Sorting in EJ2 JavaScript Grid control

4 Aug 202324 minutes to read

Sorting enables you to sort data in the Ascending or Descending order. To sort a column, click the column header.

To sort multiple columns, press and hold the CTRL key and click the column header. You can clear sorting of any one of the multi-sorted columns by pressing and holding the SHIFT key and clicking the specific column header.

To enable sorting in the Grid, set the allowSorting to true. Sorting options can be configured through the sortSettings.

To sort, inject the Sort module in the grid.

index.js
index.html
ej.grids.Grid.Inject(ej.grids.Sort);
var grid = new ej.grids.Grid({
    dataSource: data,
    allowSorting: true,
    columns: [
        { field: 'OrderID', headerText: 'Order ID', textAlign: 'Right', width: 120 },
        { field: 'CustomerID', headerText: 'Customer ID', width: 150 },
        { field: 'ShipCity', headerText: 'Ship City', width: 150 },
        { field: 'ShipName', headerText: 'Ship Name', width: 150 }
    ],
    height: 315
});
grid.appendTo('#Grid');
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head>
    <title>EJ2 Grid</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta name="description" content="Typescript Grid Control">
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion">
    <link href="index.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-grids/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-buttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-popups/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-richtexteditor/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-navigations/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-dropdowns/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-lists/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-calendars/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-notifications/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-splitbuttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">

    
    
    <style>
        .e-row[aria-selected="true"] .e-customizedExpandcell {
            background-color: #e0e0e0;
        }
        .e-grid.e-gridhover tr[role='row']:hover {
            background-color: #eee;
        }
        .e-expand::before {
        content: '\e5b8';
    }
    .empImage {
        margin: 6px 16px;
        float: left;
        width: 50px;
        height: 50px;
    }
    </style>
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/dist/ej2.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="es5-datasource.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/syncfusion-helper.js" type ="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<body>
    
    <div id="container">
        <div id="Grid"></div>
    </div>

<script>
var ele = document.getElementById('container');
if(ele) {
  ele.style.visibility = "visible";
}   
      </script>
<script src="index.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</body></html>

Grid columns are sorted in the Ascending order. If you click the already sorted column, the sort direction toggles.

You can apply and clear sorting by invoking sortColumn and clearSorting methods.

To disable sorting for a particular column, set the columns.allowSorting to false.

Initial sort

To sort at initial rendering, set the field and direction in the sortSettings.columns.

index.js
index.html
ej.grids.Grid.Inject(ej.grids.Sort);
var grid = new ej.grids.Grid({
    dataSource: data,
    allowSorting: true,
    sortSettings: { columns: [{ field: 'OrderID', direction: 'Ascending' }, { field: 'ShipCity', direction: 'Descending' }] },
    columns: [
        { field: 'OrderID', headerText: 'Order ID', textAlign: 'Right', width: 120 },
        { field: 'CustomerID', headerText: 'Customer ID', width: 150 },
        { field: 'ShipCity', headerText: 'Ship City', width: 150 },
        { field: 'ShipName', headerText: 'Ship Name', width: 150 }
    ],
    height: 315
});
grid.appendTo('#Grid');
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head>
    <title>EJ2 Grid</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta name="description" content="Typescript Grid Control">
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion">
    <link href="index.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-grids/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-buttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-popups/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-richtexteditor/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-navigations/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-dropdowns/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-lists/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-calendars/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-notifications/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-splitbuttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">

    
    
    <style>
        .e-row[aria-selected="true"] .e-customizedExpandcell {
            background-color: #e0e0e0;
        }
        .e-grid.e-gridhover tr[role='row']:hover {
            background-color: #eee;
        }
        .e-expand::before {
        content: '\e5b8';
    }
    .empImage {
        margin: 6px 16px;
        float: left;
        width: 50px;
        height: 50px;
    }
    </style>
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/dist/ej2.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="es5-datasource.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/syncfusion-helper.js" type ="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<body>
    
    <div id="container">
        <div id="Grid"></div>
    </div>

<script>
var ele = document.getElementById('container');
if(ele) {
  ele.style.visibility = "visible";
}   
      </script>
<script src="index.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</body></html>

Multi-column sorting

You can sort more than one column in a Grid. To sort multiple columns, press and hold the CTRL key and click the column header. The sorting order will be displayed in the header while performing multi-column sorting.

To clear sorting for a particular column, press the “Shift + mouse left click”.

The allowSorting must be true while enabling multi-column sort.
Set allowMultiSorting property as false to disable multi-column sorting.

index.js
index.html
ej.grids.Grid.Inject(ej.grids.Sort);
var grid = new ej.grids.Grid({
    dataSource: data,
    allowSorting: true,
    allowMultiSorting: true,
    columns: [
        { field: 'OrderID', headerText: 'Order ID', textAlign: 'Right', width: 120 },
        { field: 'CustomerID', headerText: 'Customer ID', width: 150 },
        { field: 'ShipCity', headerText: 'Ship City', width: 150 },
        { field: 'ShipName', headerText: 'Ship Name', width: 150 }
    ],
    height: 315
});
grid.appendTo('#Grid');
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head>
    <title>EJ2 Grid</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta name="description" content="Typescript Grid Control">
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion">
    <link href="index.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-grids/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-buttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-popups/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-richtexteditor/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-navigations/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-dropdowns/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-lists/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-calendars/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-notifications/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-splitbuttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">

    
    
    <style>
        .e-row[aria-selected="true"] .e-customizedExpandcell {
            background-color: #e0e0e0;
        }
        .e-grid.e-gridhover tr[role='row']:hover {
            background-color: #eee;
        }
        .e-expand::before {
        content: '\e5b8';
    }
    .empImage {
        margin: 6px 16px;
        float: left;
        width: 50px;
        height: 50px;
    }
    </style>
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/dist/ej2.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="es5-datasource.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/syncfusion-helper.js" type ="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<body>
    
    <div id="container">
        <div id="Grid"></div>
    </div>

<script>
var ele = document.getElementById('container');
if(ele) {
  ele.style.visibility = "visible";
}   
      </script>
<script src="index.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</body></html>

Sort order

By default, the sorting order will be as ascending -> descending -> none.

When first click a column header it sorts the column in ascending. Again click the same column header, it will sort the column in descending. A repetitive third click on the same column header will clear the sorting.

Sort foreign key column based on Text

For local data in Grid, sorting will be performed based on the foreignKeyValue.

For remote data in Grid, sorting will be performed based on the foreignKeyField, we need to handle the sorting operation at the server side.

import { Grid, ForeignKey, Sort } from '@syncfusion/ej2-grids';
import { DataManager, ODataV4Adaptor } from '@syncfusion/ej2-data';

Grid.Inject(ForeignKey, Sort);

let dataSource: DataManager = new DataManager({
    json: '/OData/Items',
    adaptor: new ODataV4Adaptor
});
let employeeData: DataManager = new DataManager({
    url: '/OData/Brands',
    adaptor: new ODataV4Adaptor
});
let grid: Grid = new Grid(
    {
        dataSource: data,
        columns: [
            { field: 'OrderID', headerText: 'Order ID', textAlign: 'Right', width: 100 },
            {
                field: 'EmployeeID', headerText: 'Employee Name', width: 150, foreignKeyValue: 'FirstName', dataSource: employeeData
            },
            { field: 'Freight', headerText: 'Freight', width: 100, textAlign: 'Right'},
            { field: 'ShipName', headerText: 'Ship Name', width: 180 }
        ],
        height: 315
    });
grid.appendTo('#Grid');

The following code example describes the handling of sorting operation at the server side.

    public class ItemsController : ODataController
    {
        [EnableQuery]
        public IQueryable<Item> Get()
        {
            List<Item> GridData = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Item[]>(Properties.Resources.ItemsJson).AsQueryable().ToList();
            List<Brand> empData = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Brand[]>(Properties.Resources.BrandsJson).AsQueryable().ToList();
            var queryString = HttpContext.Current.Request.QueryString;
            var allUrlKeyValues = ControllerContext.Request.GetQueryNameValuePairs();
            string key = allUrlKeyValues.LastOrDefault(x => x.Key == "$orderby").Value;
            if (key != null)
            {
                if (key == "EmployeeID") {
                    GridData = SortFor(key); //Only for foreignKey Column ascending
                }
                else if(key == "EmployeeID desc") {
                    GridData = SortFor(key); //Only for foreignKey Column descending
                }
            }
            var count = GridData.Count();
            var data = GridData.AsQueryable();
            return data;
        }

        public List<Item> SortFor(String Sorted)
        {
            List<Item> GridData = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Item[]>(Properties.Resources.ItemsJson).AsQueryable().ToList();
            List<Brand> empData = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Brand[]>(Properties.Resources.BrandsJson).AsQueryable().ToList();
            if (Sorted == "EmployeeID") //check whether ascending or descending
                empData = empData.OrderBy(e => e.FirstName).ToList();
            else if(Sorted == "EmployeeID desc")
                empData = empData.OrderByDescending(e => e.FirstName).ToList();
            List<Item> or = new List<Item>();
            for (int i = 0; i < empData.Count(); i++) {
                //Select the Field matching records
                IEnumerable<Item> list = GridData.Where(pred => pred.EmployeeID == empData[i].EmployeeID).ToList();
                or.AddRange(list);
            }
            return or;
        }
    }

Sorting events

During the sort action, the grid component triggers two events. The actionBegin event triggers before the sort action starts, and the actionComplete event triggers after the sort action is completed. Using these events you can perform the needed actions.

index.js
index.html
ej.grids.Grid.Inject(ej.grids.Sort);
var grid = new ej.grids.Grid({
    dataSource: data,
    allowSorting: true,
    columns: [
        { field: 'OrderID', headerText: 'Order ID', textAlign: 'Right', width: 120 },
        { field: 'CustomerID', headerText: 'Customer ID', width: 150 },
        { field: 'ShipCity', headerText: 'Ship City', width: 150 },
        { field: 'ShipName', headerText: 'Ship Name', width: 150 }
    ],
    height: 315,
    actionBegin: actionHandler,
    actionComplete: actionHandler
});
grid.appendTo('#Grid');

function actionHandler(args) {
    alert(args.requestType + ' ' + args.type); //custom Action
}
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head>
    <title>EJ2 Grid</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta name="description" content="Typescript Grid Control">
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion">
    <link href="index.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-grids/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-buttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-popups/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-navigations/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-dropdowns/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-lists/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-calendars/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
    
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-splitbuttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
    
    
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/dist/ej2.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="es5-datasource.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/syncfusion-helper.js" type ="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<body>
    
    <div id="container">
        <div id="Grid"></div>        
    </div>

<script>
var ele = document.getElementById('container');
if(ele) {
  ele.style.visibility = "visible";
}   
      </script>
<script src="index.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</body></html>

The args.requestType is the current action name. For example, in sorting the args.requestType value is ‘sorting’.

Custom sort comparer

You can customize the default sort action for a column by defining the column.sortComparer property. The sort comparer function has the same functionality like Array.sort sort comparer.

In the following example, custom sort comparer function was defined in the Customer ID column.

index.js
index.html
function sortComparer(reference, comparer) {
    if (reference == 32.38) {
        return -1;
    }
    return reference - comparer;
};
ej.grids.Grid.Inject(ej.grids.Sort);
var grid = new ej.grids.Grid({
    dataSource: data,
    allowSorting: true,
    columns: [
                { field: 'OrderID', headerText: 'Order ID', textAlign: 'Right', width: 120 },
                { field: 'CustomerID', width: 140, headerText: 'Customer ID' },
                { field: 'Freight', headerText: 'Freight', textAlign: 'Right', width: 120, format: 'C2', sortComparer: sortComparer },
                { field: 'OrderDate', headerText: 'Order Date', textAlign: 'Right', width: 140, format: 'yMd' }
    ],
    height: 315
});
grid.appendTo('#Grid');
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head>
    <title>EJ2 Grid</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta name="description" content="Typescript Grid Control">
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion">
    <link href="index.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-grids/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-buttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-popups/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-navigations/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-dropdowns/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-lists/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-calendars/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
    
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/ej2-splitbuttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
    
    
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/23.2.4/dist/ej2.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="es5-datasource.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/syncfusion-helper.js" type ="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<body>
    
    <div id="container">
        <div id="dropDown"></div>
        <div id="Grid"></div>        
    </div>

<script>
var ele = document.getElementById('container');
if(ele) {
  ele.style.visibility = "visible";
}   
      </script>
<script src="index.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</body></html>

The sort comparer function will work only for the local data.

Touch interaction

When you tap the grid header on touchscreen devices, the selected column header is sorted. A popup Multi column sorting is displayed for multi-column sorting. To sort multiple columns, tap the popup Multi sorting , and then tap the desired grid headers.

The allowMultiSorting and allowSorting should be true then only the popup will be shown.

The following screenshot shows grid touch sorting.

Touch interaction