column().search()

Since: DataTables 1.10

Search for data in the selected column.

Description

While search() provides the ability to search globally across the table, this method, and its plural counterpart, provide the ability to search for data on a specific column.

DataTables does not have any column search controls built-in as there are so many different ways that column specific data could be searched, but this method makes adding custom column search controls super easy. The examples below show how it may be used.

Note that this search ability in DataTables is actually technically a filter since it is subtractive. However, we term it a search to avoid a naming overlap with the filter helper method.

Please be aware that this method sets the search to apply to the table only - it does not actually perform the search. In order to have the search performed and the result shown, use the draw() method, which can be called simply as a chained method of the column().search() method's returned object - for example table.column( 0 ).search( 'Fred' ).draw();. This is to provide the ability to queue multiple changes before performing a draw.

Types

function column().search()

Description:: Get the currently applied column search.
Returns:: string

Search term that is currently applied to the column. This will be an empty string if no search search term is applied.

function column().search( input [, regex[ , smart[ , caseInsen ]]] )

Description:

Set the search term for the column from the selector. Note this doesn't actually perform the search, but rather queues it up - use draw() to perform the search and display the result.

Parameters:

	Name	Type	Optional
1	`input`	`string`	No
	Search string to apply to the selected column.
2	`regex`	`boolean`	Yes - default:false
	Treat as a regular expression (`true`) or not (default, `false`).
3	`smart`	`boolean`	Yes - default:true
	Perform smart search (default, `true`) or not (`false`). Note that to perform a "smart" search, DataTables uses regular expressions, so if you pass a regular expression in as the second parameter to this method, you will likely want to disable smart searching so the two different regular expressions don't conflict.
4	`caseInsen`	`boolean`	Yes - default:true
	Do case-insensitive matching (default, `true`) or not (`false`).

Returns:

DataTables.Api

DataTables API instance

Examples

Individual column search:

var table = $('#example').DataTable();

// #column3_search is a <input type="text"> element
$('#column3_search').on( 'keyup', function () {
	table
		.columns( 3 )
		.search( this.value )
		.draw();
} );

Build a search for each column with a select-filter class.:

var table = $('#example').DataTable();

table.columns( '.select-filter' ).every( function () {
	var that = this;

	// Create the select list and search operation
	var select = $('<select />')
		.appendTo(
			this.footer()
		)
		.on( 'change', function () {
			that
				.search( $(this).val() )
				.draw();
		} );

	// Get the search data for the first column and add to the select list
	this
		.cache( 'search' )
		.sort()
		.unique()
		.each( function ( d ) {
			select.append( $('<option value="'+d+'">'+d+'</option>') );
		} );
} );

The following options are directly related and may also be useful in your application development.

API

Options