Think that you are too hasty to agree that you cannot do what you want :) Of course, this is possible, but it is difficult to determine under what circumstances. The question is not very specific. The following code inserts a new line immediately after the last line you clicked:
var dataTable; var options = { bSort: false, bPaginate: false }; function initDataTable() { dataTable = $('#example').dataTable(options); } function attachClickHandler() { $("#example tbody tr").click(function(event) { var index=$(this).index(); $("#insert").text('insert a row below the row you just clicked ('+index+')').attr('index',index).show(); }); } $("#insert").click(function() { var index=$(this).attr('index'); var newRow = '<tr>'+ '<td>new</td>'+ '<td>new</td>'+ '<td>new</td>'+ '<td>new</td>'+ '<td>new</td>' + '</tr>'; dataTable.fnDestroy(); $("#example tbody tr").eq(index).after(newRow); initDataTable(); attachClickHandler(); }); initDataTable(); attachClickHandler();
The idea is to insert a new row into the underlying DOM table and then reinitialize the dataTable when it is done. It also works by sorting, but for demo purposes, I sort the sorting. As @scottysmalls mentions, dataTables really sorts everything, so the new inserted row will be sorted immediately, and it will look like it was not inserted correctly.
See demo -> http://jsfiddle.net/2AqQ6/