Sorting a List View using a Custom Sort Routine

Provided by: Dan Haught, FMS Executive Vice President

This example shows how to respond to a column click event. The ColumnClick event fires when a column header is clicked, and is generally used for initiating sorts.

Example

To use this code, create a new Windows Form object and add a Listview control. Add the following code to the form’s class. Then hook up the ColumnClick event to the appropriate code (VB.NET or C#).

' VB

    Private Sub ListView1_ColumnClick( _

        ByVal sender As Object, _

        ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.ColumnClickEventArgs) _

        Handles ListView1.ColumnClick

 

        ' Create a new instance of our Sorter class. Pass the number

        ' of the column that was clicked.

        Dim Sorter As ListViewSorter = _

            New ListViewSorter(e.Column, ListViewSorter.EnumSortOrder.Ascending)

 

        ' Tell the ListView to use the Sorter class

        ListView1.ListViewItemSorter = Sorter

 

    End Sub

 

    Public Class ListViewSorter

        ' We need to Implement IComparer so our

        ' ListView can use this class

        Implements System.Collections.IComparer

 

        Public Enum EnumSortOrder As Integer

            Ascending = 0

            Descending = 1

        End Enum

 

        Public SortOrder As EnumSortOrder

        Public SortColumn As Integer

 

        ' Default constructor

        '  SortColumn - ListView column to sort on

        Public Sub New( _

            ByVal SortColumn As Integer, _

            ByVal SortOrder As EnumSortOrder)

 

            Me.SortColumn = SortColumn

            Me.SortOrder = SortOrder

 

        End Sub

 

        ' Compare objects based in the IComparer Interface

        Public Function Compare( _

            ByVal x As Object, _

            ByVal y As Object) _

            As Integer _

            Implements System.Collections.IComparer.Compare

 

            Dim xString As String

            Dim YString As String

 

            ' Convert the two passed values to listview items

            Dim l1 As ListViewItem

            Dim l2 As ListViewItem

 

            l1 = CType(x, ListViewItem)

            l2 = CType(y, ListViewItem)

 

            ' Get the appropriate text values depending on whether we are being asked

            ' to sort on the first column (0) or subitem columns (>0)

            If SortColumn = 0 Then

                ' SortColumn is 0, we need to compare the
                ' Text property of the Item itself

                xString = l1.Text

                YString = l2.Text

            Else

                ' SortColumn is not 0, so we need to compare the Text
                ' property of the SubItem

                xString = l1.SubItems(SortColumn).ToString

                YString = l2.SubItems(SortColumn).ToString

            End If

 

            ' Do the comparison

            If xString = YString Then

                ' Values are equal

                Return 0

            ElseIf xString > YString Then

                ' X is greater than Y

                If SortOrder = EnumSortOrder.Ascending Then

                    Return 1

                Else

                    Return -1

                End If

            ElseIf xString < YString Then

                ' Y is greater than X

                If SortOrder = EnumSortOrder.Ascending Then

                    Return -1

                Else

                    Return 1

                End If

 

            End If

 

        End Function

 

    End Class

 

 

// C#

 

private void HandleColumnClick (

object sender,

ColumnClickEventArgs e)

{

    // Create a new instance of our Sorter class. Pass the number

    // of the column that was clicked.

    ListViewComparer sorter = new ListViewComparer (e.Column, ViewComparer.EnumSortOrder.Descending);

     // Tell the ListView to use the Sorter class

    ListView1.ListViewItemSorter = sorter;

}

 public class ListViewComparer : IComparer

{

    // We need to Implement IComparer so our ListView can use this class

    // Define sort orders

    public enum EnumSortOrder: int { Ascending = 0, Descending = 1    }

    public ListViewComparer (int WhichSortColumn, EnumSortOrder WhichOrder)

    {

        this.SortColumn = WhichSortColumn;

        this.SortOrder = WhichOrder;

    }

     public EnumSortOrder SortOrder ;

    public int SortColumn;

 

    // Compare objects based in the IComparer Interface

    public int Compare( object item1, object item2 )

    {

        string xString;

        string yString;

 

        // Convert the two passed values to listview items

        ListViewItem l1 = (ListViewItem) item1;

        ListViewItem l2 = (ListViewItem) item2;

 

        // Get the appropriate text values depending on whether we are being asked

        // to sort on the first column (0) or subitem columns (>0)

        if (SortColumn ==0)

        {

            // SortColumn is 0, we need to compare the Text
            // property of the Item itself

            xString = l1.Text;

            yString = l2.Text;

        }

        else

        {

            // SortColumn is not 0, so we need to compare the
            // Text property of the SubItem

            xString = l1.SubItems[SortColumn].Text.ToString();

            yString = l2.SubItems[SortColumn].Text.ToString();

        }

 

        // Do the comparison

        if (string.Compare (xString, yString) == 0)

        {

            // Values are equal

            return 0;

        }

        else if (string.Compare(xString, yString) > 0)

        {

            // X is greater than Y

            if (SortOrder == EnumSortOrder.Ascending)

            return 1;

            else

            return -1;

        }

        else if (string.Compare(xString, yString) < 0)

        {   

            // Y is greater than X

            if  (SortOrder == EnumSortOrder.Ascending)

            return -1;

            else

            return 1;

        }

        else

            return 0;

        }

    }