Can I dynamically load a portion of a table first? - php

Question

I've recently changed my searching page to a searchable datatable page due to my employer's request for easier data management. The problem is that it is taking too long to load.
I'm wondering it there is a way to only load like a portion of the table and finish loading the page first. Then finish off loading the rest of the table after that, e.g. while the user actually attempt to search for the data.
This was requested because the user might want to navigate to other parts of the page instead of using the datatable.
Extra info : The page is in .php and the data is loaded using php do-while loop. Maybe we can do a workaround using php functions?

Answer 1

Using the AJAX method recommended in the comments, the following is similar to how you could handle the page-load. You would need the jQuery library for the below.
Initial page
<script type="text/javascript">
// when the page is done loading,
// let's send a call to load more data
$(document).ready(function(){
myFunction();
});
// function to handle AJAX request to gather data
function myFunction(){
$.ajax({
type: "POST",
url: "./linkToMyPHP.php?loadData=1",
success: function(data){
// handle the data using the "data" variable
}
});
}
</script>
AJAX Page
<?php
if(isset($_GET["loadData"])){
// call query here and echo information
}
It may be recommended, to actually use a PHP function called json_encode() to echo back the information from your AJAX page in JSON form. This would allow you to transmit an array of information, instead of raw data. You would then need to update your AJAX request function similar to below.
$.ajax({
type: "POST",
url: "./linkToMyPHP.php?loadData=1",
dataType: "json",
success: function(data){
$("#myDivToChange").html(data);
}
});
You can read up on JSON at this highly rated question.