asp.net ListView Sorting using DataBind

Question

Sort listview using column headings in the LayoutTemplate

I am able to sort a basic list view using asp:SqlDataSource and setting the list view property DataSourceID by pointing it to the asp:SqlDataSource ID. I am having an issue when sorting when not using the asp:SqlDataSource and just DataBinding from the code behind.

SqlDataSource Example:

<asp:ListView ID="ContactsListView" DataSourceID="ContactsDataSource" runat="server">
    <LayoutTemplate>
        <table width="640px" runat="server">
            <tr class="header" align="center" runat="server">
                <td>
                    <asp:LinkButton runat="server" ID="SortByFirstNameButton" CommandName="Sort" Text="First Name" CommandArgument="FirstName" />
    </LayoutTemplate>
    ....
</asp:ListView>

<asp:SqlDataSource ID="ContactsDataSource" runat="server" 
    ConnectionString="<%$ ConnectionStrings:MainConnString %>"
    SelectCommand="SELECT * FROM TableName">
</asp:SqlDataSource>

DataBind Example:

<asp:ListView ID="ContactsListView" DataSourceID="ContactsDataSource" runat="server">
    <LayoutTemplate>
        <table width="640px" runat="server">
            <tr class="header" align="center" runat="server">
                <td>
                    <asp:LinkButton runat="server" ID="SortByFirstNameButton" CommandName="Sort" Text="First Name" CommandArgument="FirstName" />
    </LayoutTemplate>
    ....
</asp:ListView>

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    String SQL = "SELECT * FROM Customer";
    SqlDataAdapter da= new SqlDataAdapter(SQL, ConnStr);
    DataSet ds = new DataSet();
    da.Fill(ds);

    ContactsListView.DataSource = ds.Tables[0];
    ContactsListView.DataBind();
}

Both code samples populate the list view, but the second example data binding does not work for sorting. With the first example, the sorting just works with the added asp:LinkButton in the LayoutTemplate adding the CommandName="sort" and setting the CommandArugment="ColumnName", but it does not work with the second example.

Can anyone please explain why and how to get the sorting working using the code behind DataBind method?

Thanks!

Solution

I solved my issue.

I added an event to handle the sorting. The event grabs the command name (Data column) and passes it and the sorting direction into a function which will make another call to the database sort the returned results and rebind to the List View.

I had to create a view state to hold the List View Sort Direction because for some reason, the onsorting event handler kept saying that the sort direction was ascending.

Front End

<asp:ListView ID="ContactsListView" OnSorting="ContactsListView_Sorting" runat="server">
    <LayoutTemplate>
        <table width="640px" runat="server">
            <tr class="header" align="center" runat="server">
                <td>
                    <asp:LinkButton runat="server" ID="SortByFirstNameButton" CommandName="Sort" Text="First Name" CommandArgument="FirstName" />
    </LayoutTemplate>
    ....
</asp:ListView>

Back End

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if (!Page.IsPostBack)
    {
        BindContacts(string.Empty);
    }
}

protected SortDirection ListViewSortDirection
{
    get
    {
        if (ViewState["sortDirection"] == null)
            ViewState["sortDirection"] = SortDirection.Ascending;
        return (SortDirection)ViewState["sortDirection"];
    }
    set { ViewState["sortDirection"] = value; }
}

protected void ContactsListView_Sorting(Object sender, ListViewSortEventArgs e)
{
    BindContacts(e.SortExpression + " " + ListViewSortDirection.ToString());

    // Check the sort direction to set the image URL accordingly.
    string imgUrl;
    if (ListViewSortDirection == SortDirection.Ascending)
        ListViewSortDirection = SortDirection.Descending;
    else
        ListViewSortDirection = SortDirection.Ascending;
}

private void BindContacts(string sortExpression)
{
    sortExpression = sortExpression.Replace("Ascending", "ASC");
    sortExpression = sortExpression.Replace("Descending", "DESC");
    using (SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection(_connStr))
    {
        conn.Open();
        using (SqlDataAdapter dAd = new SqlDataAdapter("SELECT * FROM Customer", conn))
        {
            DataTable dTable = new DataTable();
            dAd.Fill(dTable);
            // Sort now
            dTable.DefaultView.Sort = sortExpression;
            // Bind data now
            ContactsListView.DataSource = dTable;
            ContactsListView.DataBind();
        }
        conn.Close();
    }
}