Custom Sort DataGridView

Question

I have a DataGridView with 6 columns.

Example:

column1 column2 column3 column4 column5 column6 J6 RES-0112G 123.123 456.456 180 1111 FID2 FIDUCIAL 5.123 -50.005 90 FIDUCIAL R100 RES-0113G 1.1 -123.123 90 1111 C12 CAP-1234H -99.99 -987.123 45 2222 Q1 CAP-1234Z -99.99 -987.123 45 4444 J3 RES-0112G 123.123 999.999 0 1111 FID1 FIDUCIAL 23.123 23.123 0 FIDUCIAL F1 CAP-1234 -88.99 -555.111 45 DDDD C11 CAP-1234Z -123.99 -123.123 270 abc2222 

And I would like to sort it in a special order. Let's say I want to sort it by the last value (column 6) in this sequence:

FIDUCIAL, 1111, 2222, DDDD, 4444

And then sort it secondly with the 2nd column of alpha number. (NOTE: abc2222 sorts by "2222" rather than "abc") .

So, the updated DataGridView will look like this: (For FIDUCIALS I would like to sort by column 1 instead of column 2)

 column1 column2 column3 column4 column5 column6 FID1 FIDUCIAL 23.123 23.123 0 FIDUCIAL FID2 FIDUCIAL 5.123 -50.005 90 FIDUCIAL J6 RES-0112G 123.123 456.456 180 1111 J3 RES-0112G 123.123 999.999 0 1111 R100 RES-0113G 1.1 -123.123 90 1111 C11 CAP-1234C -123.99 -123.123 270 abc2222 C12 CAP-1234H -99.99 -987.123 45 2222 F1 CAP-1234 -88.99 -555.111 45 DDDD Q1 CAP-1234Z -99.99 -987.123 45 4444 

Does anyone know how to sort this correctly? I am using SortableBindingList<>

Answer 1

I created a code sample to show you the technique. I hope it will not be difficult for you to adapt to your needs. The basic idea is that you group the required column and then apply your own type inside the group. I did not understand the sorting algorithm for column6, so I did a simple sorting based on your sample data. Hope this helps!

 class Program { public class Row { public string Column1 { get; set; } public string Column2 { get; set; } public string Column3 { get; set; } public string Column4 { get; set; } public string Column5 { get; set; } public string Column6 { get; set; } } static void Main(string[] args) { var grid = new [] { new Row { Column1 = "J6", Column2 = "RES-0112G", Column3 = "123.123", Column4 = "456.456", Column5 = "180", Column6 = "1111"}, new Row { Column1 = "FID2", Column2 = "FIDUCIAL", Column3 = "5.123", Column4 = "-50.005", Column5 = "90", Column6 = "FIDUCIAL"}, new Row { Column1 = "R100", Column2 = "RES-0113G", Column3 = "1.1", Column4 = "-123.123", Column5 = "90", Column6 = "1111"}, new Row { Column1 = "C12", Column2 = "CAP-1234H", Column3 = "-99.99", Column4 = "-987.123", Column5 = "45", Column6 = "2222"}, new Row { Column1 = "Q1", Column2 = "CAP-1234Z", Column3 = "-99.99", Column4 = "-987.123", Column5 = "45", Column6 = "4444"}, new Row { Column1 = "J3", Column2 = "RES-0112G", Column3 = "123.123", Column4 = "999.999", Column5 = "0", Column6 = "1111"}, new Row { Column1 = "FID1", Column2 = "FIDUCIAL", Column3 = "23.123", Column4 = "23.123", Column5 = "0", Column6 = "FIDUCIAL"}, new Row { Column1 = "F1", Column2 = "CAP-1234", Column3 = "-88.99", Column4 = "-555.111", Column5 = "45", Column6 = "DDDD"}, new Row { Column1 = "C11", Column2 = "CAP-1234C", Column3 = "-123.99", Column4 = "-123.123", Column5 = "270", Column6 = "abc2222"} }; var result = grid. GroupBy(r => GetSortValue(r.Column6)). OrderBy(g => g.Key, new Column6Comparer()). SelectMany(g => g.OrderBy(r => r, new RowComparer())); foreach (var row in result) { Console.WriteLine("{0,-6}{1,-13}{2,-10}{3,-12}{4,-6}{5,-10}", row.Column1, row.Column2, row.Column3, row.Column4, row.Column5, row.Column6); } } private static string GetSortValue(string source) { Match match = new Regex(@"[\d]+").Match(source); return match.Success ? match.Value : source; } private class Column6Comparer : IComparer<string> { private Dictionary<string, int> ValueToOrder { get; set; } public Column6Comparer() { ValueToOrder = new Dictionary<string, int>(); ValueToOrder["FIDUCIAL"] = 0; ValueToOrder["1111"] = 1; ValueToOrder["2222"] = 2; ValueToOrder["DDDD"] = 3; ValueToOrder["4444"] = 4; } public int Compare(string x, string y) { return ValueToOrder[GetSortValue(x)].CompareTo(ValueToOrder[GetSortValue(y)]); } } private class RowComparer : IComparer<Row> { public int Compare(Row x, Row y) { if (x.Column2 == "FIDUCIAL" && y.Column2 == "FIDUCIAL") { return x.Column1.CompareTo(y.Column1); } if (x.Column2 == "FIDUCIAL" || y.Column2 == "FIDUCIAL") { return x.Column2 == "FIDUCIAL" ? 0 : 1; } return x.Column2.Substring(4).CompareTo(y.Column2.Substring(4)); } } } 

Answer 2

SortableBindingList works against you because it is designed to sort data using property (column) values. You will need to sort the data before adding to the binding list and disable sorting. You can sort your data using such a comparator.

 public class RowComparer : IComparer<Row> { private List<string> myOrder = new List<string>(new string[] { "FIDUCIAL", "1111", "2222", "DDDD", "4444" }); private int primaryOrder(Row x) { int index = myOrder.FindIndex(v => x.Column6.Contains(v)); return (index >= 0) ? index : myOrder.Count; } public int Compare(Row x, Row y) { int result = primaryOrder(x).CompareTo(primaryOrder(y)); if (result != 0) return result; return x.Column2.CompareTo(y.Column2); } } 

Here is a Comparer writing method that is even more flexible:

  public class CustomComparer : IComparer<Row> { Predicate<Row>[] myOrder = new Predicate<Row>[] { (row) => row.Column6 == "FIDUCIAL", (row) => row.Column6.Contains("1111") && !row.Column3.Contains("unwanted"), (row) => row.Column6.Contains("2222"), (row) => row.Column6.StartsWith("DDDD"), (row) => row.Column6 == "4444", }; private int primaryOrder(Row row) { for (int i = 0; i < myOrder.Length; i++) { if (myOrder[i](row)) return i; } return myOrder.Length; } public int Compare(Row x, Row y) { int result = primaryOrder(x).CompareTo(primaryOrder(y)); if (result != 0) return result; return x.Column2.CompareTo(y.Column2); } } 

Answer 3

Here is a more general approach that can be used for several cases, such as

 public class Row { public string Column1 { get; set; } public string Column2 { get; set; } public string Column3 { get; set; } public string Column4 { get; set; } public string Column5 { get; set; } public string Column6 { get; set; } } public interface IComplexSorter<T> : IComparer<T> { } public class ComplexSorter<T> : IComplexSorter<T> { private IList<IComplexSorter<T>> _rowSorters; public ComplexSorter() { _rowSorters = new ReadOnlyCollectionBuilder<IComplexSorter<T>>(); } public int Compare(T x, T y) { foreach (var sorter in Sorters) { int value = sorter.Compare(x, y); if (value != 0) return value; } return 0; } public IList<IComplexSorter<T>> Sorters { get { return _rowSorters; } } } public class RowColumn1Sorter : IComplexSorter<Row> { public int Compare(Row x, Row y) { if (x.Column6 == "FIDUCIAL" && y.Column6 == "FIDUCIAL") return x.Column1.CompareTo(y.Column1); if (x.Column6 == "FIDUCIAL" || y.Column6 == "FIDUCIAL") return x.Column6 == "FIDUCIAL" ? 0 : 1; return 0; } } public class RowColumn2Sorter : IComplexSorter<Row> { public int Compare(Row x, Row y) { return x.Column2.Substring(4).CompareTo(y.Column2.Substring(4)); } } public class RowColumn6Sorter : IComplexSorter<Row> { private static IList<string> SortOrder; public RowColumn6Sorter() { SortOrder = new string[] { "FIDUCIAL", "1111", "2222", "DDDD", "4444" }.ToList(); } public int Compare(Row x, Row y) { string xSortValue = SortOrder.Contains(x.Column6) ? x.Column6 : ExtractNumeric(x.Column6); string ySortValue = SortOrder.Contains(y.Column6) ? y.Column6 : ExtractNumeric(y.Column6); int xKey = SortOrder.IndexOf(xSortValue); int yKey = SortOrder.IndexOf(ySortValue); xKey = xKey == -1 ? SortOrder.Count:xKey; yKey = yKey == -1 ? SortOrder.Count:yKey; return xKey - yKey; } private string ExtractNumeric(String value) { Match match = new Regex(@"[\d]+").Match(value); return match.Success ? match.Value : value; } } class Program { static void Main(string[] args) { var data = new[] { new Row { Column1 = "J6", Column2 = "RES-0112G", Column3 = "123.123", Column4 = "456.456", Column5 = "180", Column6 = "1111"}, new Row { Column1 = "FID2", Column2 = "FIDUCIAL", Column3 = "5.123", Column4 = "-50.005", Column5 = "90", Column6 = "FIDUCIAL"}, new Row { Column1 = "R100", Column2 = "RES-0113G", Column3 = "1.1", Column4 = "-123.123", Column5 = "90", Column6 = "1111"}, new Row { Column1 = "C12", Column2 = "CAP-1234H", Column3 = "-99.99", Column4 = "-987.123", Column5 = "45", Column6 = "2222"}, new Row { Column1 = "Q1", Column2 = "CAP-1234Z", Column3 = "-99.99", Column4 = "-987.123", Column5 = "45", Column6 = "4444"}, new Row { Column1 = "J3", Column2 = "RES-0112G", Column3 = "123.123", Column4 = "999.999", Column5 = "0", Column6 = "1111"}, new Row { Column1 = "FID1", Column2 = "FIDUCIAL", Column3 = "23.123", Column4 = "23.123", Column5 = "0", Column6 = "FIDUCIAL"}, new Row { Column1 = "F1", Column2 = "CAP-1234", Column3 = "-88.99", Column4 = "-555.111", Column5 = "45", Column6 = "DDDD"}, new Row { Column1 = "C11", Column2 = "CAP-1234C", Column3 = "-123.99", Column4 = "-123.123", Column5 = "270", Column6 = "abc2222"} }.ToList(); ComplexSorter<Row> rowSorter = new ComplexSorter<Row>(); rowSorter.Sorters.Add(new RowColumn6Sorter()); rowSorter.Sorters.Add(new RowColumn1Sorter()); rowSorter.Sorters.Add(new RowColumn2Sorter()); data.Sort(rowSorter); foreach (var row in data) { Console.WriteLine("{0,-6}{1,-13}{2,-10}{3,-12}{4,-6}{5,-10}", row.Column1, row.Column2, row.Column3, row.Column4, row.Column5, row.Column6); } Console.ReadKey(); } }