Custom Sorting

RadListView provides the possibility to easily extend the default sorting capabilities. By setting the AllowCustomSorting property to true, the you notify the RadListView of his intentions to sidestep the integrated sorting.

Custom sorting functionality enables the use of non-standard sort order defined by the developer, depending on the corresponding scenario. For instance, you can sort RadListView by the character count of specific field as demonstrated on our online Custom sorting demo.

In the aforementioned demo, we use a custom CommandArgument to distinguish the sorting method that should be applied:

<LayoutTemplate>
  <table ...>
     <tr>
       <td ...>
         <asp:ImageButton ID="SortByName" runat="server" ImageUrl="~/ListView/Examples/Sorting/CustomSorting/Images/sortName.png" CommandName="Sort" CommandArgument="ByName" />
         <asp:ImageButton ID="SortByLength" runat="server" ImageUrl="~/ListView/Examples/Sorting/CustomSorting/Images/sortLength.png" CommandName="Sort" CommandArgument="ByLength" />
         <asp:ImageButton ID="ClearSortOrder" runat="server" ImageUrl="~/ListView/Examples/Sorting/CustomSorting/Images/sortClear.png" CommandName="Sort" CommandArgument="Clear" />
       </td>
     </tr>  ...

protected void RadListView1_Sorting(object sender, RadListViewSortEventArgs e)
{
    string selectQuery = "SELECT [CustomerID], [CompanyName], [ContactName], [Phone] FROM [Customers]";
    string sortOrder = SortOrderRadioButtonList.Items[0].Selected ? "ASC" : "DESC";
    switch (e.CommandArgument.ToString())
    {
        case "ByName":
            RadListView1.DataSource = GetDataTable(selectQuery + " ORDER BY ContactName " + sortOrder);
            break;
        case "ByLength":
            RadListView1.DataSource = GetDataTable(selectQuery + " ORDER BY LEN(ContactName) " + sortOrder);
            break;
        case "Clear":
            RadListView1.DataSource = GetDataTable(selectQuery);
            break;
    }
    RadListView1.Rebind();
}

Protected Sub RadListView1_Sorting(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RadListViewSortEventArgs)
    Dim selectQuery As String = "SELECT [CustomerID], [CompanyName], [ContactName], [Phone] FROM [Customers]"
    Dim sortOrder As String = If(SortOrderRadioButtonList.Items(0).Selected, "ASC", "DESC")
    Select Case e.CommandArgument.ToString()
        Case "ByName"
            RadListView1.DataSource = GetDataTable(selectQuery & " ORDER BY ContactName " & sortOrder)
            Exit Select
        Case "ByLength"
            RadListView1.DataSource = GetDataTable(selectQuery & " ORDER BY LEN(ContactName) " & sortOrder)
            Exit Select
        Case "Clear"
            RadListView1.DataSource = GetDataTable(selectQuery)
            Exit Select
    End Select
    RadListView1.Rebind()
End Sub