IE error 'parentNode' is null or not an object Line: 2732

sfopeano

My data table works fine in FF, but returns this error in IE. Looks like it has something to do with a hidden column.

I am using the latest version 1.7.3

Webpage error details

User Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/4.0; SLCC2; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; .NET CLR 3.0.30729; Media Center PC 6.0)
Timestamp: Wed, 6 Oct 2010 23:32:31 UTC


Message: 'parentNode' is null or not an object
Line: 2732
Char: 8
Code: 0
URI: http://dev.aircarealliance.org/dev/js/jquery.dataTables.js

Here is the setup:
[code]
directoryTable = jQuery('#directory').dataTable({
"iDisplayLength":25,
"aaSorting": [[2,'asc']],
"aoColumns": [
{ "bSortable": true, "bVisible": true }, // ACA
{ "bSortable": false, "bVisible": false }, // Name for sorting
{ "bSortable": true, "bVisible": true, "iDataSort": 1 }, // Name
{ "bSortable": false, "bVisible": false}, // Service for sorting
{ "bSortable": true, "bVisible": true, "iDataSort": 3 }, // Service
{ "bSortable": false, "bVisible": true }, // Contact
{ "bSortable": false, "bVisible": false}, // Geography for filtering
]
});
[/code]

allan

You've linked to the DataTables script, rather than your use of it :-), so it's a little difficult to be sure, but does your header include 7 TH elements - i.e. including the hidden ones? DataTables will hide then form you, but they must be in the header.

Allan

sfopeano

Thanks Allan. Yes, there are seven TH elements, and it does work in both FF and Safari. I create the table in php and load it from a variable. I'm not sure what other clues I can give you. Thanks for your help...

allan

Can you link us to an example please (the link above is to DataTables - which we know where to get :-) ).

Allan

sfopeano

Sure: http://dev.aircarealliance.org/resource-directory.

Also, here is a clue from the console log: LOG: DataTables warning (table id = 'directory'): Unexpected number of TD elements. Expected 632 and got 474. DataTables 632 divided by the number of rows (79) is 8. Should be 7, no, since there are 7 columns? Also, 474 is 79 * 6, indicating that it's only getting six. Not sure how this is could be happening differently in IE vs. FF.

sfopeano

Looking at the output, some cells are missing from columns that should be hidden, but some cells are missing from columns that shouldn't be hidden as well. That probably accounts for the mis-counting.

sfopeano

Here are a couple of rows from the table raw output:

[code]



ACA
Organization name for sorting
Organization
Service for filtering
Service
Contact
Geography for filtering




Non Member 
Hope Flight Foundation 
Hope Flight Foundation
Keeping Hope and Joy Alive through free air transport for those in need
P.O. Box 20505
Castro Valley, CA 94546 
ambulatory 
Ambulatory patients
 
www.hopeflightfoundation.org
(510) 427-3956
harding-hope@sbcglobal.net 
CA,NV,OR,  



Angel Flight Soars, Inc. 
Angel Flight Soars, Inc.
Removing the obstacle of transportation for those in medical and financial crisis
2000 Airport Road
Atlanta, GA 30341 
ambulatory 
Ambulatory patients
 
www.angelflightsoars.org
(770) 452-7958
admin@angelflightsoars.org 
AL,AR,GA,MS,NC,SC,TN,  

[/code]

allan

Ah - you've got a trailing comma on your aoColumns array: http://datatables.net/faqs#comma . IE (I would say correctly) treats the following array element as null - Firefox and friends delete it. Just remove the comma and it will go away.

Allan

sfopeano

Good grief... I apologize, I've run into that before and I should have spotted it. Thanks for your help, and big thanks for the fantastic system.

Best,

Stephan