I am using jquery datatables to make my table searchable. I have a dropdown that filters a gender column:

$(#genderDrop).on(change, function(e) {

    var gender = $(this).val();



    formTable.column(2).search(gender).draw();

});

this works fine, but now I want to be able to remove the filter when the user selects all from the dropdown. Here is my attempt:

$(#genderDrop).on(change, function(e) {

    var gender = $(this).val();

    if (gender != all) {

        formTable.column(2).search(gender).draw();

    } else {

         formTable.column(2).search().draw();

    }

});

Instead of removing the filter this just searches for an empty string, but I can't work out how to change this so it removes the filter. I also tried:

formTable.column(2).search(*).draw();

and  

formTable.column(2).search().draw();

but without any success.