<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<dt-option group="columns">
	<name>columns.type</name>
	<summary>Set the column type - used for filtering and sorting string processing</summary>
	<since>1.10</since>

	<type type="string" />
  <default>
    Auto-detected from raw data.
  </default>

	<description>
    When operating in client-side processing mode, DataTables can process the data used for the display in each cell in a manner suitable for the action being performed. For example, HTML tags will be removed from the strings used for filter matching, while sort formatting may remove currency symbols to allow currency values to be sorted numerically. The formatting action performed to _normalise_ the data so it can be ordered and searched depends upon the column's _type_.

    DataTables has a number of built in types which are automatically detected:

    * `date` - Date / time values. Note that DataTables' built in date parsing uses Javascript's `Date.parse()` method which supports only a [very limited subset of dates](http://blog.dygraphs.com/2012/03/javascript-and-dates-what-mess.html). Additional date format support can be added through the use of plug-ins.
      * Sorting - sorted chronologically
      * Filtering - no effect
    * `num` - Simple number sorting.
      * Sorting - sorted numerically
      * Filtering - no effect
    * `num-fmt` - Numeric sorting of formatted numbers. Numbers which are formatted with thousands separators, currency symbols or a percentage indicator will be sorted numerically automatically by DataTables.
      * Supported built-in currency symbols are `$`, `£`, `€` and `¥`.
      * Supported built-in thousands separators are `'` and `,`. 
      * Examples:
        * $100,000 - sorted as `100000`
        * £10'000 - sorted as `10000`
        * 5'000 - sorted as 5000
        * 40% - sorted as 40
      * Sorting - sorted numerically
      * Filtering - no effect
    * `html-num` - As per the `num` option, but with HTML tags also in the data.
      * Sorting - sorted numerically
      * Filtering - HTML tags removed from filtering string
    * `html-num-fmt` - As per the `num-fmt` option, but with HTML tags also in the data.
      * Sorting - sorted numerically
      * Filtering - HTML tags removed from filtering string
    * `html` - Basic string processing for HTML tags
      * Sorting - sorted with HTML tags removed
      * Filtering - HTML tags removed from filtering string
    * `string` - Fall back type if the data in the column does not match the requirements for the other data types (above).
      * Sorting - no effect
      * Filtering - no effect

    It is expected that the above options will cover the majority of data types used with DataTables, however, data is flexible and comes in many forms, so additional types with different effects can be added through the use of plug-ins. This provides the ability to sort almost any data format imaginable!

    As an optimisation, if you know the column type in advance, you can set the value using this option, saving DataTables from running its auto detection routine.

    Please note that if you are using server-side processing (`dt-init serverSide`) this option has no effect since the ordering and search actions are performed by a server-side script.
	</description>

	<example title="Set the first column's type manually with `dt-init columnDefs`"><![CDATA[
$('#example').dataTable( {
  "columnDefs": [
    { "type": "html", "targets": 0 }
  ]
} );
]]></example>

	<example title="Set the first column's type manually with `dt-init columns`"><![CDATA[
$('#example').dataTable( {
  "columns": [
    { "type": "html" },
    null,
    null,
    null,
    null
  ]
} );
]]></example>

  <related type="option">ordering</related>
  <related type="option">searching</related>
</dt-option>
