How to get name of datatable column?

Question

I'm using DataTable 1.10.9 (from https://datatables.net). Columns for the datatable are defined at the initialization step in javascript and each column has a unique name, e.g.:

var table = $('#example').DataTable({
            columns: [
                { name: 'first-name' },
                { name: 'last-name' },
                { name: 'position' },
                { name: 'location' },
                { name: 'salary' }
            ]
        });

I know I can get the column from the table by the name I've given it, but I can't seem to find how to find a column's name from the column object. (I'm hoping it's possible with the current state of the component.) For example:

        table.columns().every(function() {
            //I'd want to see what the name of this column is, something like:
            console.log(this.name()); //will throw an exception since no such function exists
            //or
            console.log(this.name); //will output 'undefined'
        });

What's the proper function or property to get the name there?

Answer 1

Documentation shows that columns().every() sets this to the current column's column() object. Further examination of the column object shows that it has a column().data() method which returns the data the column contains as an array of values. This should provide the data you need.

Answer 2

You can retrieve the initialization options through table.settings().init() - and by that the columns definition this way :

var columns = table.settings().init().columns;

When clicking on a cell / <td> you can find the column index by (best practice in case of hidden columns) :

var colIndex = table.cell(this).index().column;

An example of a click handler that alerts the corresponding column.name when a cell is clicked

$("#example").on('click', 'td', function() {
    //get the initialization options
    var columns = table.settings().init().columns;
    //get the index of the clicked cell
    var colIndex = table.cell(this).index().column;
    alert('you clicked on the column with the name '+columns[colIndex].name);
})

Your every() example would be

var columns = table.settings().init().columns;
table.columns().every(function(index) { 
    console.log(columns[index].name);
})  

demo -> http://jsfiddle.net/6fstLmb6/

Answer 3

The following should work for you as per the API document:

var tableColumns = [{
    name: 'first-name'
}, {
    name: 'last-name'
}, {
    name: 'position'
}, {
    name: 'location'
}, {
    name: 'salary'
}]

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

table.columns().every(function (index) {

    console.log(tableColumns[index].name);

});