jQuery DataTables max column width

Your problem seems more CSS related ...

Using word-wrap in CSS would fix that issue, for columnX just add this to your CSS.

.columnX {
  word-wrap: break-word;
}

It would wrap even words without spaces based on your set width for the column.

See: https://developer.mozilla.org/en/css/word-wrap

I agree with the above solution of using the word wrap - it works great. However, I had further issues with columns with large amounts of data in. I also did the following to get it fully working:

I have had numerous issues with the column widths of datatables. The magic fix for me was including the line

table-layout: fixed;

This css goes with the overall css of the table. For example, if you have declared the datatables like the following:

LoadTable = $('#LoadTable').dataTable.....

Then the magic css line would go in the class Loadtable.

#Loadtable {
  margin: 0 auto;
  clear: both;
  width: 100%;
  table-layout: fixed;
}