jquery datatables default sort

I am trying to set the default sort to the second column in my jquery datatable. It by default sorts by index 0. I am using the "aaSorting": [[ 1, "asc" ]] syntax but it highlights the column which I don't want on initial load. How can I set the default sort of a specific column without it highlighting the column as if no sorting was involved and the 0 index column was being used.

There are a couple of options:

1. Just after initialising DataTables, remove the sorting classes on the TD element in the TBODY.

2. Disable the sorting classes using http://datatables.net/ref#bSortClasses . Problem with this is that it will disable the sort classes for user sort requests - which might or might not be what you want.

3. Have your server output the table in your required sort order, and don't apply a default sort on the table (aaSorting:[]).

Here is the actual code that does it...

$(document).ready(function()
{
  var oTable = $('#myTable').dataTable();

  // Sort immediately with column 2 (at position 1 in the array (base 0). More could be sorted with additional array elements
  oTable.fnSort( [ [1,'asc'] ] );

  // And to sort another column descending (at position 2 in the array (base 0).
  oTable.fnSort( [ [2,'desc'] ] );
} );

To not have the column highlighted, modify the CSS like so:

table.dataTable tr.odd td.sorting_1 { background-color: transparent; }
table.dataTable tr.even td.sorting_1 { background-color: transparent; }

You can use the fnSort function, see the details here:

http://datatables.net/api#fnSort

Best option is to disable sorting and just feed data with desired sort order (from database or other source). Try to add this to your 'datatable': "bSort": false

Datatables supports HTML5 data-* attributes for this functionality.

It supports multiple columns in the sort order (it's 0-based)

<table data-order="[[ 1, 'desc' ], [2, 'asc' ]]">
    <thead>
        <tr>
            <td>First</td>
            <td>Another column</td>
            <td>A third</td>
        </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
        <tr>
            <td>z</td>
            <td>1</td>
            <td>$%^&*</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>y</td>
            <td>2</td>
            <td>*$%^&</td>
        </tr>
    </tbody>
</table>

Now my jQuery is simply $('table').DataTables(); and I get my second and third columns sorted in desc / asc order.

Here's some other nice attributes for the <table> that I find myself reusing:

data-page-length="-1" will set the page length to All (pass 25 for page length 25)...

data-fixed-header="true" ... Make a guess