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Submitted by lucasd on 2010/12/16 13:21

Hello all,

Using 0.9.25I Build 12/9/2010 on XP SP3:

I'm in the midst of some work and cannot provide a thorough report at the moment, but basically I'm having sorting problems. Although I can easily sort by item, I cannot sort by other columns, whether by clicking on column heading, using sort box, or (the other sort box -- can't remember the proper terminology for the two sorting methods).

I have tried closing and reopening. Nothing happens when I try to sort. Anyone else experiencing similar issues?

UPDATE: I created a new grid to sort the items I want to sort, and the new grid works fine

. The one I can't sort in is my Inbox. Is there some restriction on sorting in a grid used as inbox?

Thanks,

Lucas

Comments

Try

Main Menu > Grid > Sort Bar

Drag the column heads you want sorted onto the bar in the order you want them sorted

No restrictions on the inbox, or any other grid, but if the Sort Bar is not shown, clicking on a column header does not sort (this to prevent sorting text-oriented outlines)

What Jan described will work.

Note:

All grids are equal and they all function the same. For sorting you have 3 choices : use the sort text box in the source bar (alt-s), use the sort bar (when it's active, you can click on headers and sort columns this way), sort manually (only sub items can be sorted that way, and this works when no other sorting methods influence the order).

For more info : 5. Sorting and Grouping Items

[quote=Armando]

For more info : 5. Sorting and Grouping Items

[/quote]

another +1 for Jan's direction:

the Sortbar is flexible (you can sort by various columns, up or down) and works as expected but:

Disadvantage is that the sort is lost on refresh.

The main advantage of the Sortbox is that you can sort by fields that aren't showing in the grid -also it keeps sort after refresh

but disadvantage is that it sorts by the HTML code, i.e. formatting of first word(s) or if the field starts with a link will not sort as expected (it sorts by the "<")

I believe these problems are going to be sorted (!) in 9.27

[quote=Tom]

the Sortbar is flexible (you can sort by various columns, up or down) and works as expected but:

Disadvantage is that the sort is lost on refresh.

[/quote]

Hi Tom,

Actually, it does stay after a refresh, but not after a grid close/re-open. Hopefully this can be "fixed" soon as it's the main obstacle for that sorting method.

True,

I should have known that (I've been using the sortbar recently) but I wasnt thinking & I got that from the manual page (very end of page) - but maybe I misunderstood it or it's out of date:

Important Note :

These sort bar features have a few issues. The most important one being that,

as of 2010 01 26, sorting using the sort bar is always temporary and a refresh will

reset it. For "durable" sorting, use the sort box (see beginning of this section).

Not sure what is meant by reset there

I can update it with what you said later today.

[quote=Tom]...I got that from the manual page (very end of page) - but maybe I misunderstood it or it's out of date:

"Important Note :

These sort bar features have a few issues. The most important one being that,

as of 2010 01 26, sorting using the sort bar is always temporary and a refresh will

reset it. For "durable" sorting, use the sort box (see beginning of this section)."

[/quote]

For some reason I'm unable to update the relevant manual page ( [Node:864] )

If somone else is able to,

that note could probably be removed completely (?)

Hi Tom, I made some changes there. I updated the "important note", and changed the structure a bit. Everything still feels a bit complicated and awkward, but I don't have the time to work more on it today. One thing that rally bugs me is the terminology. It's so confusing : Sort bar, Sort box, Sort edit box, Sort text box... Man. I changed Sort Box to Sort text box everywhere. Sort box is way to similar to Sort bar, not to mention that the Sort Bar could be seen as a box by some...

Thanks for all the suggestions, and sorry for not providing more details the first time around. I should have clarified that I was already using the sortbar --- indeed, I almost always use it. So, following on what I said in my original post: When I drag the "Item" column into the sortbar, it works fine, but the other columns don't work at all. I have this problem in multiple grids, although for now I am able to sort the items I need in a separately created grid.

I'll try to do some more investigation when I have more time, but it sounds like for now I'm the only one facing this particular issue.

UPDATE: Turns out I can solve the issue simply by turning on "Sort criteria applies to sub-items". But this is still strange, because the items in question are not in fact sub-items. Also, in the newly created grid in which sorting is working, I do not have "Sort criteria applies to sub-items" turned on. So, as far as I can tell, there are some inconsistencies, but at least I can get things working by always turning on this particular option.

I played with it some more and noticed some big inconsistencies too with the sort bar. I'm sorry, I should've tested a bit more. However, I can't reproduce the exact issue you mention -- but other ones. It's probably related to some setting I don't use in my own grids -- maybe auto-update ?? When sorting using multiple columns/fields : multiple columns sorting doesn't work at all -- the last column I'll click on will have priority over all the others. There's no hierarchy of sorting (like in the sort text box where you can specify a succession of fields to sort items by). Sort hierarchies/priorities are respected only when I unable the "Group items by sort columns". BTW : Sort criteria applies to subitem doesn't solve that issue.

OK : now it's working as expected. I had to turn the sort bar off and ON again. That's all. This is related to a bug you or someone else mentioned : that it's possible to sort using the column headers even when sort bar isn't activated when a grid is first opened. And If the sort bar isn't turned off and on again, it doesn't work properly. Pierre : could that be fixed ? I think it's both in the forum and in Mantis. It's an annoying bugs as it confuses everything. Lucas : are you sure that the other columns you're trying to sort with aren't working because, well, they can't work ? i.e. : If you sort by "items", and then try to sort by "order", it probably won't work as the "item" sorting supercedes/has the priority over "order" -- depending on the values you have in both fields for each sorted item .

[quote]Lucas : are you sure that the other columns you're trying to sort with aren't working because, well, they can't work ? i.e. : If you sort by "items", and then try to sort by "order", it probably won't work as the "item" sorting supercedes/has the priority over "order" -- depending on the values you have in both fields for each sorted item .[/quote]

Armando: Thanks for the idea. Actually I have been removing all sorting (or at least trying to) between each sort attempt. And whereas the sorting functionality I want works in one grid, it doesn't work in others. So there may be something more esoteric going on. ~~When I get a chance I'll investigate further and report back.~~ [Problem solved by Armando as quoted in post below.]

[quote]OK : now it's working as expected. I had to turn the sort bar off and ON again. That's all. This is related to a bug you or someone else mentioned : that it's possible to sort using the column headers even when sort bar isn't activated when a grid is first opened. And If the sort bar isn't turned off and on again, it doesn't work properly.[/quote]

Amazing! I just finally tried that and it did the trick. Problem solved. Thank you Armando.

The (unfixed) issues I referred to in this thread are both mentioned at the end of Group items by sort column : after a refresh, it stays, but it's messed up. (M). I can see that at least one more could be added to the bunch -- but will wait before adding it.