How to: Customize Sorting in the Windows Forms DataGridView Control
The DataGridView control provides automatic sorting but, depending on your needs, you might need to customize sort operations. For example, you can use programmatic sorting to create an alternate user interface (UI). Alternatively, you can handle the SortCompare event or call the Sort(IComparer) overload of the Sort method for greater sorting flexibility, such as sorting multiple columns.
The following code examples demonstrate these three approaches to custom sorting. For more information, see Column Sort Modes in the Windows Forms DataGridView Control.
Programmatic Sorting
The following code example demonstrates a programmatic sort using the SortOrder and SortedColumn properties to determine the direction of the sort, and the SortGlyphDirection property to manually set the sort glyph. The Sort(DataGridViewColumn,ListSortDirection) overload of the Sort method is used to sort data only in a single column.
using System;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Windows.Forms;
class Form1 : Form
{
private Button sortButton = new Button();
private DataGridView dataGridView1 = new DataGridView();
// Initializes the form.
// You can replace this code with designer-generated code.
public Form1()
{
dataGridView1.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
dataGridView1.AllowUserToAddRows = false;
dataGridView1.SelectionMode =
DataGridViewSelectionMode.ColumnHeaderSelect;
dataGridView1.MultiSelect = false;
sortButton.Dock = DockStyle.Bottom;
sortButton.Text = "Sort";
Controls.Add(dataGridView1);
Controls.Add(sortButton);
Text = "DataGridView programmatic sort demo";
}
// Establishes the main entry point for the application.
[STAThreadAttribute()]
static void Main()
{
Application.EnableVisualStyles();
Application.Run(new Form1());
}
// Populates the DataGridView.
// Replace this with your own code to populate the DataGridView.
public void PopulateDataGridView()
{
// Add columns to the DataGridView.
dataGridView1.ColumnCount = 2;
dataGridView1.Columns[0].HeaderText = "Last Name";
dataGridView1.Columns[1].HeaderText = "City";
// Put the new columns into programmatic sort mode
dataGridView1.Columns[0].SortMode =
DataGridViewColumnSortMode.Programmatic;
dataGridView1.Columns[1].SortMode =
DataGridViewColumnSortMode.Programmatic;
// Populate the DataGridView.
dataGridView1.Rows.Add(new string[] { "Parker", "Seattle" });
dataGridView1.Rows.Add(new string[] { "Watson", "Seattle" });
dataGridView1.Rows.Add(new string[] { "Osborn", "New York" });
dataGridView1.Rows.Add(new string[] { "Jameson", "New York" });
dataGridView1.Rows.Add(new string[] { "Brock", "New Jersey" });
}
protected override void OnLoad(EventArgs e)
{
sortButton.Click += new EventHandler(sortButton_Click);
PopulateDataGridView();
base.OnLoad(e);
}
private void sortButton_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
// Check which column is selected, otherwise set NewColumn to null.
DataGridViewColumn newColumn =
dataGridView1.Columns.GetColumnCount(
DataGridViewElementStates.Selected) == 1 ?
dataGridView1.SelectedColumns[0] : null;
DataGridViewColumn oldColumn = dataGridView1.SortedColumn;
ListSortDirection direction;
// If oldColumn is null, then the DataGridView is not currently sorted.
if (oldColumn != null)
{
// Sort the same column again, reversing the SortOrder.
if (oldColumn == newColumn &&
dataGridView1.SortOrder == SortOrder.Ascending)
{
direction = ListSortDirection.Descending;
}
else
{
// Sort a new column and remove the old SortGlyph.
direction = ListSortDirection.Ascending;
oldColumn.HeaderCell.SortGlyphDirection = SortOrder.None;
}
}
else
{
direction = ListSortDirection.Ascending;
}
// If no column has been selected, display an error dialog box.
if (newColumn == null)
{
MessageBox.Show("Select a single column and try again.",
"Error: Invalid Selection", MessageBoxButtons.OK,
MessageBoxIcon.Error);
}
else
{
dataGridView1.Sort(newColumn, direction);
newColumn.HeaderCell.SortGlyphDirection =
direction == ListSortDirection.Ascending ?
SortOrder.Ascending : SortOrder.Descending;
}
}
}
Imports System.ComponentModel
Imports System.Windows.Forms
Public Class Form1
Inherits Form
Private WithEvents sortButton As New Button()
Private WithEvents dataGridView1 As New DataGridView()
' Initializes the form.
' You can replace this code with designer-generated code.
Public Sub New()
With dataGridView1
.Dock = DockStyle.Fill
.AllowUserToAddRows = False
.SelectionMode = DataGridViewSelectionMode.ColumnHeaderSelect
.MultiSelect = False
End With
sortButton.Dock = DockStyle.Bottom
sortButton.Text = "Sort"
Controls.Add(dataGridView1)
Controls.Add(sortButton)
Text = "DataGridView programmatic sort demo"
PopulateDataGridView()
End Sub
' Establish the main entry point for the application.
<STAThreadAttribute()> _
Public Shared Sub Main()
Application.Run(New Form1())
End Sub
' Populates the DataGridView.
' Replace this with your own code to populate the DataGridView.
Public Sub PopulateDataGridView()
' Add columns to the DataGridView.
dataGridView1.ColumnCount = 2
dataGridView1.Columns(0).HeaderText = "Last Name"
dataGridView1.Columns(1).HeaderText = "City"
' Put the new columns into programmatic sort mode
dataGridView1.Columns(0).SortMode = _
DataGridViewColumnSortMode.Programmatic
dataGridView1.Columns(1).SortMode = _
DataGridViewColumnSortMode.Programmatic
' Populate the DataGridView.
dataGridView1.Rows.Add(New String() {"Parker", "Seattle"})
dataGridView1.Rows.Add(New String() {"Watson", "Seattle"})
dataGridView1.Rows.Add(New String() {"Osborn", "New York"})
dataGridView1.Rows.Add(New String() {"Jameson", "New York"})
dataGridView1.Rows.Add(New String() {"Brock", "New Jersey"})
End Sub
Private Sub SortButton_Click(ByVal sender As Object, _
ByVal e As EventArgs) Handles sortButton.Click
' Check which column is selected, otherwise set NewColumn to Nothing.
Dim newColumn As DataGridViewColumn
If dataGridView1.Columns.GetColumnCount(DataGridViewElementStates _
.Selected) = 1 Then
newColumn = dataGridView1.SelectedColumns(0)
Else
newColumn = Nothing
End If
Dim oldColumn As DataGridViewColumn = dataGridView1.SortedColumn
Dim direction As ListSortDirection
' If oldColumn is null, then the DataGridView is not currently sorted.
If oldColumn IsNot Nothing Then
' Sort the same column again, reversing the SortOrder.
If oldColumn Is newColumn AndAlso dataGridView1.SortOrder = _
SortOrder.Ascending Then
direction = ListSortDirection.Descending
Else
' Sort a new column and remove the old SortGlyph.
direction = ListSortDirection.Ascending
oldColumn.HeaderCell.SortGlyphDirection = SortOrder.None
End If
Else
direction = ListSortDirection.Ascending
End If
' If no column has been selected, display an error dialog box.
If newColumn Is Nothing Then
MessageBox.Show("Select a single column and try again.", _
"Error: Invalid Selection", MessageBoxButtons.OK, _
MessageBoxIcon.Error)
Else
dataGridView1.Sort(newColumn, direction)
If direction = ListSortDirection.Ascending Then
newColumn.HeaderCell.SortGlyphDirection = SortOrder.Ascending
Else
newColumn.HeaderCell.SortGlyphDirection = SortOrder.Descending
End If
End If
End Sub
End Class
Custom Sorting Using the SortCompare Event
The following code example demonstrates custom sorting using a SortCompare event handler. The selected DataGridViewColumn is sorted and, if there are duplicate values in the column, the ID column is used to determine the final order.
#region Using directives
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;
#endregion
class Form1 : Form
{
private DataGridView dataGridView1 = new DataGridView();
// Establish the main entry point for the application.
[STAThreadAttribute()]
static void Main()
{
Application.EnableVisualStyles();
Application.Run(new Form1());
}
public Form1()
{
// Initialize the form.
// This code can be replaced with designer generated code.
dataGridView1.AllowUserToAddRows = false;
dataGridView1.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
dataGridView1.SortCompare += new DataGridViewSortCompareEventHandler(
this.dataGridView1_SortCompare);
Controls.Add(this.dataGridView1);
this.Text = "DataGridView.SortCompare demo";
PopulateDataGridView();
}
// Replace this with your own population code.
public void PopulateDataGridView()
{
// Add columns to the DataGridView.
dataGridView1.ColumnCount = 3;
// Set the properties of the DataGridView columns.
dataGridView1.Columns[0].Name = "ID";
dataGridView1.Columns[1].Name = "Name";
dataGridView1.Columns[2].Name = "City";
dataGridView1.Columns["ID"].HeaderText = "ID";
dataGridView1.Columns["Name"].HeaderText = "Name";
dataGridView1.Columns["City"].HeaderText = "City";
// Add rows of data to the DataGridView.
dataGridView1.Rows.Add(new string[] { "1", "Parker", "Seattle" });
dataGridView1.Rows.Add(new string[] { "2", "Parker", "New York" });
dataGridView1.Rows.Add(new string[] { "3", "Watson", "Seattle" });
dataGridView1.Rows.Add(new string[] { "4", "Jameson", "New Jersey" });
dataGridView1.Rows.Add(new string[] { "5", "Brock", "New York" });
dataGridView1.Rows.Add(new string[] { "6", "Conner", "Portland" });
// Autosize the columns.
dataGridView1.AutoResizeColumns();
}
private void dataGridView1_SortCompare(object sender,
DataGridViewSortCompareEventArgs e)
{
// Try to sort based on the cells in the current column.
e.SortResult = System.String.Compare(
e.CellValue1.ToString(), e.CellValue2.ToString());
// If the cells are equal, sort based on the ID column.
if (e.SortResult == 0 && e.Column.Name != "ID")
{
e.SortResult = System.String.Compare(
dataGridView1.Rows[e.RowIndex1].Cells["ID"].Value.ToString(),
dataGridView1.Rows[e.RowIndex2].Cells["ID"].Value.ToString());
}
e.Handled = true;
}
}
Imports System.Windows.Forms
Public Class Form1
Inherits Form
Private WithEvents DataGridView1 As New DataGridView()
' Establish the main entry point for the application.
<STAThreadAttribute()> _
Public Shared Sub Main()
Application.Run(New Form1())
End Sub
Public Sub New()
' Initialize the form.
' This code can be replaced with designer generated code.
Me.DataGridView1.AllowUserToAddRows = False
Me.DataGridView1.Dock = DockStyle.Fill
Me.Controls.Add(Me.DataGridView1)
Me.Text = "DataGridView.SortCompare demo"
Me.PopulateDataGridView()
End Sub
'<snippet20>'
' Replace this with your own population code.
Private Sub PopulateDataGridView()
With Me.DataGridView1
' Add columns to the DataGridView.
.ColumnCount = 3
' Set the properties of the DataGridView columns.
.Columns(0).Name = "ID"
.Columns(1).Name = "Name"
.Columns(2).Name = "City"
.Columns("ID").HeaderText = "ID"
.Columns("Name").HeaderText = "Name"
.Columns("City").HeaderText = "City"
End With
' Add rows of data to the DataGridView.
With Me.DataGridView1.Rows
.Add(New String() {"1", "Parker", "Seattle"})
.Add(New String() {"2", "Parker", "New York"})
.Add(New String() {"3", "Watson", "Seattle"})
.Add(New String() {"4", "Jameson", "New Jersey"})
.Add(New String() {"5", "Brock", "New York"})
.Add(New String() {"6", "Conner", "Portland"})
End With
' Autosize the columns.
Me.DataGridView1.AutoResizeColumns()
End Sub
Private Sub DataGridView1_SortCompare( _
ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As DataGridViewSortCompareEventArgs) _
Handles DataGridView1.SortCompare
' Try to sort based on the contents of the cell in the current column.
e.SortResult = System.String.Compare(e.CellValue1.ToString(), _
e.CellValue2.ToString())
' If the cells are equal, sort based on the ID column.
If (e.SortResult = 0) AndAlso Not (e.Column.Name = "ID") Then
e.SortResult = System.String.Compare( _
DataGridView1.Rows(e.RowIndex1).Cells("ID").Value.ToString(), _
DataGridView1.Rows(e.RowIndex2).Cells("ID").Value.ToString())
End If
e.Handled = True
End Sub
End Class
Custom Sorting Using the IComparer Interface
The following code example demonstrates custom sorting using the Sort(IComparer) overload of the Sort method, which takes an implementation of the IComparer interface to perform a multiple-column sort.
#region Using directives
using System;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;
#endregion
class Form1 : Form
{
private DataGridView DataGridView1 = new DataGridView();
private FlowLayoutPanel FlowLayoutPanel1 = new FlowLayoutPanel();
private Button Button1 = new Button();
private RadioButton RadioButton1 = new RadioButton();
private RadioButton RadioButton2 = new RadioButton();
// Establish the main entry point for the application.
[STAThreadAttribute()]
public static void Main()
{
Application.Run(new Form1());
}
public Form1()
{
// Initialize the form.
// This code can be replaced with designer generated code.
AutoSize = true;
Text = "DataGridView IComparer sort demo";
FlowLayoutPanel1.FlowDirection = FlowDirection.TopDown;
FlowLayoutPanel1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point( 304, 0 );
FlowLayoutPanel1.AutoSize = true;
FlowLayoutPanel1.Controls.Add( RadioButton1 );
FlowLayoutPanel1.Controls.Add( RadioButton2 );
FlowLayoutPanel1.Controls.Add( Button1 );
Button1.Text = "Sort";
RadioButton1.Text = "Ascending";
RadioButton2.Text = "Descending";
RadioButton1.Checked = true;
Controls.Add( FlowLayoutPanel1 );
Controls.Add( DataGridView1 );
}
protected override void OnLoad( EventArgs e )
{
PopulateDataGridView();
Button1.Click += new EventHandler(Button1_Click);
base.OnLoad( e );
}
// Replace this with your own code to populate the DataGridView.
private void PopulateDataGridView()
{
DataGridView1.Size = new Size(300, 300);
// Add columns to the DataGridView.
DataGridView1.ColumnCount = 2;
// Set the properties of the DataGridView columns.
DataGridView1.Columns[0].Name = "First";
DataGridView1.Columns[1].Name = "Last";
DataGridView1.Columns["First"].HeaderText = "First Name";
DataGridView1.Columns["Last"].HeaderText = "Last Name";
DataGridView1.Columns["First"].SortMode =
DataGridViewColumnSortMode.Programmatic;
DataGridView1.Columns["Last"].SortMode =
DataGridViewColumnSortMode.Programmatic;
// Add rows of data to the DataGridView.
DataGridView1.Rows.Add(new string[] { "Peter", "Parker" });
DataGridView1.Rows.Add(new string[] { "James", "Jameson" });
DataGridView1.Rows.Add(new string[] { "May", "Parker" });
DataGridView1.Rows.Add(new string[] { "Mary", "Watson" });
DataGridView1.Rows.Add(new string[] { "Eddie", "Brock" });
}
private void Button1_Click( object sender, EventArgs e )
{
if ( RadioButton1.Checked == true )
{
DataGridView1.Sort( new RowComparer( SortOrder.Ascending ) );
}
else if ( RadioButton2.Checked == true )
{
DataGridView1.Sort( new RowComparer( SortOrder.Descending ) );
}
}
private class RowComparer : System.Collections.IComparer
{
private static int sortOrderModifier = 1;
public RowComparer(SortOrder sortOrder)
{
if (sortOrder == SortOrder.Descending)
{
sortOrderModifier = -1;
}
else if (sortOrder == SortOrder.Ascending)
{
sortOrderModifier = 1;
}
}
public int Compare(object x, object y)
{
DataGridViewRow DataGridViewRow1 = (DataGridViewRow)x;
DataGridViewRow DataGridViewRow2 = (DataGridViewRow)y;
// Try to sort based on the Last Name column.
int CompareResult = System.String.Compare(
DataGridViewRow1.Cells[1].Value.ToString(),
DataGridViewRow2.Cells[1].Value.ToString());
// If the Last Names are equal, sort based on the First Name.
if ( CompareResult == 0 )
{
CompareResult = System.String.Compare(
DataGridViewRow1.Cells[0].Value.ToString(),
DataGridViewRow2.Cells[0].Value.ToString());
}
return CompareResult * sortOrderModifier;
}
}
}
Imports System.Drawing
Imports System.Windows.Forms
Public Class Form1
Inherits Form
Private WithEvents DataGridView1 As New DataGridView()
Private FlowLayoutPanel1 As New FlowLayoutPanel()
Private WithEvents Button1 As New Button()
Private RadioButton1 As New RadioButton()
Private RadioButton2 As New RadioButton()
' Establish the main entry point for the application.
<STAThreadAttribute()> _
Public Shared Sub Main()
Application.Run(New Form1())
End Sub
Public Sub New()
' Initialize the form.
' This code can be replaced with designer generated code.
AutoSize = True
Text = "DataGridView IComparer sort demo"
FlowLayoutPanel1.FlowDirection = FlowDirection.TopDown
FlowLayoutPanel1.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(304, 0)
FlowLayoutPanel1.AutoSize = True
FlowLayoutPanel1.Controls.Add(RadioButton1)
FlowLayoutPanel1.Controls.Add(RadioButton2)
FlowLayoutPanel1.Controls.Add(Button1)
Button1.Text = "Sort"
RadioButton1.Text = "Ascending"
RadioButton2.Text = "Descending"
RadioButton1.Checked = True
Controls.Add(FlowLayoutPanel1)
Controls.Add(DataGridView1)
PopulateDataGridView()
End Sub
' Replace this with your own code to populate the DataGridView.
Private Sub PopulateDataGridView()
DataGridView1.Size = New Size(300, 300)
' Add columns to the DataGridView.
DataGridView1.ColumnCount = 2
' Set the properties of the DataGridView columns.
DataGridView1.Columns(0).Name = "First"
DataGridView1.Columns(1).Name = "Last"
DataGridView1.Columns("First").HeaderText = "First Name"
DataGridView1.Columns("Last").HeaderText = "Last Name"
DataGridView1.Columns("First").SortMode = _
DataGridViewColumnSortMode.Programmatic
DataGridView1.Columns("Last").SortMode = _
DataGridViewColumnSortMode.Programmatic
' Add rows of data to the DataGridView.
DataGridView1.Rows.Add(New String() {"Peter", "Parker"})
DataGridView1.Rows.Add(New String() {"James", "Jameson"})
DataGridView1.Rows.Add(New String() {"May", "Parker"})
DataGridView1.Rows.Add(New String() {"Mary", "Watson"})
DataGridView1.Rows.Add(New String() {"Eddie", "Brock"})
End Sub
Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) _
Handles Button1.Click
If RadioButton1.Checked = True Then
DataGridView1.Sort(New RowComparer(SortOrder.Ascending))
ElseIf RadioButton2.Checked = True Then
DataGridView1.Sort(New RowComparer(SortOrder.Descending))
End If
End Sub
Private Class RowComparer
Implements System.Collections.IComparer
Private sortOrderModifier As Integer = 1
Public Sub New(ByVal sortOrder As SortOrder)
If sortOrder = sortOrder.Descending Then
sortOrderModifier = -1
ElseIf sortOrder = sortOrder.Ascending Then
sortOrderModifier = 1
End If
End Sub
Public Function Compare(ByVal x As Object, ByVal y As Object) As Integer _
Implements System.Collections.IComparer.Compare
Dim DataGridViewRow1 As DataGridViewRow = CType(x, DataGridViewRow)
Dim DataGridViewRow2 As DataGridViewRow = CType(y, DataGridViewRow)
' Try to sort based on the Last Name column.
Dim CompareResult As Integer = System.String.Compare( _
DataGridViewRow1.Cells(1).Value.ToString(), _
DataGridViewRow2.Cells(1).Value.ToString())
' If the Last Names are equal, sort based on the First Name.
If CompareResult = 0 Then
CompareResult = System.String.Compare( _
DataGridViewRow1.Cells(0).Value.ToString(), _
DataGridViewRow2.Cells(0).Value.ToString())
End If
Return CompareResult * sortOrderModifier
End Function
End Class
End Class
Compiling the Code
These examples require:
- References to the System, System.Drawing, and System.Windows.Forms assemblies.
See also
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