Q:

General solution for omitting column(s) in datatables

I want to omit certain column(s) from the datatables filter funtionality. I solved it for a specific case and I need to generalize the code. 

non_filterable = [0];

$(document).ready(function() {
    // Setup - add a text input to each footer cell
    var i = 0;
    $('#example th').each( function () {
        if (i != non_filterable) {
            var title = $(this).text();
            $(this).html( '<input type="text" placeholder="Search '+title+'" />' );
        }
        i++;
    } );
 
    // DataTable
    var table = $('#example').DataTable({
    bSortCellsTop: true,  dom: 't',
    info: false, columnDefs: [{ "targets": non_filterable, "searchable": false}],
    });
 
    // Apply the search
    table.columns().every( function () {
        var that = this;
 
        $( 'input', this.header() ).on( 'keyup change', function () {
            if ( that.search() !== this.value ) {
                that
                    .search( this.value )
                    .draw();
            }
        } );
    } );
} );
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.datatables.net/1.10.16/js/jquery.dataTables.min.js"></script>

<table id="example" class="display" width="100%" cellspacing="0">
        <thead>
            <tr>
                <th></th>
                <th>Position</th>
                <th>Office</th>
                <th>Age</th>
                <th>Start date</th>
                <th>Salary</th>
            </tr>
        </thead>
 

 
        <tbody>
            <tr>
                <td>Tiger Nixon</td>
                <td>System Architect</td>
                <td>Edinburgh</td>
                <td>61</td>
                <td>2011/04/25</td>
                <td>$320,800</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Garrett Winters</td>
                <td>Accountant</td>
                <td>Tokyo</td>
                <td>63</td>
                <td>2011/07/25</td>
                <td>$170,750</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Ashton Cox</td>
                <td>Junior Technical Author</td>
                <td>San Francisco</td>
                <td>66</td>
                <td>2009/01/12</td>
                <td>$86,000</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Cedric Kelly</td>
                <td>Senior Javascript Developer</td>
                <td>Edinburgh</td>
                <td>22</td>
                <td>2012/03/29</td>
                <td>$433,060</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Airi Satou</td>
                <td>Accountant</td>
                <td>Tokyo</td>
                <td>33</td>
                <td>2008/11/28</td>
                <td>$162,700</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Brielle Williamson</td>
                <td>Integration Specialist</td>
                <td>New York</td>
                <td>61</td>
                <td>2012/12/02</td>
                <td>$372,000</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Herrod Chandler</td>
                <td>Sales Assistant</td>
                <td>San Francisco</td>
                <td>59</td>
                <td>2012/08/06</td>
                <td>$137,500</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Rhona Davidson</td>
                <td>Integration Specialist</td>
                <td>Tokyo</td>
                <td>55</td>
                <td>2010/10/14</td>
                <td>$327,900</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Colleen Hurst</td>
                <td>Javascript Developer</td>
                <td>San Francisco</td>
                <td>39</td>
                <td>2009/09/15</td>
                <td>$205,500</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Sonya Frost</td>
                <td>Software Engineer</td>
                <td>Edinburgh</td>
                <td>23</td>
                <td>2008/12/13</td>
                <td>$103,600</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Jena Gaines</td>
                <td>Office Manager</td>
                <td>London</td>
                <td>30</td>
                <td>2008/12/19</td>
                <td>$90,560</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Quinn Flynn</td>
                <td>Support Lead</td>
                <td>Edinburgh</td>
                <td>22</td>
                <td>2013/03/03</td>
                <td>$342,000</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Charde Marshall</td>
                <td>Regional Director</td>
                <td>San Francisco</td>
                <td>36</td>
                <td>2008/10/16</td>
                <td>$470,600</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Haley Kennedy</td>
                <td>Senior Marketing Designer</td>
                <td>London</td>
                <td>43</td>
                <td>2012/12/18</td>
                <td>$313,500</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Tatyana Fitzpatrick</td>
                <td>Regional Director</td>
                <td>London</td>
                <td>19</td>
                <td>2010/03/17</td>
                <td>$385,750</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Michael Silva</td>
                <td>Marketing Designer</td>
                <td>London</td>
                <td>66</td>
                <td>2012/11/27</td>
                <td>$198,500</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Paul Byrd</td>
                <td>Chief Financial Officer (CFO)</td>
                <td>New York</td>
                <td>64</td>
                <td>2010/06/09</td>
                <td>$725,000</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Gloria Little</td>
                <td>Systems Administrator</td>
                <td>New York</td>
                <td>59</td>
                <td>2009/04/10</td>
                <td>$237,500</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Bradley Greer</td>
                <td>Software Engineer</td>
                <td>London</td>
                <td>41</td>
                <td>2012/10/13</td>
                <td>$132,000</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Dai Rios</td>
                <td>Personnel Lead</td>
                <td>Edinburgh</td>
                <td>35</td>
                <td>2012/09/26</td>
                <td>$217,500</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Jenette Caldwell</td>
                <td>Development Lead</td>
                <td>New York</td>
                <td>30</td>
                <td>2011/09/03</td>
                <td>$345,000</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Yuri Berry</td>
                <td>Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)</td>
                <td>New York</td>
                <td>40</td>
                <td>2009/06/25</td>
                <td>$675,000</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Caesar Vance</td>
                <td>Pre-Sales Support</td>
                <td>New York</td>
                <td>21</td>
                <td>2011/12/12</td>
                <td>$106,450</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Doris Wilder</td>
                <td>Sales Assistant</td>
                <td>Sidney</td>
                <td>23</td>
                <td>2010/09/20</td>
                <td>$85,600</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Angelica Ramos</td>
                <td>Chief Executive Officer (CEO)</td>
                <td>London</td>
                <td>47</td>
                <td>2009/10/09</td>
                <td>$1,200,000</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Gavin Joyce</td>
                <td>Developer</td>
                <td>Edinburgh</td>
                <td>42</td>
                <td>2010/12/22</td>
                <td>$92,575</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Jennifer Chang</td>
                <td>Regional Director</td>
                <td>Singapore</td>
                <td>28</td>
                <td>2010/11/14</td>
                <td>$357,650</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Brenden Wagner</td>
                <td>Software Engineer</td>
                <td>San Francisco</td>
                <td>28</td>
                <td>2011/06/07</td>
                <td>$206,850</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Fiona Green</td>
                <td>Chief Operating Officer (COO)</td>
                <td>San Francisco</td>
                <td>48</td>
                <td>2010/03/11</td>
                <td>$850,000</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Shou Itou</td>
                <td>Regional Marketing</td>
                <td>Tokyo</td>
                <td>20</td>
                <td>2011/08/14</td>
                <td>$163,000</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Michelle House</td>
                <td>Integration Specialist</td>
                <td>Sidney</td>
                <td>37</td>
                <td>2011/06/02</td>
                <td>$95,400</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Suki Burks</td>
                <td>Developer</td>
                <td>London</td>
                <td>53</td>
                <td>2009/10/22</td>
                <td>$114,500</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Prescott Bartlett</td>
                <td>Technical Author</td>
                <td>London</td>
                <td>27</td>
                <td>2011/05/07</td>
                <td>$145,000</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Gavin Cortez</td>
                <td>Team Leader</td>
                <td>San Francisco</td>
                <td>22</td>
                <td>2008/10/26</td>
                <td>$235,500</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Martena Mccray</td>
                <td>Post-Sales support</td>
                <td>Edinburgh</td>
                <td>46</td>
                <td>2011/03/09</td>
                <td>$324,050</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Unity Butler</td>
                <td>Marketing Designer</td>
                <td>San Francisco</td>
                <td>47</td>
                <td>2009/12/09</td>
                <td>$85,675</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Howard Hatfield</td>
                <td>Office Manager</td>
                <td>San Francisco</td>
                <td>51</td>
                <td>2008/12/16</td>
                <td>$164,500</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Hope Fuentes</td>
                <td>Secretary</td>
                <td>San Francisco</td>
                <td>41</td>
                <td>2010/02/12</td>
                <td>$109,850</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Vivian Harrell</td>
                <td>Financial Controller</td>
                <td>San Francisco</td>
                <td>62</td>
                <td>2009/02/14</td>
                <td>$452,500</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Timothy Mooney</td>
                <td>Office Manager</td>
                <td>London</td>
                <td>37</td>
                <td>2008/12/11</td>
                <td>$136,200</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Jackson Bradshaw</td>
                <td>Director</td>
                <td>New York</td>
                <td>65</td>
                <td>2008/09/26</td>
                <td>$645,750</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Olivia Liang</td>
                <td>Support Engineer</td>
                <td>Singapore</td>
                <td>64</td>
                <td>2011/02/03</td>
                <td>$234,500</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Bruno Nash</td>
                <td>Software Engineer</td>
                <td>London</td>
                <td>38</td>
                <td>2011/05/03</td>
                <td>$163,500</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Sakura Yamamoto</td>
                <td>Support Engineer</td>
                <td>Tokyo</td>
                <td>37</td>
                <td>2009/08/19</td>
                <td>$139,575</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Thor Walton</td>
                <td>Developer</td>
                <td>New York</td>
                <td>61</td>
                <td>2013/08/11</td>
                <td>$98,540</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Finn Camacho</td>
                <td>Support Engineer</td>
                <td>San Francisco</td>
                <td>47</td>
                <td>2009/07/07</td>
                <td>$87,500</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Serge Baldwin</td>
                <td>Data Coordinator</td>
                <td>Singapore</td>
                <td>64</td>
                <td>2012/04/09</td>
                <td>$138,575</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Zenaida Frank</td>
                <td>Software Engineer</td>
                <td>New York</td>
                <td>63</td>
                <td>2010/01/04</td>
                <td>$125,250</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Zorita Serrano</td>
                <td>Software Engineer</td>
                <td>San Francisco</td>
                <td>56</td>
                <td>2012/06/01</td>
                <td>$115,000</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Jennifer Acosta</td>
                <td>Junior Javascript Developer</td>
                <td>Edinburgh</td>
                <td>43</td>
                <td>2013/02/01</td>
                <td>$75,650</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Cara Stevens</td>
                <td>Sales Assistant</td>
                <td>New York</td>
                <td>46</td>
                <td>2011/12/06</td>
                <td>$145,600</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Hermione Butler</td>
                <td>Regional Director</td>
                <td>London</td>
                <td>47</td>
                <td>2011/03/21</td>
                <td>$356,250</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Lael Greer</td>
                <td>Systems Administrator</td>
                <td>London</td>
                <td>21</td>
                <td>2009/02/27</td>
                <td>$103,500</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Jonas Alexander</td>
                <td>Developer</td>
                <td>San Francisco</td>
                <td>30</td>
                <td>2010/07/14</td>
                <td>$86,500</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Shad Decker</td>
                <td>Regional Director</td>
                <td>Edinburgh</td>
                <td>51</td>
                <td>2008/11/13</td>
                <td>$183,000</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Michael Bruce</td>
                <td>Javascript Developer</td>
                <td>Singapore</td>
                <td>29</td>
                <td>2011/06/27</td>
                <td>$183,000</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Donna Snider</td>
                <td>Customer Support</td>
                <td>New York</td>
                <td>27</td>
                <td>2011/01/25</td>
                <td>$112,000</td>
            </tr>
        </tbody>
    </table>   

In the above example that I created, it works to omit filtering for column 0. But it doesn't work to just change the "non-filterable" varieble to [0,2] for example. How can I achieve a general solution for omitting columns from filter functionality?

A:

You need to use indexOf() to check existence of an index in your non_filterable array.
Like this :
non_filterable = [0,2];
$(document).ready(function() {
    // Setup - add a text input to each footer cell
    var i = 0;
    $('#example th').each( function () {
        if (non_filterable.indexOf(i)===-1) {
            var title = $(this).text();
            $(this).html( '<input type="text" placeholder="Search '+title+'" />' );
        }
        i++;
    } );

    // rest of your code
});

