Sort Data

• Mar 14, 2021
• 4 minutes to read

ASPxGridView allows you to sort column data.

To allow end users to sort column data, set the AllowSort property to true in the following objects:

• ASPxGridBehaviorSettings.AllowSort - for all columns;

• GridDataColumnSettings.AllowSort - for an individual column. If this property value is Default, the column’s behavior depends on the ASPxGridBehaviorSettings.AllowSort property value.

  ASPX

  <dx:ASPxGridView ID="grid">
      <SettingsBehavior AllowSort="true"/>
      <Columns>
          <dx:GridViewDataColumn FieldName="ContactName" SortIndex="2" SortOrder="Ascending" >
              <Settings AllowSort="false" SortMode="DisplayText" />
          </dx:GridViewDataColumn>
          ...
      </Columns>
  </dx:ASPxGridView>
  

The integrated data sorting algorithm only works on types that implement the IComparable interface. If a column’s data type does not support this interface, or you wish to change the default sort order, apply a custom sort.

Sort in UI

Click an unsorted column’s header to sort the column and clear the sort order for other columns. The sort glyph indicates the column’s current sort order. To change the sort order, click the header again.

To sort data in multiple columns, hold the SHIFT key and click the required column headers. To clear the sort order for an individual column, press the CTRL key and click the column header.

The image below illustrates sorted columns in the grid:

• the Country column’s data is sorted in descending order;
• the City column’s data is sorted in ascending order.

Online Demo: Sorting Data

Sort in Code

Sort a Column

Use any of the following API members to sort a column:

• Specify a column’s GridViewDataColumn.SortOrder property.

  C#

  ((GridViewDataColumn)ASPxGridView1.Columns["Department"]).SortOrder = ColumnSortOrder.Ascending;
  

  VB.NET

  CType(ASPxGridView1.Columns("Department"), GridViewDataColumn).SortOrder = DevExpress.Data.ColumnSortOrder.Ascending
  

• Call a column’s GridViewDataColumn.SortAscending or GridViewDataColumn.SortDescending method.

  C#

  ((GridViewDataColumn)ASPxGridView1.Columns["Department"]).SortAscending();
  

  VB.NET

  (CType(ASPxGridView1.Columns("Department"), GridViewDataColumn)).SortAscending()
  

• Call the server-side ASPxGridView.SortBy method.

  C#

  ASPxGridView1.SortBy(ASPxGridView1.Columns["Department"], ColumnSortOrder.Ascending);
  

  VB.NET

  ASPxGridView1.SortBy(ASPxGridView1.Columns("Department"), DevExpress.Data.ColumnSortOrder.Ascending)
  

• Call the client-side ASPxClientGridView.SortBy method.

  JS

  function ProcessSorting(s, e, grid) {
      grid.SortBy(e.column.name);
      ...
  }
  

Clear Sorting

Use any of the following API members to clear the sort order:

• Set a column’s GridViewDataColumn.SortOrder property to None.

  C#

  ((GridViewDataColumn)ASPxGridView1.Columns["Department"]).SortOrder= ColumnSortOrder.None;
  

  VB.NET

  CType(ASPxGridView1.Columns("Department"), GridViewDataColumn).SortOrder = DevExpress.Data.ColumnSortOrder.None
  

• Call a column’s GridViewDataColumn.UnSort method.

  C#

  ((GridViewDataColumn)ASPxGridView1.Columns["Department"]).UnSort();
  

  VB.NET

  CType(ASPxGridView1.Columns("Department"), GridViewDataColumn).UnSort()
  

• Set a column’s GridViewDataColumn.SortIndex property to -1.

  C#

  ((GridViewDataColumn)ASPxGridView1.Columns["Department"]).SortIndex=-1;
  

  VB.NET

  CType(ASPxGridView1.Columns("Department"), GridViewDataColumn).SortIndex=-1
  

• Call the control’s ASPxGridBase.ClearSort method.

  C#

  ASPxGridView1.ClearSort();
  

  VB.NET

  ASPxGridView1.ClearSort()
  

Related API

API member	Type	Description
ASPxClientGridView.ColumnSorting	Event	Enables you to prevent columns from being sorted.
ASPxGridView.BeforeColumnSortingGrouping	Event	Enables you to to manage a column before it is sorted or grouped.
ASPxGridView.CustomColumnSort	Event	Enables you to use custom sorting algorithms.
ASPxGridView.IsAllowSort	Method	Indicates whether data sorting is allowed.
ASPxGridView.GetSortedColumns	Method	Returns a collection of sorted columns.
ASPxGridBase.SortCount	Property	Gets the number of sorted columns.
GridViewDataColumn.SortIndex	Property	Gets or sets a column’s position among sorted columns.
GridViewDataColumn.SortOrder	Property	Gets or sets the column’s sort order.

Custom Sorting

1. Set the GridDataColumnSettings.SortMode property to Custom.
2. Handle the ASPxGridView.CustomColumnSort event to apply a custom sorting algorithm to the column.

The example below sorts the Country column by character length in descending order.

ASPX

<dx:ASPxGridView ID="ASPxGridView1" runat="server"  OnCustomColumnSort="grid_CustomColumnSort">
    <Columns>
        <dx:GridViewDataColumn FieldName="Country" SortOrder="Descending">
                <Settings SortMode="Custom" />
        </dx:GridViewDataColumn>
        ...
    </Columns>
  ...
</dx:ASPxGridView>

C#

protected void grid_CustomColumnSort
(object sender, DevExpress.Web.CustomColumnSortEventArgs e) {
    if (e.Column.FieldName == "Country") {
        e.Handled = true;
        string s1 = e.Value1.ToString(), s2 = e.Value2.ToString();
        if (s1.Length > s2.Length)
            e.Result = 1;
        else
            if (s1.Length == s2.Length)
                e.Result = Comparer.Default.Compare(s1, s2);
            else
                e.Result = -1;
    }
}

VB.NET

Private Sub grid_CustomColumnSort(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
ByVal e As CustomColumnSortEventArgs) Handles grid.CustomColumnSort
   If e.Column.FieldName = "Country" Then
      e.Handled = True
      Dim s1 As String = e.Value1.ToString(), s2 As String = e.Value2.ToString()
      If s1.Length > s2.Length Then
         e.Result = 1
      ElseIf s1.Length = s2.Length Then
         e.Result = Comparer.Default.Compare(s1, s2)
      Else
         e.Result = -1
      End If
   End If
End Sub

Result:

Sort Groups by Summary Values

To sort groups by their summary values, create an instance of the ASPxGroupSummarySortInfo object, customize its settings and add this object to the ASPxGridView.GroupSummarySortInfo collection. Remove this object from the collection to cancel sorting.

The example below sorts rows in groups by their summary values in descending order.

C#

using DevExpress.Data;
using DevExpress.Web;

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            grid.GroupSummarySortInfo.Clear();
            ASPxGroupSummarySortInfo sortInfo = new ASPxGroupSummarySortInfo();
            sortInfo.SortOrder = ColumnSortOrder.Descending;
            sortInfo.SummaryItem = grid.GroupSummary["ProductName", SummaryItemType.Count];
            sortInfo.GroupColumn = "CategoryName";
            grid.GroupSummarySortInfo.AddRange(sortInfo);
        }

VB.NET

Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
    grid.GroupSummarySortInfo.Clear()
    Dim sortInfo As ASPxGroupSummarySortInfo = New ASPxGroupSummarySortInfo()
    sortInfo.SortOrder = ColumnSortOrder.Descending
    sortInfo.SummaryItem = grid.GroupSummary("ProductName", SummaryItemType.Count)
    sortInfo.GroupColumn = "CategoryName"
    grid.GroupSummarySortInfo.AddRange(sortInfo)
End Sub

ASPX

<dx:ASPxGridView ID="grid" runat="server" AutoGenerateColumns="False" DataSourceID="SqlDataSource1">
    <Columns>
        <dx:GridViewDataTextColumn FieldName="ProductID" VisibleIndex="0"/>
        <dx:GridViewDataTextColumn FieldName="CategoryName" GroupIndex="0" VisibleIndex="1"/>
        <dx:GridViewDataTextColumn FieldName="ProductName" VisibleIndex="2"/>
    </Columns>
    <GroupSummary>
        <dx:ASPxSummaryItem FieldName="ProductName" SummaryType="Count" />
    </GroupSummary>
    </dx:ASPxGridView>

Result:

Online Demo: Sort by Summaries