Datatables columns and JSON Format - json

Question

I have setup a datatables based on the following html
<script>
$('#tableListing').dataTable({
"bAutoWidth" : true,
"bProcessing" : true,
"bServerSide" : true,
"sAjaxSource" : '${actionUrl}',
"aoColumns":[
{ "sTitle": "ID", "mData": "id" },
{ "sTitle": "Username", "mData": "userName" },
{ "sTitle": "Password", "mData": "password" }
]
}
});
</script>
<table id="tableListing" class="display datatable">
<thead>
<tr>
<th><spring:message code="columnLabel.id" /></th>
<th><spring:message code="columnLabel.username" /></th>
<th><spring:message code="columnLabel.enabled" /></th>
</tr>
</thead>
</table>
And the JSON response from server is [1,"abiieez",true] and it works nicely. However I have changed the response from server into something like:
*Edit (updated JSON response) *
{
"iTotalDisplayRecords": 11,
"iTotalRecords": 11,
"aaData": "[{\"creationTime\":0,\"enabled\":true,\"id\":1,\"loginDuration\":0,\"online\":false,\"password\":\"asdasd\",\"userName\":\"abiieez\"},{\"creationTime\":0,\"enabled\":false,\"id\":105,\"loginDuration\":0,\"online\":false,\"password\":\"asdasd\",\"userName\":\"asd1212123\"},{\"creationTime\":0,\"enabled\":false,\"id\":106,\"loginDuration\":0,\"online\":false,\"password\":\"asdsdasd\",\"userName\":\"asdasd23123\"},{\"creationTime\":0,\"enabled\":false,\"id\":107,\"loginDuration\":0,\"online\":false,\"password\":\"asdsdasd\",\"userName\":\"asdasd23123\"},{\"creationTime\":0,\"enabled\":false,\"id\":108,\"loginDuration\":0,\"online\":false,\"password\":\"anak jalanan\",\"userName\":\"alibaba90\"},{\"creationTime\":1351338218227,\"enabled\":false,\"id\":109,\"loginDuration\":0,\"online\":false,\"password\":\"asdasdasda\",\"userName\":\"asdasdasda\"},{\"creationTime\":1351338263527,\"enabled\":false,\"id\":110,\"loginDuration\":0,\"online\":false,\"password\":\"asdasdasda\",\"userName\":\"asdasdasda\"},{\"creationTime\":1351338265078,\"enabled\":false,\"id\":111,\"loginDuration\":0,\"online\":false,\"password\":\"asdasdasda\",\"userName\":\"asdasdasda\"},{\"creationTime\":1351338266329,\"enabled\":false,\"id\":112,\"loginDuration\":0,\"online\":false,\"password\":\"asdasdasda\",\"userName\":\"asdasdasda\"},{\"creationTime\":1351338267247,\"enabled\":false,\"id\":113,\"loginDuration\":0,\"online\":false,\"password\":\"asdasdasda\",\"userName\":\"asdasdasda\"}]",
"sEcho": "1"
}
The above json is not accepted by the datatables, I believe because the number of columns do not match.
Is there a way for me to retrieve this json object and pick which columns I would like to show on the tables on the client side ?

Answer 1

You can use mData property in aoColumns like this:
$(document).ready(function() {
$('#tableListing').dataTable({
"aoColumns":[
{ "sTitle": "user", "mData": "userName" },
{ "sTitle": "pass", "mData": "password" },
...
]
"bAutoWidth" : true,
"bProcessing" : true,
"bServerSide" : true,
"sAjaxSource" : '${actionUrl}'
});
});