Sorting with DataProvider
When RadVirtualGrid populates its data through the DataProvider mechanism, the sorting operation will be handled out-of-the-box. By default, the sorting of the control is enabled. The user can sort the data through the UI by clicking the column headers. Each click on a given column header will go to the consequent sorting state from one of the following ones: Ascending, Descending and No Sort.
The sorting of RadVirtualGrid can be disabled by setting the IsSortable property to False.
Figure 1: Sorting RadVirtualGrid through the UI
Sorting through ColumnSortDescriptor
The ColumnSortDescriptor of a given column can be fetched through the GetSortDescriptorForColumn method of RadVirtualGrid by providing the index of the needed column.
Example 1: Getting the ColumnSortDescriptor of a column
var sortDescriptor = this.VirtualGrid.GetSortDescriptorForColumn(0);
In order the UI to be updated accordingly, the IsActive property of the given SortDescriptor needs to be set to True.
Example 2: Setting the SortDirection property
var sortDescriptor = this.VirtualGrid.GetSortDescriptorForColumn(0);
sortDescriptor.SortDirection = System.ComponentModel.ListSortDirection.Ascending;