Best way to make WPF ListView/GridView sort on column-header clicking?

Question

There are lots of solutions on the internet attempting to fill this seemingly very-basic omission from WPF. I\'m really confused as to what would be the \"best\" wa

Answer 1

After search alot, finaly i found simple here https://www.wpf-tutorial.com/listview-control/listview-how-to-column-sorting/

private GridViewColumnHeader listViewSortCol = null;
private SortAdorner listViewSortAdorner = null;
private void GridViewColumnHeader_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
  GridViewColumnHeader column = (sender as GridViewColumnHeader);
  string sortBy = column.Tag.ToString();
  if (listViewSortCol != null)
  {
    AdornerLayer.GetAdornerLayer(listViewSortCol).Remove(listViewSortAdorner);
    yourListView.Items.SortDescriptions.Clear();
  }

  ListSortDirection newDir = ListSortDirection.Ascending;
  if (listViewSortCol == column && listViewSortAdorner.Direction == newDir)
    newDir = ListSortDirection.Descending;

  listViewSortCol = column;
  listViewSortAdorner = new SortAdorner(listViewSortCol, newDir);
  AdornerLayer.GetAdornerLayer(listViewSortCol).Add(listViewSortAdorner);
  yourListView.Items.SortDescriptions.Add(new SortDescription(sortBy, newDir));
}

Class:

public class SortAdorner : Adorner
{
    private static Geometry ascGeometry =
        Geometry.Parse("M 0 4 L 3.5 0 L 7 4 Z");

    private static Geometry descGeometry =
        Geometry.Parse("M 0 0 L 3.5 4 L 7 0 Z");

    public ListSortDirection Direction { get; private set; }

    public SortAdorner(UIElement element, ListSortDirection dir)
        : base(element)
    {
        this.Direction = dir;
    }

    protected override void OnRender(DrawingContext drawingContext)
    {
        base.OnRender(drawingContext);

        if(AdornedElement.RenderSize.Width < 20)
            return;

        TranslateTransform transform = new TranslateTransform
            (
                AdornedElement.RenderSize.Width - 15,
                (AdornedElement.RenderSize.Height - 5) / 2
            );
        drawingContext.PushTransform(transform);

        Geometry geometry = ascGeometry;
        if(this.Direction == ListSortDirection.Descending)
            geometry = descGeometry;
        drawingContext.DrawGeometry(Brushes.Black, null, geometry);

        drawingContext.Pop();
    }
}

Xaml

<GridViewColumn Width="250">
  <GridViewColumn.Header>
    <GridViewColumnHeader Tag="Name" Click="GridViewColumnHeader_Click">Name</GridViewColumnHeader>
  </GridViewColumn.Header>
  <GridViewColumn.CellTemplate>
    <DataTemplate>
        <TextBlock Text="{Binding Name}" ToolTip="{Binding Name}"/>
    </DataTemplate>
  </GridViewColumn.CellTemplate>
</GridViewColumn>

Answer 2

I made an adaptation of the Microsoft way, where I override the ListView control to make a SortableListView:

public partial class SortableListView : ListView
    {        
        private GridViewColumnHeader lastHeaderClicked = null;
        private ListSortDirection lastDirection = ListSortDirection.Ascending;       

        public void GridViewColumnHeaderClicked(GridViewColumnHeader clickedHeader)
        {
            ListSortDirection direction;

            if (clickedHeader != null)
            {
                if (clickedHeader.Role != GridViewColumnHeaderRole.Padding)
                {
                    if (clickedHeader != lastHeaderClicked)
                    {
                        direction = ListSortDirection.Ascending;
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        if (lastDirection == ListSortDirection.Ascending)
                        {
                            direction = ListSortDirection.Descending;
                        }
                        else
                        {
                            direction = ListSortDirection.Ascending;
                        }
                    }

                    string sortString = ((Binding)clickedHeader.Column.DisplayMemberBinding).Path.Path;

                    Sort(sortString, direction);

                    lastHeaderClicked = clickedHeader;
                    lastDirection = direction;
                }
            }
        }

        private void Sort(string sortBy, ListSortDirection direction)
        {
            ICollectionView dataView = CollectionViewSource.GetDefaultView(this.ItemsSource != null ? this.ItemsSource : this.Items);

            dataView.SortDescriptions.Clear();
            SortDescription sD = new SortDescription(sortBy, direction);
            dataView.SortDescriptions.Add(sD);
            dataView.Refresh();
        }
    }

The line ((Binding)clickedHeader.Column.DisplayMemberBinding).Path.Path bit handles the cases where your column names are not the same as their binding paths, which the Microsoft method does not do.

I wanted to intercept the GridViewColumnHeader.Click event so that I wouldn't have to think about it anymore, but I couldn't find a way to to do. As a result I add the following in XAML for every SortableListView:

GridViewColumnHeader.Click="SortableListViewColumnHeaderClicked"

And then on any Window that contains any number of SortableListViews, just add the following code:

private void SortableListViewColumnHeaderClicked(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
        {
            ((Controls.SortableListView)sender).GridViewColumnHeaderClicked(e.OriginalSource as GridViewColumnHeader);
        }

Where Controls is just the XAML ID for the namespace in which you made the SortableListView control.

So, this does prevent code duplication on the sorting side, you just need to remember to handle the event as above.

Answer 3

Try this:

using System.ComponentModel;
youtItemsControl.Items.SortDescriptions.Add(new SortDescription("yourFavoritePropertyFromItem",ListSortDirection.Ascending);

Answer 4

I wrote a set of attached properties to automatically sort a GridView, you can check it out here. It doesn't handle the up/down arrow, but it could easily be added.

<ListView ItemsSource="{Binding Persons}"
          IsSynchronizedWithCurrentItem="True"
          util:GridViewSort.AutoSort="True">
    <ListView.View>
        <GridView>
            <GridView.Columns>
                <GridViewColumn Header="Name"
                                DisplayMemberBinding="{Binding Name}"
                                util:GridViewSort.PropertyName="Name"/>
                <GridViewColumn Header="First name"
                                DisplayMemberBinding="{Binding FirstName}"
                                util:GridViewSort.PropertyName="FirstName"/>
                <GridViewColumn Header="Date of birth"
                                DisplayMemberBinding="{Binding DateOfBirth}"
                                util:GridViewSort.PropertyName="DateOfBirth"/>
            </GridView.Columns>
        </GridView>
    </ListView.View>
</ListView>

Answer 5

Just wanted to add another simple way someone can sort the the WPF ListView

void SortListView(ListView listView)
{
    IEnumerable listView_items = listView.Items.SourceCollection;
    List<MY_ITEM_CLASS> listView_items_to_list = listView_items.Cast<MY_ITEM_CLASS>().ToList();

    Comparer<MY_ITEM_CLASS> scoreComparer = Comparer<MY_ITEM_CLASS>.Create((first, second) => first.COLUMN_NAME.CompareTo(second.COLUMN_NAME));

    listView_items_to_list.Sort(scoreComparer);
    listView.ItemsSource = null;
    listView.Items.Clear();
    listView.ItemsSource = listView_items_to_list;
}

Answer 6

I use MVVM, so I created some attached properties of my own, using Thomas's as a reference. It does sorting on one column at a time when you click on the header, toggling between Ascending and Descending. It sorts from the very beginning using the first column. And it shows Win7/8 style glyphs.

Normally, all you have to do is set the main property to true (but you have to explicitly declare the GridViewColumnHeaders):

<Window xmlns:local="clr-namespace:MyProjectNamespace">
  <Grid>
    <ListView local:App.EnableGridViewSort="True" ItemsSource="{Binding LVItems}">
      <ListView.View>
        <GridView>
          <GridViewColumn DisplayMemberBinding="{Binding Property1}">
            <GridViewColumnHeader Content="Prop 1" />
          </GridViewColumn>
          <GridViewColumn DisplayMemberBinding="{Binding Property2}">
            <GridViewColumnHeader Content="Prop 2" />
          </GridViewColumn>
        </GridView>
      </ListView.View>
    </ListView>
  </Grid>
<Window>

If you want to sort on a different property than the display, than you have to declare that:

<GridViewColumn DisplayMemberBinding="{Binding Property3}"
                local:App.GridViewSortPropertyName="Property4">
    <GridViewColumnHeader Content="Prop 3" />
</GridViewColumn>

Here's the code for the attached properties, I like to be lazy and put them in the provided App.xaml.cs:

using System;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.Windows.Data.
using System.Windows.Media;
using System.Windows.Media.Media3D;

namespace MyProjectNamespace
{
  public partial class App : Application
  {
      #region GridViewSort
      public static DependencyProperty GridViewSortPropertyNameProperty =
          DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached(
              "GridViewSortPropertyName", 
              typeof(string), 
              typeof(App), 
              new UIPropertyMetadata(null)
          );

      public static string GetGridViewSortPropertyName(GridViewColumn gvc)
      {
          return (string)gvc.GetValue(GridViewSortPropertyNameProperty);
      }

      public static void SetGridViewSortPropertyName(GridViewColumn gvc, string n)
      {
          gvc.SetValue(GridViewSortPropertyNameProperty, n);
      }

      public static DependencyProperty CurrentSortColumnProperty =
          DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached(
              "CurrentSortColumn", 
              typeof(GridViewColumn), 
              typeof(App), 
              new UIPropertyMetadata(
                  null, 
                  new PropertyChangedCallback(CurrentSortColumnChanged)
              )
          );

      public static GridViewColumn GetCurrentSortColumn(GridView gv)
      {
          return (GridViewColumn)gv.GetValue(CurrentSortColumnProperty);
      }

      public static void SetCurrentSortColumn(GridView gv, GridViewColumn value)
      {
          gv.SetValue(CurrentSortColumnProperty, value);
      }

      public static void CurrentSortColumnChanged(
          object sender, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
      {
          GridViewColumn gvcOld = e.OldValue as GridViewColumn;
          if (gvcOld != null)
          {
              CurrentSortColumnSetGlyph(gvcOld, null);
          }
      }

      public static void CurrentSortColumnSetGlyph(GridViewColumn gvc, ListView lv)
      {
          ListSortDirection lsd;
          Brush brush;
          if (lv == null)
          {
              lsd = ListSortDirection.Ascending;
              brush = Brushes.Transparent;
          }
          else
          {
              SortDescriptionCollection sdc = lv.Items.SortDescriptions;
              if (sdc == null || sdc.Count < 1) return;
              lsd = sdc[0].Direction;
              brush = Brushes.Gray;
          }

          FrameworkElementFactory fefGlyph = 
              new FrameworkElementFactory(typeof(Path));
          fefGlyph.Name = "arrow";
          fefGlyph.SetValue(Path.StrokeThicknessProperty, 1.0);
          fefGlyph.SetValue(Path.FillProperty, brush);
          fefGlyph.SetValue(StackPanel.HorizontalAlignmentProperty, 
              HorizontalAlignment.Center);

          int s = 4;
          if (lsd == ListSortDirection.Ascending)
          {
              PathFigure pf = new PathFigure();
              pf.IsClosed = true;
              pf.StartPoint = new Point(0, s);
              pf.Segments.Add(new LineSegment(new Point(s * 2, s), false));
              pf.Segments.Add(new LineSegment(new Point(s, 0), false));

              PathGeometry pg = new PathGeometry();
              pg.Figures.Add(pf);

              fefGlyph.SetValue(Path.DataProperty, pg);
          }
          else
          {
              PathFigure pf = new PathFigure();
              pf.IsClosed = true;
              pf.StartPoint = new Point(0, 0);
              pf.Segments.Add(new LineSegment(new Point(s, s), false));
              pf.Segments.Add(new LineSegment(new Point(s * 2, 0), false));

              PathGeometry pg = new PathGeometry();
              pg.Figures.Add(pf);

              fefGlyph.SetValue(Path.DataProperty, pg);
          }

          FrameworkElementFactory fefTextBlock = 
              new FrameworkElementFactory(typeof(TextBlock));
          fefTextBlock.SetValue(TextBlock.HorizontalAlignmentProperty,
              HorizontalAlignment.Center);
          fefTextBlock.SetValue(TextBlock.TextProperty, new Binding());

          FrameworkElementFactory fefDockPanel = 
              new FrameworkElementFactory(typeof(StackPanel));
          fefDockPanel.SetValue(StackPanel.OrientationProperty,
              Orientation.Vertical);
          fefDockPanel.AppendChild(fefGlyph);
          fefDockPanel.AppendChild(fefTextBlock);

          DataTemplate dt = new DataTemplate(typeof(GridViewColumn));
          dt.VisualTree = fefDockPanel;

          gvc.HeaderTemplate = dt;
      }

      public static DependencyProperty EnableGridViewSortProperty =
          DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached(
              "EnableGridViewSort", 
              typeof(bool), 
              typeof(App), 
              new UIPropertyMetadata(
                  false, 
                  new PropertyChangedCallback(EnableGridViewSortChanged)
              )
          );

      public static bool GetEnableGridViewSort(ListView lv)
      {
          return (bool)lv.GetValue(EnableGridViewSortProperty);
      }

      public static void SetEnableGridViewSort(ListView lv, bool value)
      {
          lv.SetValue(EnableGridViewSortProperty, value);
      }

      public static void EnableGridViewSortChanged(
          object sender, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
      {
          ListView lv = sender as ListView;
          if (lv == null) return;

          if (!(e.NewValue is bool)) return;
          bool enableGridViewSort = (bool)e.NewValue;

          if (enableGridViewSort)
          {
              lv.AddHandler(
                  GridViewColumnHeader.ClickEvent,
                  new RoutedEventHandler(EnableGridViewSortGVHClicked)
              );
              if (lv.View == null)
              {
                  lv.Loaded += new RoutedEventHandler(EnableGridViewSortLVLoaded);
              }
              else
              {
                  EnableGridViewSortLVInitialize(lv);
              }
          }
          else
          {
              lv.RemoveHandler(
                  GridViewColumnHeader.ClickEvent,
                  new RoutedEventHandler(EnableGridViewSortGVHClicked)
              );
          }
      }

      public static void EnableGridViewSortLVLoaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
      {
          ListView lv = e.Source as ListView;
          EnableGridViewSortLVInitialize(lv);
          lv.Loaded -= new RoutedEventHandler(EnableGridViewSortLVLoaded);
      }

      public static void EnableGridViewSortLVInitialize(ListView lv)
      {
          GridView gv = lv.View as GridView;
          if (gv == null) return;

          bool first = true;
          foreach (GridViewColumn gvc in gv.Columns)
          {
              if (first)
              {
                  EnableGridViewSortApplySort(lv, gv, gvc);
                  first = false;
              }
              else
              {
                  CurrentSortColumnSetGlyph(gvc, null);
              }
          }
      }

      public static void EnableGridViewSortGVHClicked(
          object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
      {
          GridViewColumnHeader gvch = e.OriginalSource as GridViewColumnHeader;
          if (gvch == null) return;
          GridViewColumn gvc = gvch.Column;
          if(gvc == null) return;            
          ListView lv = VisualUpwardSearch<ListView>(gvch);
          if (lv == null) return;
          GridView gv = lv.View as GridView;
          if (gv == null) return;

          EnableGridViewSortApplySort(lv, gv, gvc);
      }

      public static void EnableGridViewSortApplySort(
          ListView lv, GridView gv, GridViewColumn gvc)
      {
          bool isEnabled = GetEnableGridViewSort(lv);
          if (!isEnabled) return;

          string propertyName = GetGridViewSortPropertyName(gvc);
          if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(propertyName))
          {
              Binding b = gvc.DisplayMemberBinding as Binding;
              if (b != null && b.Path != null)
              {
                  propertyName = b.Path.Path;
              }

              if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(propertyName)) return;
          }

          ApplySort(lv.Items, propertyName);
          SetCurrentSortColumn(gv, gvc);
          CurrentSortColumnSetGlyph(gvc, lv);
      }

      public static void ApplySort(ICollectionView view, string propertyName)
      {
          if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(propertyName)) return;

          ListSortDirection lsd = ListSortDirection.Ascending;
          if (view.SortDescriptions.Count > 0)
          {
              SortDescription sd = view.SortDescriptions[0];
              if (sd.PropertyName.Equals(propertyName))
              {
                  if (sd.Direction == ListSortDirection.Ascending)
                  {
                      lsd = ListSortDirection.Descending;
                  }
                  else
                  {
                      lsd = ListSortDirection.Ascending;
                  }
              }
              view.SortDescriptions.Clear();
          }

          view.SortDescriptions.Add(new SortDescription(propertyName, lsd));
      }
      #endregion

      public static T VisualUpwardSearch<T>(DependencyObject source) 
          where T : DependencyObject
      {
          return VisualUpwardSearch(source, x => x is T) as T;
      }

      public static DependencyObject VisualUpwardSearch(
                          DependencyObject source, Predicate<DependencyObject> match)
      {
          DependencyObject returnVal = source;

          while (returnVal != null && !match(returnVal))
          {
              DependencyObject tempReturnVal = null;
              if (returnVal is Visual || returnVal is Visual3D)
              {
                  tempReturnVal = VisualTreeHelper.GetParent(returnVal);
              }
              if (tempReturnVal == null)
              {
                  returnVal = LogicalTreeHelper.GetParent(returnVal);
              }
              else
              {
                  returnVal = tempReturnVal;
              }
          }

          return returnVal;
      }
  }
}