Question

I am using the Sort method of the MvcContrib Grid to generate sorting links, e.g.

<%= Html.Grid(Model).AutoGenerateColumns().Sort((GridSortOptions)ViewData["sort"]) %>

I have a need to change the default controller/action that’s generated by the sort method. For example,

defaultControllerName/defaultActionName/?Column=ProductId&Direction=Ascending  

would change to

customControllerName/customActionName/?Column=ProductId&Direction=Ascending  

I haven’t been able to find any existing methods in the MVCcontribution classes that would allow me to customise the links. I’d appreciate any pointers on how to go about altering the default links as I’m still very much a MVC/C# newbie.

Answer 1

That’s not an easy task. You will need a custom grid renderer to achieve this and override the RenderHeaderText method:

public class MyHtmlTableGridRenderer<T> : HtmlTableGridRenderer<T> where TViewModel : class
{
    protected override void RenderHeaderText(GridColumn<TViewModel> column)
    {
        if (IsSortingEnabled && column.Sortable)
        {
            // TODO: generate a custom link here based on the sorting options
            string text = ...
            base.RenderText(text);
        }
        else
        {
            RenderText(column.DisplayName);
        }
    }
}

And then specify that the grid should use this renderer:

.RenderUsing(new MyHtmlTableGridRenderer<Employee>())