ServerSide filtering and null data

INTONE

If if turn on server side Processing and try to filter on a table that has a column that has a null value it triggers and error :

Here is my code:

          $('#view_affiliates_details').DataTable( {
                     dom: "Tfrtip",
                    ajax: {
                        url: "../php/affiliates.php",
                        type: "POST"
                    },
                    serverSide: true,
                    columns: [
                        { data: "affiliates.name" },
                        { data: "affiliates.contact_email" },
                        { data: "affiliates.contact_mobile_number" },
                        { data: "affiliates.contact_number_2" }  ,
                        {
                          data: null,
                          className: "center",
                          defaultContent: '<a href="#" class="editor_edit button blue">Edit</a> <a href="#" class="editor_remove button red">Delete</a>'
                        }  
                    ],
                    tableTools: {
                        sRowSelect: "os",
                        aButtons: [
                            { sExtends: "editor_create", editor: editor },
                            { sExtends: "editor_edit",   editor: editor },
                            { sExtends: "editor_remove", editor: editor }
                        ]
                    },

                    initComplete: function ( settings, json ) {
                        editor.field( 'affiliates.company_branches_id' ).update( json.company_branches );
                    }
                } );

When I do a simple filter I get an error that unknown field index(4). If I remove the server side processing i am able to filter. How can this be fixed?

allan

The error should link you to this tech note. There are details there, but basically if you have null data, you need to tell DataTables what to do with it. columns.defaultContent can be used for this.

Allan

INTONE

Thank you. I have fixed it doing this:

          {
            data: null,
            className: "center",
            defaultContent: '<a href="#" class="editor_edit button blue">Edit</a> <a href="#" class="editor_remove button red">Delete</a>',
           targets: -1


              } 

INTONE

I am sorry Alan. I blundered. During other tests I realized that the code above did not fix the issue. You suggested I use the columns.defaultContent , which I am already using but still experiencing the same error:

  {
data: null,
className: "center",
defaultContent: '<a href="#" class="editor_edit button blue">Edit</a> <a    href="#" class="editor_remove button red">Delete</a>',
    targets: -1


  }

INTONE

I found the answer from a similar post that was answered recently here:
http://datatables.net/forums/discussion/24231/null-column-serverside-search-error#latest

its amazing how simple it is to implement some of these features. However finding the correct reference some times is difficult. Answer:

         {
           data: null,
           className: "center",
           defaultContent: '<a href="#" class="editor_edit button blue">Edit</a> <a    href="#" class="editor_remove button red">Delete</a>',orderable: false, "bSearchable": false

            }

allan

Good to hear you got it working.

I would be interested to know if you have any suggestions on how I can improve the documentation for finding answers. Obviously I know where to look since I wrote it, so any feedback would be welcome.

Allan