I have some table columns that are not linked to a database column. These columns are used for example to display an input field, some static text, etc. I use the null type of columns.data

Example:

 columnDefs: [
 {
 targets: 'css-class'
 data: null
 defaultContent: 'foobar'
 searchable: false
 orderable: false
 },
 ...
 ]

This is working with ajax-datatables-rails 1.2.0, but with newer versions I get a validation error:

Unknown column. Check that data field is filled on JS side with the column name

I am not sure how to "fix" this error. Can you point me to the right direction to make it work again?

EDIT:

Not sure why, but somehow I missed the closed issues about this topic:

• AjaxDatatablesRails::Error::InvalidSearchColumn with 1.3.1 #386
• AjaxDatatablesRails::Error::InvalidSearchColumn (Check that column '12' exists in view_columns): #385

However, I do not think your proposed "fix" to map a virtual column to some existing model attribute is a solution. On the contrary, it feels like a workaround for an problem that was introduced without need.

Additionally I want to add that this is another breaking change (next to #383) that was introduced in a minor release. I propose to revert this change and release a new minor version 1.4.0.