How can I use the < sign in a search?

marchoeijmans

We have data (e.g. product titles) that could have a < sign in it. When I use a < search, these records are not found.

I tried:
- setting the search regex flag to false "search": { "regex": false }
- setting a the escape regex per field to false: "searchCols": [{"escapeRegex": false }]
- setting the smart flag to false

Is there a way to configure DataTables to use the < in search?

Thanks,
Marc

kthorngren

Maybe this range filtering example will help:
https://datatables.net/examples/plug-ins/range_filtering.html

Kevin

marchoeijmans

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for you reply!

I don't understand your answer related to my question. I might have put you on the wrong leg. Let me clarify what I want.

I have a table with product titles, e.g.
'Product 1'
'Product 2'
'Product >'
When I type in '<3' in the search field I want 'Product >' to be found/filtered. It works with the '>' sign, so entering '3>' will find the product but not with the '<' sign.

Hope this clarifies the problem.
Thanks again for the reply.
Regards,
Marc

kthorngren

Sorry, misunderstood. I built a quick example that seems to work:
http://live.datatables.net/lewoceja/1/edit

Maybe you can provide an example with your data showing the issue.

Kevin

marchoeijmans

Your example seems to work. The only difference I see is that we populate our data from an ajax call. Something like this:
$(document).ready(function () {
$('#resultsTable').dataTable({
"sAjaxSource": "/ProductCatalog/GetProductsAjaxHandler/",
"bProcessing": true,
"bStateSave": true, //To persist sorting ang paging for DataTable

I read somewhere that the sAjaxSource is an old tag, could this be the reason why it is not working in our environment or could it be related to the Ajax call?

Thanks,
Marc

kthorngren

You are using legacy versions of the Datatables options. The legacy format is backwards compatible if you are using Datatables 1.10. I don't have experience with sAjaxSource but doubt that is the problem if your table is populating. What Datatables version are you using?

Are you using server side processing?

If so then you will need to look at your server script to determine why it doesn't work with <.

If not then we would need to see an example of your data structure being returned in the ajax response. You can use the network inspector to get this. This tech note will show you how:
https://datatables.net/manual/tech-notes/1

Also we would need to see your full Datatables init code.

Kevin

marchoeijmans

Hi Kevin,
* We don't use serverside processing, we get all product (records) from the server and filer those records on the client.
* Upgraded to version DataTables.1.10.16
* Copied and pasted the JSON to JSONLint, JSONLint reported that is valid JSON (sample added)
* Added a version of a page with hard coded values that seems to work.
* Added a version of a page that gets the content from a JSON file that doesn't filter the records when I use a < or >.
* I don't understand what code you mean by initialization code.

ps I had to rename the json file to get it uploaded

Thanks,
Marc

tangerine

I don't understand what code you mean by initialization code.

Your DT initialisation code should look something like this:

$(document).ready( function () {
  var table = $('#example').DataTable();
} );

but with more options.

marchoeijmans

This is what I have in file "retrieved.html" attached .

$(document).ready(function() {
$('#example').DataTable( {
ajax: {
url: './sampleresult.txt',
dataSrc: 'data',
columns: [
{ data: 0 },
{ data: 1 },
{ data: 5 },
{ data: 4 },
{ data: 2 },
{ data: 3 }
]
},
} );
} );

kthorngren

Thanks for the info. I put your data into a test case:
http://live.datatables.net/xuzixete/1/edit

As you state searching for some special characters like @, <, > don't work. I haven't found an option to make it work, short of maybe creating a search plugin. Found lots of similar questions on the forum without answers.

Maybe @allan can help us understand why its not working and the best option to fix it.

Kevin

marchoeijmans

Thanks, Kevin.

What I don't understand is that when you hard code the values in a table, the search does work event when you use <, > or @ characters. Does this mean that a different kind of search is used when you add the values in a table instead of getting the data from a JSON result?