Using jQuery, how can I find the column index of an arbitrary table cell in the example table below, such that cells spanning multiple columns have multiple indexes?
HTML
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>One</td>
<td>Two</td>
<td id="example1">Three</td>
<td>Four</td>
<td>Five</td>
<td>Six</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">One</td>
<td colspan="2">Two</td>
<td colspan="2" id="example2">Three</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>One</td>
<td>Two</td>
<td>Three</td>
<td>Four</td>
<td>Five</td>
<td>Six</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
jQuery
var cell = $("#example1");
var example1ColIndex = cell.parent("tr").children().index(cell);
// == 2. This is fine.
cell = $("#example2");
var example2ColumnIndex = cell.parent("tr").children().index(cell);
// == 2. It should be 4 (or 5, but I only need the lowest). How can I do this?