jQuery datatables: test if datatables plugin is initialized

Question

I want to check if a table element with say, id="datatable" is datatables-initialized. Something like this:

if ($('#datatable').dataTable().initialized) {
  alert("initialized!");
}
else {
      alert("not initialized!");
    }

How can I do that? Thanks!

Answer 1

You can the fnIsDataTable function in jQuery datatable

var ex = document.getElementById('example');
if ( ! $.fn.DataTable.fnIsDataTable( ex ) ) {
  $(ex).dataTable();
}

You can find more information in api

Answer 2

First, add a special class name when you're initializing datatables:

$('.datatable').not('.initialized').addClass('initialized').dataTable()

And now you can tell them apart by class name:

alert( $('#datatable').hasClass('initialized') )