Preamble

Although DataTables doesn't have row grouping built-in (picking one of the many methods available would overly limit the plug-in it was felt), it is most certainly possible to give the look and feel of row grouping. In the example below the 'group' is the browser engine, which is based on the information in the first column (set to hidden). The grouping indicator is added by the fnDrawCallback function, which will parse through the rows which are displayed, and enter a TR element where a new group is found.

Live example

Initialisation code

$(document).ready(function() {
	oTable = $('#example').dataTable({
		"fnDrawCallback": function ( oSettings ) {
			if ( oSettings.aiDisplay.length == 0 )
			{
				return;
			}
			
			var nTrs = $('#example tbody tr');
			var iColspan = nTrs[0].getElementsByTagName('td').length;
			var sLastGroup = "";
			for ( var i=0 ; i<nTrs.length ; i++ )
			{
				var iDisplayIndex = oSettings._iDisplayStart + i;
				var sGroup = oSettings.aoData[ oSettings.aiDisplay[iDisplayIndex] ]._aData[0];
				if ( sGroup != sLastGroup )
				{
					var nGroup = document.createElement( 'tr' );
					var nCell = document.createElement( 'td' );
					nCell.colSpan = iColspan;
					nCell.className = "group";
					nCell.innerHTML = sGroup;
					nGroup.appendChild( nCell );
					nTrs[i].parentNode.insertBefore( nGroup, nTrs[i] );
					sLastGroup = sGroup;
				}
			}
		},
		"aoColumnDefs": [
			{ "bVisible": false, "aTargets": [ 0 ] }
		],
		"aaSortingFixed": [[ 0, 'asc' ]],
		"aaSorting": [[ 1, 'asc' ]],
		"sDom": 'lfr<"giveHeight"t>ip'
	});
} );

Other examples