Question

I have a DataGridView with 6 columns.

Example:

column1    column2    column3    column4    column5    column6
J6         RES-0112G  123.123    456.456    180        1111
FID2       FIDUCIAL   5.123     -50.005     90         FIDUCIAL
R100       RES-0113G  1.1       -123.123    90         1111
C12        CAP-1234H -99.99     -987.123    45         2222
Q1         CAP-1234Z -99.99     -987.123    45         4444
J3         RES-0112G  123.123    999.999    0          1111
FID1       FIDUCIAL   23.123     23.123     0          FIDUCIAL
F1         CAP-1234  -88.99     -555.111    45         DDDD
C11        CAP-1234Z -123.99    -123.123    270        abc2222

And I would like to sort it in a special order. Let’s say I want to sort it by the last value (column 6) in this sequence:

FIDUCIAL, 1111, 2222, DDDD, 4444

AND then sort it secondly by the 2nd column alpha-numerically. (NOTE THE abc2222 sorts by “2222” not “abc”).

So the updated DataGridView would look like this: (For the FIDUCIALS I would like to sort by column 1 instead of column 2)

column1    column2    column3    column4    column5    column6
FID1       FIDUCIAL   23.123     23.123     0          FIDUCIAL
FID2       FIDUCIAL   5.123     -50.005     90         FIDUCIAL
J6         RES-0112G  123.123    456.456    180        1111
J3         RES-0112G  123.123    999.999    0          1111
R100       RES-0113G  1.1       -123.123    90         1111
C11        CAP-1234C -123.99    -123.123    270        abc2222
C12        CAP-1234H -99.99     -987.123    45         2222
F1         CAP-1234  -88.99     -555.111    45         DDDD
Q1         CAP-1234Z -99.99     -987.123    45         4444

Does anyone know how to properly sort this? I am using a SortableBindingList<>

Answer 1

I’ve created a sample code to show you the technique itself. I hope you will not find it complicated to adapt to your needs. The basic idea is that you group by required column and then apply custom sort inside the group. I didn’t grasp the sorting algorithm for column6, so I’ve made a simple sorting based on your sample data. Hope it helps!

class Program
{
    public class Row
    {
        public string Column1 { get; set; }
        public string Column2 { get; set; }
        public string Column3 { get; set; }
        public string Column4 { get; set; }
        public string Column5 { get; set; }
        public string Column6 { get; set; }
    }

    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        var grid = new []
                       {
                           new Row { Column1 = "J6", Column2 = "RES-0112G", Column3 = "123.123", Column4 = "456.456", Column5 = "180", Column6 = "1111"},
                           new Row { Column1 = "FID2", Column2 = "FIDUCIAL", Column3 = "5.123", Column4 = "-50.005", Column5 = "90", Column6 = "FIDUCIAL"},
                           new Row { Column1 = "R100", Column2 = "RES-0113G", Column3 = "1.1", Column4 = "-123.123", Column5 = "90", Column6 = "1111"},
                           new Row { Column1 = "C12", Column2 = "CAP-1234H", Column3 = "-99.99", Column4 = "-987.123", Column5 = "45", Column6 = "2222"},
                           new Row { Column1 = "Q1", Column2 = "CAP-1234Z", Column3 = "-99.99", Column4 = "-987.123", Column5 = "45", Column6 = "4444"},
                           new Row { Column1 = "J3", Column2 = "RES-0112G", Column3 = "123.123", Column4 = "999.999", Column5 = "0", Column6 = "1111"},
                           new Row { Column1 = "FID1", Column2 = "FIDUCIAL", Column3 = "23.123", Column4 = "23.123", Column5 = "0", Column6 = "FIDUCIAL"},
                           new Row { Column1 = "F1", Column2 = "CAP-1234", Column3 = "-88.99", Column4 = "-555.111", Column5 = "45", Column6 = "DDDD"},
                           new Row { Column1 = "C11", Column2 = "CAP-1234C", Column3 = "-123.99", Column4 = "-123.123", Column5 = "270", Column6 = "abc2222"}
                       };

        var result = grid.
            GroupBy(r => GetSortValue(r.Column6)).
            OrderBy(g => g.Key, new Column6Comparer()).
            SelectMany(g => g.OrderBy(r => r, new RowComparer()));

        foreach (var row in result)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("{0,-6}{1,-13}{2,-10}{3,-12}{4,-6}{5,-10}", row.Column1, row.Column2, row.Column3, row.Column4, row.Column5, row.Column6);
        }
    }

    private static string GetSortValue(string source)
    {
        Match match = new Regex(@"[\d]+").Match(source);
        return match.Success ? match.Value : source;
    }

    private class Column6Comparer : IComparer<string>
    {
        private Dictionary<string, int> ValueToOrder { get; set; } 
        public Column6Comparer()
        {
            ValueToOrder = new Dictionary<string, int>();
            ValueToOrder["FIDUCIAL"] = 0;
            ValueToOrder["1111"] = 1;
            ValueToOrder["2222"] = 2;
            ValueToOrder["DDDD"] = 3;
            ValueToOrder["4444"] = 4;
        }

        public int Compare(string x, string y)
        {
            return ValueToOrder[GetSortValue(x)].CompareTo(ValueToOrder[GetSortValue(y)]);
        }

    }

    private class RowComparer : IComparer<Row>
    {
        public int Compare(Row x, Row y)
        {
            if (x.Column2 == "FIDUCIAL" && y.Column2 == "FIDUCIAL")
            {
                return x.Column1.CompareTo(y.Column1);
            }

            if (x.Column2 == "FIDUCIAL" || y.Column2 == "FIDUCIAL")
            {
                return x.Column2 == "FIDUCIAL" ? 0 : 1;
            }

            return x.Column2.Substring(4).CompareTo(y.Column2.Substring(4));
        }
    }
}