# DataTables example Fuzzy Searching

Fuzzy searching is used in search engines and databases to perform searches that will match results that are not necessarily exactly the same as the search term. This allows spelling mistakes and typos to be accounted for. It also allows small changes in dialect not to affect search results. A commonly used example is for surname searching. "Smith" and "Smythe" are pronounced the same way, but using conventional searching typing "Smith" would not return "Smythe".

This plug-in adds fuzzy search functionality to DataTables. It does this through a combination of exact matching and the Damerau-Levenshtein algorithm. There are three initialisation options that are associated with this plugin.

- `fuzzySearch.toggleSmart` allows the searching to be changed from exact matching to fuzzy searching.
- `fuzzySearch.rankColumn` allows the % match to be set in a column within the datatable. Some examples of use cases could be to display the value to the user, or to hide the column and order based on it - as a search engine would.
- `fuzzySearch.threshold` allows the value of similarity that is required from the Damerau-Levenshtein function to display the row to be changed.

This example shows how the API methods can be used to work with fuzzy searching. There are 4 buttons below which implement the following actions

- `.search(value)`This button takes the value from the input element to the left of the buttons and passes it into the `.search()` api method. Doing this should update the value in the tables input element, but not yet update the tables records. If instead an undefined value were to be passed in this method would act as a getter and retrieve the most recent search value.
- `.search("")`This button again calls the `.search()` api method, this time with an empty string to clear that value that it stores. Doing this should update the value in the tables input element, but not yet update the tables records.
- `.search.fuzzy(value)`This button takes the value from the input element to the left of the buttons and passes it into the `.search.fuzzy()` api method. Doing this should update the value in the tables input element, but not yet update the tables records. If instead an undefined value were to be passed in this method would act as a getter and retrieve the most recent fuzzy search value.
- `.search.fuzzy("")`This button again calls the `.search.fuzzy()` api method, this time with an empty string to clear that value that it stores. Doing this should update the value in the tables input element, but not yet update the tables records.
- `.draw()`This button calls the `.draw()` api method. Doing this will update the table to display the values that have been returned based on the calls to the above api methods. If a value has been set for both exact and fuzzy searching then both must approve a row for it to be displayed. Clearing one of these values and drawing again will cause the other to be the sole filter that is applied. If the tables UI is used at any point then the exact search is discarded and fuzzy search takes command

Name | Position | Office | Age | Start date | Salary
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Tiger Nixon | System Architect | Edinburgh | 61 | 2011/04/25 | $320,800
Garrett Winters | Accountant | Tokyo | 63 | 2011/07/25 | $170,750
Ashton Cox | Junior Technical Author | San Francisco | 66 | 2009/01/12 | $86,000
Cedric Kelly | Senior Javascript Developer | Edinburgh | 22 | 2012/03/29 | $433,060
Airi Satou | Accountant | Tokyo | 33 | 2008/11/28 | $162,700
Brielle Williamson | Integration Specialist | New York | 61 | 2012/12/02 | $372,000
Herrod Chandler | Sales Assistant | San Francisco | 59 | 2012/08/06 | $137,500
Rhona Davidson | Integration Specialist | Tokyo | 55 | 2010/10/14 | $327,900
Colleen Hurst | Javascript Developer | San Francisco | 39 | 2009/09/15 | $205,500
Sonya Frost | Software Engineer | Edinburgh | 23 | 2008/12/13 | $103,600
Jena Gaines | Office Manager | London | 30 | 2008/12/19 | $90,560
Quinn Flynn | Support Lead | Edinburgh | 22 | 2013/03/03 | $342,000
Charde Marshall | Regional Director | San Francisco | 36 | 2008/10/16 | $470,600
Haley Kennedy | Senior Marketing Designer | London | 43 | 2012/12/18 | $313,500
Tatyana Fitzpatrick | Regional Director | London | 19 | 2010/03/17 | $385,750
Michael Silva | Marketing Designer | London | 66 | 2012/11/27 | $198,500
Paul Byrd | Chief Financial Officer (CFO) | New York | 64 | 2010/06/09 | $725,000
Gloria Little | Systems Administrator | New York | 59 | 2009/04/10 | $237,500
Bradley Greer | Software Engineer | London | 41 | 2012/10/13 | $132,000
Dai Rios | Personnel Lead | Edinburgh | 35 | 2012/09/26 | $217,500
Jenette Caldwell | Development Lead | New York | 30 | 2011/09/03 | $345,000
Yuri Berry | Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) | New York | 40 | 2009/06/25 | $675,000
Caesar Vance | Pre-Sales Support | New York | 21 | 2011/12/12 | $106,450
Doris Wilder | Sales Assistant | Sydney | 23 | 2010/09/20 | $85,600
Angelica Ramos | Chief Executive Officer (CEO) | London | 47 | 2009/10/09 | $1,200,000
Gavin Joyce | Developer | Edinburgh | 42 | 2010/12/22 | $92,575
Jennifer Chang | Regional Director | Singapore | 28 | 2010/11/14 | $357,650
Brenden Wagner | Software Engineer | San Francisco | 28 | 2011/06/07 | $206,850
Fiona Green | Chief Operating Officer (COO) | San Francisco | 48 | 2010/03/11 | $850,000
Shou Itou | Regional Marketing | Tokyo | 20 | 2011/08/14 | $163,000
Michelle House | Integration Specialist | Sydney | 37 | 2011/06/02 | $95,400
Suki Burks | Developer | London | 53 | 2009/10/22 | $114,500
Prescott Bartlett | Technical Author | London | 27 | 2011/05/07 | $145,000
Gavin Cortez | Team Leader | San Francisco | 22 | 2008/10/26 | $235,500
Martena Mccray | Post-Sales support | Edinburgh | 46 | 2011/03/09 | $324,050
Unity Butler | Marketing Designer | San Francisco | 47 | 2009/12/09 | $85,675
Howard Hatfield | Office Manager | San Francisco | 51 | 2008/12/16 | $164,500
Hope Fuentes | Secretary | San Francisco | 41 | 2010/02/12 | $109,850
Vivian Harrell | Financial Controller | San Francisco | 62 | 2009/02/14 | $452,500
Timothy Mooney | Office Manager | London | 37 | 2008/12/11 | $136,200
Jackson Bradshaw | Director | New York | 65 | 2008/09/26 | $645,750
Olivia Liang | Support Engineer | Singapore | 64 | 2011/02/03 | $234,500
Bruno Nash | Software Engineer | London | 38 | 2011/05/03 | $163,500
Sakura Yamamoto | Support Engineer | Tokyo | 37 | 2009/08/19 | $139,575
Thor Walton | Developer | New York | 61 | 2013/08/11 | $98,540
Finn Camacho | Support Engineer | San Francisco | 47 | 2009/07/07 | $87,500
Serge Baldwin | Data Coordinator | Singapore | 64 | 2012/04/09 | $138,575
Zenaida Frank | Software Engineer | New York | 63 | 2010/01/04 | $125,250
Zorita Serrano | Software Engineer | San Francisco | 56 | 2012/06/01 | $115,000
Jennifer Acosta | Junior Javascript Developer | Edinburgh | 43 | 2013/02/01 | $75,650
Cara Stevens | Sales Assistant | New York | 46 | 2011/12/06 | $145,600
Hermione Butler | Regional Director | London | 47 | 2011/03/21 | $356,250
Lael Greer | Systems Administrator | London | 21 | 2009/02/27 | $103,500
Jonas Alexander | Developer | San Francisco | 30 | 2010/07/14 | $86,500
Shad Decker | Regional Director | Edinburgh | 51 | 2008/11/13 | $183,000
Michael Bruce | Javascript Developer | Singapore | 29 | 2011/06/27 | $183,000
Donna Snider | Customer Support | New York | 27 | 2011/01/25 | $112,000
Name | Position | Office | Age | Start date | Salary

The Javascript shown below is used to initialise the table shown in this example:

`$(document).ready(function() { var table = $('#example').DataTable({ fuzzySearch: true }); } );`