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Sorting and Filtering Data

The DataView provides several ways of sorting and filtering data in a DataTable:

  • You can use the Sort property to specify single or multiple column sort orders and include ASC (ascending) and DESC (descending) parameters.

  • You can use the ApplyDefaultSort property to automatically create a sort order, in ascending order, based on the primary key column or columns of the table. ApplyDefaultSort only applies when the Sort property is a null reference or an empty string, and when the table has a primary key defined.

  • You can use the RowFilter property to specify subsets of rows based on their column values. For details about valid expressions for the RowFilter property, see the reference information for the Expression property of the DataColumn class.

    If you want to return the results of a particular query on the data, as opposed to providing a dynamic view of a subset of the data, use the Find or FindRows methods of the DataView to achieve best performance rather than setting the RowFilter property. Setting the RowFilter property rebuilds the index for the data, adding overhead to your application and decreasing performance. The RowFilter property is best used in a data-bound application where a bound control displays filtered results. The Find and FindRows methods leverage the current index without requiring the index to be rebuilt. For more information about the Find and FindRows methods, see Finding Rows.

  • You can use the RowStateFilter property to specify which row versions to view. The DataView implicitly manages which row version to expose depending upon the RowState of the underlying row. For example, if the RowStateFilter is set to DataViewRowState.Deleted, the DataView exposes the Original row version of all Deleted rows because there is no Current row version. You can determine which row version of a row is being exposed by using the RowVersion property of the DataRowView.

    The following table shows the options for DataViewRowState.

    DataViewRowState options Description
    CurrentRows The Current row version of all Unchanged, Added, and Modified rows. This is the default.
    Added The Current row version of all Added rows.
    Deleted The Original row version of all Deleted rows.
    ModifiedCurrent The Current row version of all Modified rows.
    ModifiedOriginal The Original row version of all Modified rows.
    None No rows.
    OriginalRows The Original row version of all Unchanged, Modified, and Deleted rows.
    Unchanged The Current row version of all Unchanged rows.

For more information about row states and row versions, see Row States and Row Versions.

The following code example creates a view that shows all the products where the number of units in stock is less than or equal to the reorder level, sorted first by supplier ID and then by product name.

Dim prodView As DataView = New DataView(prodDS.Tables("Products"), _
   "UnitsInStock <= ReorderLevel", _
   "SupplierID, ProductName", _
   DataViewRowState.CurrentRows)

DataView prodView = new DataView(prodDS.Tables["Products"],
   "UnitsInStock <= ReorderLevel",
   "SupplierID, ProductName",
   DataViewRowState.CurrentRows);

See also

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