Question

sort data like Windows Explorer sorts files??

Asked by: MyersA

have a Windows datagrid whose column values are
(1,10,100,1000,101,10-1,103,11,1710,2).  When the column's sorted (the
column's of type String), it'll sort this way
[1,10,100,1000,101,10-1,103,11,1710,2], which is wrong.  But in Windows
Explorer, when there are files with these same names , Explorer will sort
them like this: [1,2,10,10-1,11,100,101,103,1000,1710], which is correct.

How can I emulate this Windows explorer sort in my column?

Thanks.

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2004-09-14 at 12:37:24ID21130982
Tags

sort

Topic

C# Programming Language

Participating Experts
2
Points
75
Comments
12

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. Sorting Datagrid
    Hi, I have a datagrid whose datasource is an ArrayList of Objects. dataGrid1.DataSource = myArrayList; Till here everything is fine. Problems started when I needed to sort the columns and rows. For example the Datagrid displays the colums in this order:...
  2. help Sorting a datatable by column
    How can I sort a datatable by a certain col after the table is filled? Also, in my Windows datagrid, when I click on a column header that contains integers 1-11, instead of sorting them correctly, it sorts them as 1,10,11,2,3,... Windows Explorer does the same thing when ...
  3. Sort Direction Arrow in DataGrid Column Header?
    In VB.NET does the DataGrid control have the capability to display an up or down arrow/indicator in the header of a sorted column to show: a) which column is sorted and b) whether it's sorted in ascending or descending order? This is similar to what Outlook shows in heade...
  4. Sorting a Datagrid
    When my page first loads, I need the datagrid to sort by column[2] by default. I don't want to put a sort command in the stored procedure, and I don't want the user to have to click the a column header to sort it. How do I programatically tell the datagrid what column to so...
  5. DataGrid Sorting
    Is there any way to determine what column a datagrid is sorted on given only the datagrid and the datatable. Ex. I have a datagrid that is using a datatable as a datasource. The user clicks on a column header to sort the datagrid. When the datatable is refreshed, the datag...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: AvonWyssPosted on 2004-09-14 at 13:43:19ID: 12059180

Pad the strings with leading 0s.

string sortKey=columnValue.PadLeft(20, '0');
And then compare the sortkeys of the items you want to sort.

 

by: MyersAPosted on 2004-09-14 at 14:21:34ID: 12059487

Thanks.
Why does it sort correctly when I add the leading 0's?

 

by: AvonWyssPosted on 2004-09-14 at 14:24:36ID: 12059505

because...
  1 will be 00001 (if padded to 5 digits)
  2 will be 00002
10 will be 00010
etc.

 

by: MyersAPosted on 2004-09-14 at 15:52:28ID: 12060171

And what about something like "1-100" or "10A"? How will it treat those?

 

by: hunor_namPosted on 2004-09-15 at 02:21:32ID: 12062675

You could write youre own compare method to the grid...
Compare(object arg1, object arg2) from the IComparer interface.

It's easy to get something like this:
1,2,10,11,100,101,103,1000,1710,10-1,10-D

You would first check if the two items are numbers (isNum) if so, compare them normally, if bouth items are string, compare them as strings
IF one of the items is number and the other is string then the number is "smaller".
This way you could get a sort as described above... numbers in natural order, and then Strings in "natural" order.

If you don't understand something, just ask.

(Sorry i curently do not work in C#, this is the reason I don't give code, as i don't want to make syntax errors)

 

by: MyersAPosted on 2004-09-29 at 11:56:52ID: 12183167

I was assuming that Windows Explorer had a certain sorting mechanism that could be used. Isn't there an easier way to sort these without having to parse the string?

 

by: AvonWyssPosted on 2004-09-29 at 12:47:28ID: 12183673

My solution for instance? The very first one?

 

by: AvonWyssPosted on 2004-10-24 at 08:43:46ID: 12393799

TheLearnedOne, what is your recommendation?

 

by: hunor_namPosted on 2004-10-25 at 02:09:59ID: 12398408

Good question :)

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...