDN translation files

DataTables provides ready-made translation files for 70+ languages. You can load one directly via the language.url option:

dt2(iris, options = list(
  language = list(
    url = "https://cdn.datatables.net/plug-ins/2.3.3/i18n/pt-BR.json"
  )
))

Note: the CDN file covers the core table terms. Extension-specific terms (Buttons, ColumnControl) must still be set manually via the language list as shown above.

Browse all available languages at: https://datatables.net/plug-ins/i18n/

Updating JS Libraries

All library versions are centralized in tools/get-dt2-libs.sh:

# Edit version variables at the top, then run:
bash tools/get-dt2-libs.sh

Vignettes

| Vignette | Description | |---|---| | vignette("getting-started") | Standalone usage, themes, layout, pagination, buttons, scroller | | vignette("shiny-integration") | Proxy, events, server-side processing (11 complete apps) | | vignette("extensions-guide") | Buttons, Select, Responsive, ColumnControl, etc. | | vignette("formatting") | Number/date formatting, custom JS renderers | | vignette("js-config") | Translating DataTables.net JS examples to R |

A complete example app with ColumnControl, flags, custom renderers, and full pt-BR translation is included at inst/examples/app_complete.R.

License

MIT — see LICENSE file.

DT2 bundles DataTables and extensions which are also MIT-licensed. See DataTables license for details.

DT2 documentation built on June 14, 2026, 9:06 a.m.