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Filter Column

Use the filterColumn() API when you need custom search logic for a specific column while letting the package handle other columns automatically.

Basic Usage

Filter a computed column that combines multiple fields:

Route::get('user-data', function () {
    $model = User::query()->select([
        'id',
        DB::raw("CONCAT(first_name, ' ', last_name) as fullname"),
        'email',
        'created_at',
    ]);
 
    return DataTables::eloquent($model)
        ->filterColumn('fullname', fn(Builder $query, $keyword) =>
            $query->whereRaw(
                "CONCAT(first_name, ' ', last_name) LIKE ?",
                ["%{$keyword}%"]
            )
        )
        ->toJson();
});

Closure Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`$query`	Builder	The query builder instance
`$keyword`	string	The search keyword from DataTables

Multiple Custom Columns

Define custom filters for different columns:

Route::get('user-data', function () {
    return DataTables::eloquent(User::query())
        ->filterColumn('name', fn(Builder $query, $keyword) =>
            $query->where('name', 'like', "%{$keyword}%")
        )
        ->filterColumn('email', fn(Builder $query, $keyword) =>
            $query->where('email', 'like', "%{$keyword}%")
        )
        ->filterColumn('status', fn(Builder $query, $keyword) =>
            $query->where('status', $keyword)
        )
        ->toJson();
});

OR Conditions Across Columns

Search across multiple columns with OR logic:

Route::get('user-data', function () {
    return DataTables::eloquent(User::query())
        ->filterColumn('name', function (Builder $query, $keyword) {
            $query->where(fn(Builder $q) => $q
                ->where('first_name', 'like', "%{$keyword}%")
                ->orWhere('last_name', 'like', "%{$keyword}%")
                ->orWhereRaw(
                    "CONCAT(first_name, ' ', last_name) LIKE ?",
                    ["%{$keyword}%"]
                )
            );
        })
        ->toJson();
});

Numeric Comparison

Filter using comparison operators:

Route::get('user-data', function () {
    return DataTables::eloquent(User::query())
        ->filterColumn('price', fn(Builder $query, $keyword) =>
            $query->where('price', '>=', $keyword)
        )
        ->toJson();
});

Date Filtering

Parse and filter date values:

Route::get('user-data', function () {
    return DataTables::eloquent(User::query())
        ->filterColumn('created_at', fn(Builder $query, $keyword) =>
            $query->whereDate('created_at', Carbon::parse($keyword)->startOfDay())
        )
        ->toJson();
});

With Table Aliases

When using table aliases in your query:

Route::get('user-data', function () {
    $model = DB::table('users as u')->select('u.*');
 
    return DataTables::query($model)
        ->filterColumn('user_name', fn(Builder $query, $keyword) =>
            $query->whereRaw(
                "CONCAT(u.first_name, ' ', u.last_name) LIKE ?",
                ["%{$keyword}%"]
            )
        )
        ->toJson();
});

[!WARNING] Always include select('table.*') when using table aliases to avoid id column conflicts.

Quick Reference

Need	Solution
Custom logic for specific columns	`->filterColumn('name', fn(Builder $q, $k) => ...)`
Complete query control	Manual Search
Simple wildcard matching	Smart Search
Pattern-based matching	Regex Search

Laravel DataTables