title: jQuery DataTable filtering - so confusing
body: <p>I am new to the jQuery dataTables plugin found on <a href="https://datatables.net/" rel="nofollow">https://datatables.net/</a></p>
  
  <p>I am trying to implement a custom filter for the table:</p>
  
  <p>Basically, when I click a button, a custom filtering function will test the value of column #1 (numeric value) for all rows, and if the value in the column &lt; 50 for a row, the row stays, otherwise the row is hidden.</p>
  
  <p>The concept should be very simple, but I can't seem to find the right way to use the API:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>column.filter() returns an array of column value</li>
  <li>column.search() can only accept text data (not function)</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>What's the API that can achieve the effect?</p>
  
  <p>Is there anything like the following?</p>
  
  <pre class="lang-js prettyprint-override"><code>var api = $('#table').DataTable();
  
  api.column(1).data().somefilterfunction(function (val, ind) {
      return parseFloat(val) &lt; 50;
  }).draw();
  </code></pre>