Sorting A ListView By Column

Question

Currently I use a custom sorter on the listview, and i can sort the listview each time i click on the FIRST column, but it won't sort by other columns.

SortStyle: Variable to determine whether it is Ascending Sort, or Descending.

if (e.Column == 0)
{
    if (SortStyle == 0)
    {
        List.ListViewItemSorter = customSortDsc;
        SortStyle = 1;
    }
    else
    {
        List.ListViewItemSorter = customSortAsc;
        SortStyle = 0;
    }
}

This works fine when sorting for the first column, but if you were to do it on any other column, it would just sort by the first column. Is there a way to sort by the column clicked?

Answer 1

I sort using column name to set any sorting specifics that may need to be handled based on data type stored in the column and or if the column has already been sorted on(asc/desc). Here's a snippet from my ColumnClick event handler.

If you need to see what my ListViewItemComparer looks like I can send that too.

private void listView_ColumnClick(object sender, ColumnClickEventArgs e)
    {
        ListViewItemComparer sorter = GetListViewSorter(e.Column);

        listView.ListViewItemSorter = sorter;
        listView.Sort();
    }

    private ListViewItemComparer GetListViewSorter(int columnIndex)
    {
        ListViewItemComparer sorter = (ListViewItemComparer)listView.ListViewItemSorter;
        if (sorter == null)
        {
            sorter = new ListViewItemComparer();
        }

        sorter.ColumnIndex = columnIndex;

        string columnName = packagedEstimateListView.Columns[columnIndex].Name;
        switch (columnName)
        {
            case ApplicationModel.DisplayColumns.DateCreated:
            case ApplicationModel.DisplayColumns.DateUpdated:
                sorter.ColumnType = ColumnDataType.DateTime;
                break;
            case ApplicationModel.DisplayColumns.NetTotal:
            case ApplicationModel.DisplayColumns.GrossTotal:
                sorter.ColumnType = ColumnDataType.Decimal;
                break;
            default:
                sorter.ColumnType = ColumnDataType.String;
                break;
        }

        if (sorter.SortDirection == SortOrder.Ascending)
        {
            sorter.SortDirection = SortOrder.Descending;
        }
        else
        {
            sorter.SortDirection = SortOrder.Ascending;
        }

        return sorter;
    }

Answer 2

i would recommend you to you datagridview, for heavy stuff.. it's include a lot of auto feature listviwe does not

Answer 3

If you are starting out with a ListView, do yourself a huge favour and use an ObjectListView instead. ObjectListView is an open source wrapper around .NET WinForms ListView, which makes the ListView much easier to use and solves lots of common problems for you. Sorting by column click is one of the many things it handles for you automatically.

Seriously, you will never regret using an ObjectListView instead of a normal ListView.

Answer 4

Use the ListView.SortExpression.

When multiple columns are sorted, this property contains a comma-separated list of the fields to sort by.

Answer 5

Forget about your custom sorter. Start over using the code at the following page. It will show you how to define a class that inherits from the IComparer interface. Each line is commented out, so you can actually see what is happening. The only potential complication is how you are retrieving your Listview Items from your Listview control. Get those squared away and all you need to do is copy and paste the IComparer interface class and the columnClick method.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/319401