I just completed a project where I integrated that jQuery Datatables plugin http://datatables.net. The documentation from the Datatables website was helpful but there were a gaps that needed extended documentation.

This particular implementation uses an ASMX service for the underlying service. The plugin is integrated with my <table> with the following call.

 $('#example').dataTable({
        bJQueryUI: true,
        sPaginationType: "full_numbers",
        bProcessing: true,
        bServerSide: true,
        sAjaxSource: '/Services/MyService.asmx/MyWebMethod',
        fnServerData: function (sSource, aoData, fnCallback) {
            var jsonIn = '{ delimiter: "|", delimitedTags: "' + strTags + '", pageSize: 100, skip: ' + aoData[3].value + ', sortColumn: ' + aoData[47].value + ', sortDirection: "' + aoData[48].value + '", echo: ' + aoData[0].value + ' }';
            //alert(jsonIn);

            $.ajax({
                contentType: 'application/json',
                dataType: 'json',
                error: ajaxError,
                type: "POST",
                url: sSource,
                data: jsonIn,
                success: function (msg) {
                    fnCallback(msg.d);
                    searchSuccess(msg.d);
                }
});

The ajax call is to an ASP.NET Web Service (.asmx) so the data needs to be sent as text.
fnCallback is the rendering function for the datatables plugin. The plugin requires the construct passed in to have the following properties:

• sEcho
• iTotalRecords
• iTotalDisplayRecords
• sColumns (optional)
• aaData

Following Zack Owens’s advice, I created a server side class that wraps my web service’s response. The properties correspond to the data contract that this plugin expects. For the sEcho property, needs to be populated with the same value that is passed to the fnServerData handler via aoData[0].value otherwise your data table will experience any number of issues re-rendering when you sort or change pages.

    public class FormatedList
    {
        public FormatedList()
        {
        }
        public int sEcho { get; set; }
        public int iTotalRecords { get; set; }
        public int iTotalDisplayRecords { get; set; }
        public List aaData { get; set; }
        public string sColumns { get; set; }
        public void Import(string[] properties)
        {
            sColumns = string.Empty;
            for (int i = 0; i < properties.Length; i++)
            {
                sColumns += properties[i];
                if (i < properties.Length - 1)
                    sColumns += ",";
            }
        }
    }