Making a datatable, maybe also with column filters

Question

In case the table has class 'trans' - run dataTable() and columnFilter(); otherwise just run dataTable().

Is it possible to not repeat the dataTable() part?

$('#dt_a').each(function() {
 if ($(this).hasClass('trans')) {
 $(this).dataTable({
 "sDom": "<'row'<'span6'<'dt_actions'>l><'span6'f>r>t<'row'<'span6'i><'span6'p>>",
 "sPaginationType": "bootstrap_alt",
 "oLanguage": {
 "sLengthMenu": "_MENU_ records per page"
 }
 })
 .columnFilter({
 sPlaceHolder: "head:before",
 aoColumns: [
 null,
 { type: "text" },
 { type: "text" },
 { type: "date-range" },
 { type: "text" },
 { type: "text" },
 null,
 null
 ]
 });
 } else {
 $(this).dataTable({
 "sDom": "<'row'<'span6'<'dt_actions'>l><'span6'f>r>t<'row'<'span6'i><'span6'p>>",
 "sPaginationType": "bootstrap_alt",
 "oLanguage": {
 "sLengthMenu": "_MENU_ records per page"
 }
 });
 }
 });

NOTE:

columnFilter is an extension to dataTable.

Answer 1

Use some variables. You don't need to chain function calls; it's just a neat thing you can do when appropriate, but it's not required.

$('#dt_a').each(function() {
 var target = $(this), // store this 
 table = target.dataTable({ // and store this too
 "sDom": "<'row'<'span6'<'dt_actions'>l><'span6'f>r>t<'row'<'span6'i><'span6'p>>",
 "sPaginationType": "bootstrap_alt",
 "oLanguage": {
 "sLengthMenu": "_MENU_ records per page"
 }
 });
 if (target.hasClass('trans')) {
 table.columnFilter({
 sPlaceHolder: "head:before",
 aoColumns: [
 null,
 { type: "text" },
 { type: "text" },
 { type: "date-range" },
 { type: "text" },
 { type: "text" },
 null,
 null
 ]
 });
 }
});

• Giraldi: Neat! I didn't know chaining function calls wasn't necessary. Now I know. Cheers!
• Flambino: @gmaggio The reason chaining works, is that one function call returns an object, and then you call the next function in the chain on that object. So for instance $(...) returns an object, and you can either call something on that object directly (chaining), or you can stick that object in a variable for later use. In other words, you can always cut a chain in 2 or more pieces.