DataTables: Cannot read property style of undefined

Question

I am getting this error with the following:

jquery.dataTables.js:4089 Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property 'style' of undefined(…)
_fnCalculateColumnWidths @ jquery.dataTables.js:4089
_fnInitialise @ jquery.dataTables.js:3216
(anonymous function) @ jquery.dataTables.js:6457
each @ jquery-2.0.2.min.js:4
each @ jquery-2.0.2.min.js:4
DataTable @ jquery.dataTables.js:5993
$.fn.DataTable @ jquery.dataTables.js:14595
(anonymous function) @ VM3329:1
(anonymous function) @ VM3156:180
l @ jquery-2.0.2.min.js:4
fireWith @ jquery-2.0.2.min.js:4
k @ jquery-2.0.2.min.js:6
(anonymous function) @ jquery-2.0.2.min.js:6

The line above referring to (anonymous function) @ VM3156:180 is:

                TASKLISTGRID = $("#TASK_LIST_GRID").DataTable({
                    data : response,
                    columns : columns.AdoptionTaskInfo.columns,
                    paging: true
                });

So I am guessing this is where it is failing.

The HTML ID element exist:

  <table id="TASK_LIST_GRID" class="table table-striped table-bordered table-hover dataTable no-footer" width="100%" role="grid" aria-describedby="TASK_LIST_GRID_info">
  <thead>
    <tr role="row">
      <th class="sorting" tabindex="0" aria-controls="TASK_LIST_GRID" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Solution</th>
      <th class="sorting" tabindex="0" aria-controls="TASK_LIST_GRID" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Status</th>
      <th class="sorting" tabindex="0" aria-controls="TASK_LIST_GRID" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Category</th>
      <th class="sorting" tabindex="0" aria-controls="TASK_LIST_GRID" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Type</th>
      <th class="sorting" tabindex="0" aria-controls="TASK_LIST_GRID" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Due Date</th>
      <th class="sorting" tabindex="0" aria-controls="TASK_LIST_GRID" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Create Date</th>
      <th class="sorting" tabindex="0" aria-controls="TASK_LIST_GRID" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Owner</th>
      <th class="sorting" tabindex="0" aria-controls="TASK_LIST_GRID" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Comments</th>
      <th class="sorting" tabindex="0" aria-controls="TASK_LIST_GRID" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Mnemonic</th>
      <th class="sorting" tabindex="0" aria-controls="TASK_LIST_GRID" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Domain</th>
      <th class="sorting" tabindex="0" aria-controls="TASK_LIST_GRID" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Approve</th>
      <th class="sorting" tabindex="0" aria-controls="TASK_LIST_GRID" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Dismiss</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody></tbody>
</table>

Also, the columns.AdoptionTaskInfo.columns & response object arrays exist. Not sure how to debug what's wrong.. Any suggestions will be helpful..

Answer 1

The problem is that the number of <th> tags need to match the number of columns in the configuration (the array with the key "columns"). If there are fewer <th> tags than columns specified, you get this slightly cryptical error message.

(the correct answer is already present as a comment but I'm repeating it as an answer so it's easier to find - I didn't see the comments)