ADO.NET in a Nutshell

Sorting and Filtering

The DataView object also gives you the opportunity to apply sorting and filtering logic that customizes how data will appear without modifying the underlying data itself.

Sorting with the DataView

To apply a sort to bound data, you simply set the DataView.Sort property with a string with the corresponding sort information. ADO.NET sorting uses the same syntax as the ORDER BY clause in a SQL query. For example, you might use the following SQL statement to order results by country:

SELECT * FROM Customers ORDER BY Country ASC

The equivalent ADO.NET code is shown here:

ds.Tables["Customers"].DefaultView.Sort = "Country ASC";

dataGrid1.DataSource = ds.Tables["Customers"];

The sort is according to the sort order of the data type of the column. For example, string columns are sorted alphanumerically without regard to case (assuming the DataTable.CaseSensitive property is false). Numeric columns are ordered using a numeric sort. Columns that contain binary data can’t be sorted. Add ASC after a column name for an ascending sort (with smallest values first) or DESC for a descending sort.

Keep in mind that if you want to bind a control to the full DataSet, setting the DataView.Sort property will have no effect because the default DataView isn’t used. Instead, you must modify the DataViewSetting.Sort property exposed through the DataViewManager:

ds.DefaultViewManager.DataViewSettings["Customers"].Sort = "Country ASC";

dataGrid1.DataSource = ds;

Tip

DataGrid binding is dynamic ...