Search start with letter

geethunimesh

Is it possible to filter rows with start with letter?
I tried it with regex
table.search('^a', true, false).draw(); //select all rows start with a
But it only works for first column
Please help me to find a solution

allan

Try: table.search('\ba', true, false).draw(); - i.e. a boundary search.

That is actually something I plan to have in the next DataTables core.

Allan

geethunimesh

That doesn't work for me allan
jsfiddle.net/ebRXw/3510/
if I use '^' it will return rows for first column search only

geethunimesh

I think it is working now
jsfiddle.net/ebRXw/3511/
var regExSearch = '\b' + this.value;

geethunimesh

Sorting updates search box with /b
"\b33"

allan

var regExSearch = '\b' + this.value;

Yes, that should do it. The \b is a boundary, which is the correct action to use rather than ^ to indicate the start, since the way the search works in DataTables is to combine all the searchable columns into a single string.

Allan

geethunimesh

So Can we eliminate this "\b" on sorting?
Actually, I don't wish to appear this while sorting. Any suggestion?

allan

I thought we were talking about search, not sort. The \b is a regex special character. It shouldn't effect the sort at all.

Allan

geethunimesh

@allan Now I'm manually removing "\b" while sorting. Any other better option to solve this?

allan

I don't really understand. What has the \b got to do with sorting? Can you link to a test case showing the issue please? The \b is in the filter input only - it shouldn't be in the actual data.

Allan

geethunimesh

@allan
Step to reproduce:
1. type a text in search field
2. click on any column to sort
3. check search field ['\b' will be prepended with search text]
One more issue is there
1. type "*d" in search field
2. get console error and no search will take place

Any suggestion?

allan

You've got an internal loop there. Calling search() from the built in search box will cause it to update itself, which results in the search happening, which... loop.

If you want to use the built in input, you'd need to unbind all of its existing listeners:

$('.dataTables_filter input').off();

1. get console error and no search will take place

The console error is correct - *\b is not a valid regex.

Allan