BindingSource.Sort Property

Definition

Namespace:

System.Windows.Forms

Assembly:

System.Windows.Forms.dll

Gets or sets the column names used for sorting, and the sort order for viewing the rows in the data source.

public:
 property System::String ^ Sort { System::String ^ get(); void set(System::String ^ value); };

public string Sort { get; set; }

member this.Sort : string with get, set

Public Property Sort As String

Property Value

String

A case-sensitive string containing the column name followed by "ASC" (for ascending) or "DESC" (for descending). The default is null.

Examples

The following example shows how to use the Sort property to perform basic sorting with a DataView. To run this example, paste the code into a Windows Form and call PopulateDataViewAndSort from the form's constructor or Load event-handling method. Your form should import the System.Xml and System.IO namespaces.

private void PopulateDataViewAndSort()
{
    DataSet set1 = new DataSet();

    // Some xml data to populate the DataSet with.
    string musicXml =
        "<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>" +
        "<music>" +
        "<recording><artist>Coldplay</artist><cd>X&Y</cd></recording>" +
        "<recording><artist>Dave Matthews</artist><cd>Under the Table and Dreaming</cd></recording>" +
        "<recording><artist>Dave Matthews</artist><cd>Live at Red Rocks</cd></recording>" +
        "<recording><artist>Natalie Merchant</artist><cd>Tigerlily</cd></recording>" +
        "<recording><artist>U2</artist><cd>How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb</cd></recording>" +
        "</music>";

    // Read the xml.
    StringReader reader = new StringReader(musicXml);
    set1.ReadXml(reader);

    // Get a DataView of the table contained in the dataset.
    DataTableCollection tables = set1.Tables;
    DataView view1 = new DataView(tables[0]);

    // Create a DataGridView control and add it to the form.
    DataGridView datagridview1 = new DataGridView();
    datagridview1.AutoGenerateColumns = true;
    this.Controls.Add(datagridview1);

    // Create a BindingSource and set its DataSource property to
    // the DataView.
    BindingSource source1 = new BindingSource();
    source1.DataSource = view1;

    // Set the data source for the DataGridView.
    datagridview1.DataSource = source1;

    source1.Sort = "cd";
}

Private Sub PopulateDataViewAndSort() 
    Dim set1 As New DataSet()
    
    ' Some xml data to populate the DataSet with.
    Dim musicXml As String = "<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>" & _
        "<music>" & _
        "<recording><artist>Coldplay</artist><cd>X&Y</cd></recording>" & _
        "<recording><artist>Dave Matthews</artist><cd>Under the Table and Dreaming</cd></recording>" & _
        "<recording><artist>Dave Matthews</artist><cd>Live at Red Rocks</cd></recording>" & _
        "<recording><artist>Natalie Merchant</artist><cd>Tigerlily</cd></recording>" & _
        "<recording><artist>U2</artist><cd>How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb</cd></recording>" & _
         "</music>"
    
    ' Read the xml.
    Dim reader As New StringReader(musicXml)
    set1.ReadXml(reader)
    
    ' Get a DataView of the table contained in the dataset.
    Dim tables As DataTableCollection = set1.Tables
    Dim view1 As New DataView(tables(0))
    
    ' Create a DataGridView control and add it to the form.
    Dim datagridview1 As New DataGridView()
    datagridview1.AutoGenerateColumns = True
    Me.Controls.Add(datagridview1)
    
    ' Create a BindingSource and set its DataSource property to
    ' the DataView.
    Dim source1 As New BindingSource()
    source1.DataSource = view1
    
    ' Set the data source for the DataGridView.
    datagridview1.DataSource = source1
    
    source1.Sort = "cd"

End Sub

The following example shows how to use the Sort property to perform advanced sorting with a DataView. To run this example, paste the code into a Windows Form and call PopulateDataViewAndAdvancedSort from the form's constructor or Load event-handling method. Your form should import the System.Xml and System.IO namespaces.

private void PopulateDataViewAndAdvancedSort()
{
    DataSet set1 = new DataSet();

    // Some xml data to populate the DataSet with.
    string musicXml =
        "<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>" +
        "<music>" +
        "<recording><artist>Dave Matthews</artist><cd>Under the Table and Dreaming</cd></recording>" +
        "<recording><artist>Coldplay</artist><cd>X&Y</cd></recording>" +
        "<recording><artist>Dave Matthews</artist><cd>Live at Red Rocks</cd></recording>" +
        "<recording><artist>U2</artist><cd>Joshua Tree</cd></recording>" +
        "<recording><artist>U2</artist><cd>How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb</cd></recording>" +
        "<recording><artist>Natalie Merchant</artist><cd>Tigerlily</cd></recording>" +
        "</music>";

    // Read the xml.
    StringReader reader = new StringReader(musicXml);
    set1.ReadXml(reader);

    // Get a DataView of the table contained in the dataset.
    DataTableCollection tables = set1.Tables;
    DataView view1 = new DataView(tables[0]);

    // Create a DataGridView control and add it to the form.
    DataGridView datagridview1 = new DataGridView();
    datagridview1.AutoGenerateColumns = true;
    this.Controls.Add(datagridview1);

    // Create a BindingSource and set its DataSource property to
    // the DataView.
    BindingSource source1 = new BindingSource();
    source1.DataSource = view1;

    // Set the data source for the DataGridView.
    datagridview1.DataSource = source1;

    source1.Sort = "artist ASC, cd ASC";
}

Private Sub PopulateDataViewAndAdvancedSort() 
    Dim set1 As New DataSet()
    
    ' Some xml data to populate the DataSet with.
    Dim musicXml As String = "<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>" & _
        "<music>" & _
        "<recording><artist>Dave Matthews</artist><cd>Under the Table and Dreaming</cd></recording>" & _
        "<recording><artist>Coldplay</artist><cd>X&Y</cd></recording>" & _
        "<recording><artist>Dave Matthews</artist><cd>Live at Red Rocks</cd></recording>" & _
        "<recording><artist>U2</artist><cd>Joshua Tree</cd></recording>" & _
        "<recording><artist>U2</artist><cd>How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb</cd></recording>" & _
        "<recording><artist>Natalie Merchant</artist><cd>Tigerlily</cd></recording>" & _
        "</music>"
    
    ' Read the xml.
    Dim reader As New StringReader(musicXml)
    set1.ReadXml(reader)
    
    ' Get a DataView of the table contained in the dataset.
    Dim tables As DataTableCollection = set1.Tables
    Dim view1 As New DataView(tables(0))
    
    ' Create a DataGridView control and add it to the form.
    Dim datagridview1 As New DataGridView()
    datagridview1.AutoGenerateColumns = True
    Me.Controls.Add(datagridview1)
    
    ' Create a BindingSource and set its DataSource property to
    ' the DataView.
    Dim source1 As New BindingSource()
    source1.DataSource = view1
    
    ' Set the data source for the DataGridView.
    datagridview1.DataSource = source1
    
    source1.Sort = "artist ASC, cd ASC"

Remarks

The Sort property is a case-sensitive string that specifies the column names used to sort the rows, along with the sort direction. Columns are sorted ascending by default. Multiple columns can be separated by commas, such as "State, ZipCode DESC".

To support sorting, the underlying list must implement the IBindingList or IBindingListView interfaces. This capability can be queried through the SupportsSorting property. Multicolumn sorting is available when the SupportsAdvancedSorting property is true.

Setting the Sort property will change the internal list depending on its type:

• If the list is of type IBindingList, the IBindingList.SortProperty and IBindingList.SortDirection properties are set in the internal list.

• If the list is of type IBindingListView, the IBindingListView.SortDescriptions property is set.

The internal list's sort properties are only changed when the sort string is not null. The get accessor for this property will not retrieve the sort value of the internal list; instead, it will return the set accessor value. The value of the Sort property will persist when the data source changes.

See also

• Filter
• RemoveSort()