DataTables & Custom Client Side API to access data

I'm trying to use DataTables server-side processing piece but I'm having trouble wiring it up.

FYI, the custom API that I'm using is SharePoint 2010 client-side object model (ecmascript). SharePoint also has a REST API but it would not be as efficient in my case.

I have a large set of data which means that I can only pull pages at a time. I know how to pull all this information but I just can't seem to wire it up to the datatable because my JSON isn't in the best format and I have to make my own call to get the following JSON:

[
{
"SchemaVersion":"14.0.0.0","LibraryVersion":"14.0.6108.5000","ErrorInfo":null
},22,{
"IsNull":false
},24,{
"IsNull":false
},26,{
"IsNull":false
},28,{
"IsNull":false
},29,{
"_ObjectIdentity_":"740c6a0b-85e2-48a0-a494-e0f1759d4aa7:web:c0db73c7-84d7-42c3-b54a-0e664fddc6e1:list:c14a8f23-3f70-4f38-99a9-b0a07d9de3f6"
},31,{
"IsNull":false
},32,{
"_ObjectType_":"SP.List","_ObjectIdentity_":"740c6a0b-85e2-48a0-a494-e0f1759d4aa7:web:c0db73c7-84d7-42c3-b54a-0e664fddc6e1:list:c14a8f23-3f70-4f38-99a9-b0a07d9de3f6","_ObjectVersion_":"9","ParentWebUrl":"\u002fproj\u002fdits","HasExternalDataSource":false,"Created":"\/Date(1350326545000)\/","LastItemModifiedDate":"\/Date(1350329404000)\/","LastItemDeletedDate":"\/Date(1350326545000)\/","Id":"\/Guid(c14a8f23-3f70-4f38-99a9-b0a07d9de3f6)\/","Description":"","Title":"Branches","Direction":"none","BaseType":0,"ImageUrl":"\u002f_layouts\u002fimages\u002fitgen.png","ItemCount":73,"BaseTemplate":10023,"DefaultContentApprovalWorkflowId":"\/Guid(00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000)\/","TemplateFeatureId":"\/Guid(0212e84c-da95-4561-880e-01582434f16e)\/","DefaultViewUrl":"\u002fproj\u002fdits\u002fLists\u002fBranches\u002fAllItems.aspx","DefaultEditFormUrl":"\u002fproj\u002fdits\u002fLists\u002fBranches\u002fEditForm.aspx","DefaultNewFormUrl":"\u002fproj\u002fdits\u002fLists\u002fBranches\u002fNewForm.aspx","DefaultDisplayFormUrl":"\u002fproj\u002fdits\u002fLists\u002fBranches\u002fDispForm.aspx","EnableAttachments":true,"ServerTemplateCanCreateFolders":true,"EnableFolderCreation":false,"EnableModeration":false,"EnableVersioning":false,"ForceCheckout":false,"EnableMinorVersions":false,"DraftVersionVisibility":0,"Hidden":false,"IsApplicationList":false,"IsCatalog":false,"AllowContentTypes":true,"DocumentTemplateUrl":null,"ContentTypesEnabled":true,"MultipleDataList":false,"NoCrawl":false
},33,{
"_ObjectType_":"SP.ListItemCollection","_Child_Items_":[
{
"_ObjectType_":"SP.ListItem","_ObjectIdentity_":"740c6a0b-85e2-48a0-a494-e0f1759d4aa7:web:c0db73c7-84d7-42c3-b54a-0e664fddc6e1:list:c14a8f23-3f70-4f38-99a9-b0a07d9de3f6:item:4,1","_ObjectVersion_":"1","Id":4,"DisplayName":"branch 2","DITSDivision":{
"_ObjectType_":"SP.FieldLookupValue","LookupId":5,"LookupValue":"division 2"
}
},{
"_ObjectType_":"SP.ListItem","_ObjectIdentity_":"740c6a0b-85e2-48a0-a494-e0f1759d4aa7:web:c0db73c7-84d7-42c3-b54a-0e664fddc6e1:list:c14a8f23-3f70-4f38-99a9-b0a07d9de3f6:item:13,1","_ObjectVersion_":"1","Id":13,"DisplayName":"branch 1","DITSDivision":{
"_ObjectType_":"SP.FieldLookupValue","LookupId":6,"LookupValue":"division 1"
}
}
]
}
]

The items that I want to display in the datatable are in the _Child_Items_ object so I can map this into an array of object which would be easier to work with.

I want to do something similar to (http://datatables.net/usage/server-side)

fnServerData

This parameter allows you to override the default function which obtains the data from the server ($.getJSON) so something more suitable for your application. For example you could use POST data, or pull information from a Gears or AIR database.

$(document).ready( function() {

  $('#example').dataTable( {
    "bProcessing": true,
    "bServerSide": true,
    "sAjaxSource": "xhr.php",
    "fnServerData": function ( sSource, aoData, fnCallback, oSettings ) {
      oSettings.jqXHR = $.ajax( {
        "dataType": 'json',
        "type": "POST",
        "url": sSource,
        "data": aoData,
        "success": fnCallback
      } );
    }
  } );

} );

My problem with this above is that I don't have an sAjaxSource per se. I wan't to call my own methods.


So my main question is:

If I can get it into an array how do I tell datatable to make another ajax call for example to get another page?

Basically I need a hook for the following:

1. initial getting of data (ajax call)
2. display data when ajax suceeds
3. filtering (another ajax call)
4. paging (another ajax call)