TanStack
Global Filter Fails When First Row Value is Undefined
Describe the bug
If the first row of a table has an undefined value in a column, the global filter won't work on that column, regardless of valid values in subsequent rows.
Take for example:
| ID | Other |
|---|---|
| test | |
| hello | test |
| world | test |
Searching for hello with the global filter fails, even though it's clearly there. As soon as the order of the rows within the data is reversed, the global filters begins to work again.
Your minimal, reproducible example
https://codesandbox.io/p/sandbox/adoring-sid-ro5tmg?file=%2Fsrc%2Fmain.tsx&selection=%5B%7B%22endColumn%22%3A26%2C%22endLineNumber%22%3A56%2C%22startColumn%22%3A26%2C%22startLineNumber%22%3A56%7D%5D
Steps to reproduce
Create a table where the first row of data has an undefined value. Subsequent rows should have string values. Upon using the global filter to search for an existing value, nothing is shown.
Expected behavior
Global filter should work, regardless of row order.
How often does this bug happen?
Every time
Screenshots or Videos
https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/91962855/228718000-77c0218e-7e71-4447-8994-41b8ccf247a0.mp4
Platform
- OS: Windows
- Browser: Firefox
react-table version
8.8.2
TypeScript version
No response
Additional context
This may be due to the default getColumnCanGlobalFilter implementation: https://github.com/TanStack/table/blob/134414e7c5c6ff732c839a6c8b8f43a933967d3e/packages/table-core/src/features/Filters.ts#L190-L196
It seems to check the first row's values to determine if certain columns can be globally filtered.
Terms & Code of Conduct
- [X] I agree to follow this project's Code of Conduct
- [X] I understand that if my bug cannot be reliable reproduced in a debuggable environment, it will probably not be fixed and this issue may even be closed.
Potentially related to https://github.com/TanStack/table/issues/4711, https://github.com/TanStack/table/issues/4673, https://github.com/TanStack/table/issues/4594.
I'm not familiar with the motivation behind getColumnCanGlobalFilter. But the idea of determining column filterability based on the first row will undoubtedly be a footgun for many people using TanStack/table. Perhaps it's best that the default implementation always returns true?
This was certainly a footgun for me, because my local testing data didn't include undefined.
Always returning true is equally wrong by not filtering at all (as opposed to filtering out everything).
I'm assuming this can only be solved by making the autoFilterFn depend on each filtered row. It should not depend on some random row, like the first one.
