Inclusão de conteúdo na 5 coluna
HTML
<div id="teste1"></div>
<div id="teste2"></div>
JavaScript
var content_branco = '1|1|1|1| |1|1|1|1|1|';
var content_preenchido = '1|1|1|1|1|1|1|1|1|1|';
document.getElementById('teste1').innerHTML = alterContent(content_branco, '5');
document.getElementById('teste2').innerHTML = alterContent(content_preenchido, '5');
function alterContent(content, val) {
var add = [];
content.split('|').forEach(function(v, e){
add[e] = (e == 4 && (v == ' ' || v == '')) ? val : v;
});
return add.join('|');
}