{"id":137,"date":"2010-01-08T16:53:53","date_gmt":"2010-01-08T15:53:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.rabihtawil.com\/?p=137"},"modified":"2010-01-08T16:53:53","modified_gmt":"2010-01-08T15:53:53","slug":"vbnet-how-to-sort-listview-by-clicked-column","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.raytawil.com\/?p=137","title":{"rendered":"VB.NET: How to sort listview by clicked column"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of my favorite .NET control is the ListView. It is very useful for displaying multiple records on a spreadsheet format. Column sorting is one the feature of spreadsheet applications that most of end-users are used to. Unfortunately, this is not readily available as property in VB.NET. The ListView Sorting property only sorts items and not the sub-items so it can’t be use if we want to allow the user to sort your list by any clicked column.<\/p>\n

To make your ListView application capable of column sorting, follow these steps:<\/p>\n

1. On your existing project, add a new class with following code:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Source code<\/a><\/td><\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/div>
Imports<\/span> System.Collections<\/span>\nPublic<\/span> Class<\/span> clsListviewSorter\n Implements<\/span> System.Collections<\/span>.IComparer<\/span> ' Implements a comparer Implements IComparer\u00a0<\/span>\n Private<\/span> m_ColumnNumber As<\/span> Integer<\/span>\n Private<\/span> m_SortOrder As<\/span> SortOrder\n Public<\/span> Sub<\/span> New<\/span>(<\/span>ByVal<\/span> column_number As<\/span> Integer<\/span>, ByVal<\/span> sort_order As<\/span> SortOrder)<\/span>\n m_ColumnNumber =<\/span> column_number\n m_SortOrder =<\/span> sort_order\n End<\/span> Sub<\/span>\n ' Compare the items in the appropriate column\u00a0<\/span>\n Public<\/span> Function<\/span> Compare(<\/span>ByVal<\/span> x As<\/span> Object<\/span>, ByVal<\/span> y As<\/span> Object<\/span>)<\/span> As<\/span> Integer<\/span> Implements<\/span> IComparer.Compare<\/span>\n Dim<\/span> item_x As<\/span> ListViewItem =<\/span> DirectCast(<\/span>x, ListViewItem)<\/span>\n Dim<\/span> item_y As<\/span> ListViewItem =<\/span> DirectCast(<\/span>y, ListViewItem)<\/span>\n ' Get the sub-item values.\u00a0<\/span>\n Dim<\/span> string_x As<\/span> String<\/span>\n If<\/span> item_x.SubItems<\/span>.Count<\/span> <=<\/span> m_ColumnNumber Then<\/span>\n string_x =<\/span> ""<\/span>\n Else<\/span>\n string_x =<\/span> item_x.SubItems<\/span>(<\/span>m_ColumnNumber)<\/span>.Text<\/span>\n End<\/span> If<\/span>\n Dim<\/span> string_y As<\/span> String<\/span>\n If<\/span> item_y.SubItems<\/span>.Count<\/span> <=<\/span> m_ColumnNumber Then<\/span>\n string_y =<\/span> ""<\/span>\n Else<\/span>\n string_y =<\/span> item_y.SubItems<\/span>(<\/span>m_ColumnNumber)<\/span>.Text<\/span>\n End<\/span> If<\/span>\n ' Compare them.\u00a0<\/span>\n If<\/span> m_SortOrder =<\/span> SortOrder.Ascending<\/span> Then<\/span>\n If<\/span> IsNumeric<\/span>(<\/span>string_x)<\/span> And<\/span> IsNumeric<\/span>(<\/span>string_y)<\/span> Then<\/span>\n Return<\/span> (<\/span>Val<\/span>(<\/span>string_x)<\/span>.CompareTo<\/span>(<\/span>Val<\/span>(<\/span>string_y)<\/span>)<\/span>)<\/span>\n ElseIf<\/span> IsDate<\/span>(<\/span>string_x)<\/span> And<\/span> IsDate<\/span>(<\/span>string_y)<\/span> Then<\/span>\n Return<\/span> (<\/span>DateTime.Parse<\/span>(<\/span>string_x)<\/span>.CompareTo<\/span>(<\/span>DateTime.Parse<\/span>(<\/span>string_y)<\/span>)<\/span>)<\/span>\n Else<\/span>\n Return<\/span> (<\/span>String<\/span>.Compare<\/span>(<\/span>string_x, string_y)<\/span>)<\/span>\n End<\/span> If<\/span>\n Else<\/span>\n If<\/span> IsNumeric<\/span>(<\/span>string_x)<\/span> And<\/span> IsNumeric<\/span>(<\/span>string_y)<\/span> Then<\/span>\n Return<\/span> (<\/span>Val<\/span>(<\/span>string_y)<\/span>.CompareTo<\/span>(<\/span>Val<\/span>(<\/span>string_x)<\/span>)<\/span>)<\/span>\n ElseIf<\/span> IsDate<\/span>(<\/span>string_x)<\/span> And<\/span> IsDate<\/span>(<\/span>string_y)<\/span> Then<\/span>\n Return<\/span> (<\/span>DateTime.Parse<\/span>(<\/span>string_y)<\/span>.CompareTo<\/span>(<\/span>DateTime.Parse<\/span>(<\/span>string_x)<\/span>)<\/span>)<\/span>\n Else<\/span>\n Return<\/span> (<\/span>String<\/span>.Compare<\/span>(<\/span>string_y, string_x)<\/span>)<\/span>\n End<\/span> If<\/span>\n End<\/span> If<\/span>\n End<\/span> Function<\/span>\nEnd<\/span> Class<\/span><\/pre><\/div><\/div>\n
2. Declare a private variable on the form where the listview you want to be sorted is located.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
<\/a>Source code<\/a><\/td><\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/div>
Private<\/span> m_SortingColumn As<\/span> ColumnHeader<\/pre><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n
3. Then on the listview’s ColumnClick event, add the following code<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
<\/a>Source code<\/a><\/td><\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/div>
Private<\/span> Sub<\/span> ListView1_ColumnClick(<\/span>ByVal<\/span> sender As<\/span> Object<\/span>, ByVal<\/span> e As<\/span> System.Windows<\/span>.Forms<\/span>.ColumnClickEventArgs<\/span>)<\/span> Handles<\/span> ListView1.ColumnClick<\/span>\n ' Get the new sorting column.\u00a0<\/span>\n Dim<\/span> new_sorting_column As<\/span> ColumnHeader =<\/span> ListView1.Columns<\/span>(<\/span>e.Column<\/span>)<\/span>\n ' Figure out the new sorting order.\u00a0<\/span>\n Dim<\/span> sort_order As<\/span> System.Windows<\/span>.Forms<\/span>.SortOrder<\/span>\n If<\/span> m_SortingColumn Is<\/span> Nothing<\/span> Then<\/span>\n ' New column. Sort ascending.\u00a0<\/span>\n sort_order =<\/span> SortOrder.Ascending<\/span>\n Else<\/span> ' See if this is the same column.\u00a0<\/span>\n If<\/span> new_sorting_column.Equals<\/span>(<\/span>m_SortingColumn)<\/span> Then<\/span>\n ' Same column. Switch the sort order.\u00a0<\/span>\n If<\/span> m_SortingColumn.Text<\/span>.StartsWith<\/span>(<\/span>"> "<\/span>)<\/span> Then<\/span>\n sort_order =<\/span> SortOrder.Descending<\/span>\n Else<\/span>\n sort_order =<\/span> SortOrder.Ascending<\/span>\n End<\/span> If<\/span>\n Else<\/span>\n ' New column. Sort ascending.\u00a0<\/span>\n sort_order =<\/span> SortOrder.Ascending<\/span>\n End<\/span> If<\/span>\n ' Remove the old sort indicator.\u00a0<\/span>\n m_SortingColumn.Text<\/span> =<\/span> m_SortingColumn.Text<\/span>.Substring<\/span>(<\/span>2)<\/span>\n End<\/span> If<\/span>\n ' Display the new sort order.\u00a0<\/span>\n m_SortingColumn =<\/span> new_sorting_column\n If<\/span> sort_order =<\/span> SortOrder.Ascending<\/span> Then<\/span>\n m_SortingColumn.Text<\/span> =<\/span> "> "<\/span> &<\/span> m_SortingColumn.Text<\/span>\n Else<\/span>\n m_SortingColumn.Text<\/span> =<\/span> "< "<\/span> &<\/span> m_SortingColumn.Text<\/span>\n End<\/span> If<\/span>\n ' Create a comparer.\u00a0<\/span>\n ListView1.ListViewItemSorter<\/span> =<\/span> New<\/span> clsListviewSorter(<\/span>e.Column<\/span>, sort_order)<\/span>\n ' Sort.\u00a0<\/span>\n ListView1.Sort<\/span>(<\/span>)<\/span>\n End<\/span> Sub<\/span><\/pre><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n
There you have it, test your listview application and it should be sorting by the column clicked.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of my favorite .NET control is the ListView. It is very useful for displaying multiple records on a spreadsheet format. Column sorting is one the feature of spreadsheet applications that most of end-users are used to. Unfortunately, this is not readily available as property in VB.NET. The ListView Sorting property only sorts items and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[110],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.raytawil.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.raytawil.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.raytawil.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.raytawil.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.raytawil.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.raytawil.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.raytawil.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.raytawil.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.raytawil.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}