Updated: data and render can now have periods escaped from dotted

object notation.

- Previously if you had an object key that contained a period, it
  wouldn't work with `data` or `render` (or rather it would need a
  function call to do it manually), since a split was being done on the
  periods to reconstruct the Javascript object property chain. Now it is
  possible to escape a period, allowing it to be included in the
  property name read / set.

- Example:

$('#example').dataTable( {
	columns: [
		{ data: 'a' },
		{ data: 'b\\.c' }
	],
	data: [
		{ 'a': 1, 'b.c': 2 },
		{ 'a': 3, 'b.c': 4 },
		{ 'a': 5, 'b.c': 6 },
		{ 'a': 7, 'b.c': 8 }
	]
} );

media/src/core/core.data.js

@@ -226,6 +226,19 @@ function _fnSetCellData( oSettings, iRow, iCol, val )
 var __reArray = /\[.*?\]$/;
 var __reFn = /\(\)$/;
 
+/**
+ * Split string on periods, taking into account escaped periods
+ * @param  {string} str String to split
+ * @return {array} Split string
+ */
+function _fnSplitObjNotation( str )
+{
+	return $.map( str.match(/(\\.|[^\.])+/g), function ( s ) {
+		return s.replace('\\.', '.');
+	} );
+}
+
+
 /**
  * Return a function that can be used to get data from a source object, taking
  * into account the ability to use nested objects as a source
@@ -258,7 +271,7 @@ function _fnGetObjectDataFn( mSource )
 		 * be used if defined, rather than throwing an error
 		 */
 		var fetchData = function (data, type, src) {
-			var a = src.split('.');
+			var a = _fnSplitObjNotation( src );
 			var arrayNotation, funcNotation, out, innerSrc;
 
 			if ( src !== "" )
@@ -356,7 +369,7 @@ function _fnSetObjectDataFn( mSource )
 	{
 		/* Like the get, we need to get data from a nested object */
 		var setData = function (data, val, src) {
-			var a = src.split('.'), b;
+			var a = _fnSplitObjNotation( src );
 			var aLast = a[a.length-1];
 			var arrayNotation, funcNotation, o, innerSrc;
 

media/src/model/model.defaults.columns.js

@@ -278,7 +278,8 @@ DataTable.defaults.column = {
 	 *    * `.` - Dotted Javascript notation. Just as you use a `.` in
 	 *      Javascript to read from nested objects, so to can the options
 	 *      specified in `data`. For example: `browser.version` or
-	 *      `browser.name`.
+	 *      `browser.name`. If your object parameter name contains a period, use
+	 *      `\\` to escape it - i.e. `first\\.name`.
 	 *    * `[]` - Array notation. DataTables can automatically combine data
 	 *      from and array source, joining the data with the characters provided
 	 *      between the two brackets. For example: `name[, ]` would provide a
@@ -453,7 +454,8 @@ DataTable.defaults.column = {
 	 *    * `.` - Dotted Javascript notation. Just as you use a `.` in
 	 *      Javascript to read from nested objects, so to can the options
 	 *      specified in `data`. For example: `browser.version` or
-	 *      `browser.name`.
+	 *      `browser.name`. If your object parameter name contains a period, use
+	 *      `\\` to escape it - i.e. `first\\.name`.
 	 *    * `[]` - Array notation. DataTables can automatically combine data
 	 *      from and array source, joining the data with the characters provided
 	 *      between the two brackets. For example: `name[, ]` would provide a