[jquery] Disable automatic sorting on the first column when using jQuery DataTables

I'm using jQuery DataTables and I would like to know if there's possible to disable automatic sorting on the first column of the table?

My code looks like this:

        /* Default class modification */
        $.extend( $.fn.dataTableExt.oStdClasses, {
            "sWrapper": "dataTables_wrapper form-inline"
        } );

        /* API method to get paging information */
        $.fn.dataTableExt.oApi.fnPagingInfo = function ( oSettings )
        {
            return {
                "iStart":         oSettings._iDisplayStart,
                "iEnd":           oSettings.fnDisplayEnd(),
                "iLength":        oSettings._iDisplayLength,
                "iTotal":         oSettings.fnRecordsTotal(),
                "iFilteredTotal": oSettings.fnRecordsDisplay(),
                "iPage":          Math.ceil( oSettings._iDisplayStart / oSettings._iDisplayLength ),
                "iTotalPages":    Math.ceil( oSettings.fnRecordsDisplay() / oSettings._iDisplayLength )
            };
        }

        /* Bootstrap style pagination control */
        $.extend( $.fn.dataTableExt.oPagination, {
            "bootstrap": {
                "fnInit": function( oSettings, nPaging, fnDraw ) {
                    var oLang = oSettings.oLanguage.oPaginate;
                    var fnClickHandler = function ( e ) {
                        e.preventDefault();
                        if ( oSettings.oApi._fnPageChange(oSettings, e.data.action) ) {
                            fnDraw( oSettings );
                        }
                    };

                    $(nPaging).addClass('pagination').append(
                        '<ul>'+
                            '<li class="prev disabled"><a href="#">&larr; '+oLang.sPrevious+'</a></li>'+
                            '<li class="next disabled"><a href="#">'+oLang.sNext+' &rarr; </a></li>'+
                        '</ul>'
                    );
                    var els = $('a', nPaging);
                    $(els[0]).bind( 'click.DT', { action: "previous" }, fnClickHandler );
                    $(els[1]).bind( 'click.DT', { action: "next" }, fnClickHandler );
                },

                "fnUpdate": function ( oSettings, fnDraw ) {
                    var iListLength = 5;
                    var oPaging = oSettings.oInstance.fnPagingInfo();
                    var an = oSettings.aanFeatures.p;
                    var i, j, sClass, iStart, iEnd, iHalf=Math.floor(iListLength/2);

                    if ( oPaging.iTotalPages < iListLength) {
                        iStart = 1;
                        iEnd = oPaging.iTotalPages;
                    }
                    else if ( oPaging.iPage <= iHalf ) {
                        iStart = 1;
                        iEnd = iListLength;
                    } else if ( oPaging.iPage >= (oPaging.iTotalPages-iHalf) ) {
                        iStart = oPaging.iTotalPages - iListLength + 1;
                        iEnd = oPaging.iTotalPages;
                    } else {
                        iStart = oPaging.iPage - iHalf + 1;
                        iEnd = iStart + iListLength - 1;
                    }

                    for ( i=0, iLen=an.length ; i<iLen ; i++ ) {
                        // Remove the middle elements
                        $('li:gt(0)', an[i]).filter(':not(:last)').remove();

                        // Add the new list items and their event handlers
                        for ( j=iStart ; j<=iEnd ; j++ ) {
                            sClass = (j==oPaging.iPage+1) ? 'class="active"' : '';
                            $('<li '+sClass+'><a href="#">'+j+'</a></li>')
                                .insertBefore( $('li:last', an[i])[0] )
                                .bind('click', function (e) {
                                    e.preventDefault();
                                    oSettings._iDisplayStart = (parseInt($('a', this).text(),10)-1) * oPaging.iLength;
                                    fnDraw( oSettings );
                                } );
                        }

                        // Add / remove disabled classes from the static elements
                        if ( oPaging.iPage === 0 ) {
                            $('li:first', an[i]).addClass('disabled');
                        } else {
                            $('li:first', an[i]).removeClass('disabled');
                        }

                        if ( oPaging.iPage === oPaging.iTotalPages-1 || oPaging.iTotalPages === 0 ) {
                            $('li:last', an[i]).addClass('disabled');
                        } else {
                            $('li:last', an[i]).removeClass('disabled');
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        });

        /* Show/hide table column */
        function dtShowHideCol( iCol ) {
            var oTable = $('#example-2').dataTable();
            var bVis = oTable.fnSettings().aoColumns[iCol].bVisible;
            oTable.fnSetColumnVis( iCol, bVis ? false : true );
        };

        /* Table #example */
        $(document).ready(function() {
            $('.datatable').dataTable( {
                "sDom": "<'row'<'span6'l><'span6'f>r>t<'row'<'span6'i><'span6'p>>",
                "sPaginationType": "bootstrap",                    
                "oLanguage": {
                    "sLengthMenu": "_MENU_ records per page"
                },
                "aoColumnDefs": [
                    { 
                        "bSortable": false, 
                        "aTargets": [ -1 ] // <-- gets last column and turns off sorting
                    } 
                ]
            });
            $('.datatable-controls').on('click','li input',function(){
                dtShowHideCol( $(this).val() );
            })
        });

Add

"aaSorting": []

And check if default value is not null only set sortable column then

if ($('#table').DataTable().order().length == 1) {
    d.SortColumn = $('#table').DataTable().order()[0][0];
    d.SortOrder = $('#table').DataTable().order()[0][1];
}

this.dtOptions = {
    order: [],
    columnDefs: [ {
        'targets': [0], /* column index [0,1,2,3]*/
        'orderable': false, /* true or false */
    }],
    ........ rest all stuff .....
}

The above worked fine for me.

(I am using Angular version 7, angular-datatables version 6.0.0 and bootstrap version 4)

In the newer version of datatables (version 1.10.7) it seems things have changed. The way to prevent DataTables from automatically sorting by the first column is to set the order option to an empty array.

You just need to add the following parameter to the DataTables options:

"order": [] 

Set up your DataTable as follows in order to override the default setting:

$('#example').dataTable( {
    "order": [],
    // Your other options here...
} );

That will override the default setting of "order": [[ 0, 'asc' ]].

You can find more details regarding the order option here: https://datatables.net/reference/option/order

If any of other solution doesn't fix it, try to override the styles to hide the sort togglers:

.sorting_asc:after, .sorting_desc:after {
  content: "";
}

var table;

$(document).ready(function() {

    //datatables
    table = $('#userTable').DataTable({ 

        "processing": true, //Feature control the processing indicator.
        "serverSide": true, //Feature control DataTables' server-side processing mode.
        "order": [], //Initial no order.
         "aaSorting": [],
        // Load data for the table's content from an Ajax source
        "ajax": {
            "url": "<?php echo base_url().'admin/ajax_list';?>",
            "type": "POST"
        },

        //Set column definition initialisation properties.
        "columnDefs": [
        { 
            "targets": [ ], //first column / numbering column
            "orderable": false, //set not orderable
        },
        ],

    });

});

set

"targets": [0]

to

 "targets": [ ]

Use this simple code for DataTables custom sorting. Its 100% work

<script>
    $(document).ready(function() {
        $('#myTable').DataTable( {
            "order": [[ 0, "desc" ]] // "0" means First column and "desc" is order type; 
        } );
    } );
</script>

See in Datatables website

https://datatables.net/examples/basic_init/table_sorting.html