Packagespark.collections
Classpublic class SortField
InheritanceSortField Inheritance SortField Inheritance flash.events.EventDispatcher
Implements IAdvancedStyleClient, IFlexModule, IMXMLObject
Subclasses ComplexSortField, GridSortFieldSimple

Language Version : ActionScript 3.0
Product Version : Flex 4.5
Runtime Versions : Flash Player 10.1, AIR 2.5

Provides the sorting information required to establish a sort on a field or property in a collection view. The SortField class is meant to be used with the Sort class. Typically the sort is defined for collections of complex items, that is items in which the sort is performed on properties of those objects. As in the following example:
                  
     var col:ICollectionView = new ArrayCollection();
     col.addItem({first:"Anders", last:"Dickerson"});
     var sort:Sort = new Sort();
     var sortfield:SortField = new SortField("first", true);
     sortfield.setStyle("locale", "en-US");
     sort.fields = [sortfield];
     col.sort = sort;
  
               
There are situations in which the collection contains simple items, like String, Date, Boolean, etc. In this case, sorting should be applied to the simple type directly. When constructing a sort for this situation only a single sort field is required and should not have a name specified. For example:
                  
     var col:ICollectionView = new ArrayCollection();
     col.addItem("California");
     col.addItem("Arizona");
     var sort:Sort = new Sort();
     var sortfield:SortField = new SortField(null, true);
     sortfield.setStyle("locale", "en-US");
     sort.fields = [sortfield];
     col.sort = sort;
  
               

The default comparison provided by the SortField class provides correct language specific sorting for strings. The language is selected by the setting the locale style on an instance of the class in one of the following ways:

Note: to prevent problems like FLEX-34853 it is recommended to use SortField instances as immutable objects (by not changing their state).

MXML SyntaxexpandedHide MXML Syntax

The <s:SortField> tag has the following attributes:

  <s:SortField
  Properties
  compareFunction="Internal compare function"
  descending="false"
  name="null"
  numeric="null"
  />
  

View the examples

See also

mx.collections.ICollectionView
spark.collections.Sort


Public Properties
 PropertyDefined By
 InheritedarraySortOnOptions : int
[read-only] This helper property is used internally by the findItem() and sort() methods.
SortField
 InheritedcaseInsensitive : Boolean
[read-only] Specifies whether the sort for this field should be case insensitive.
SortField
  className : String
[read-only]
SortField
  compareFunction : Function
[override] The function that compares two items during a sort of items for the associated collection.
SortField
 Inheriteddescending : Boolean
Specifies whether this field should be sorted in descending order.
SortField
  id : String
SortField
  inheritingStyles : Object
SortField
  moduleFactory : IFlexModuleFactory
SortField
 Inheritedname : String
The name of the field to be sorted.
SortField
  nonInheritingStyles : Object
SortField
 Inheritednumeric : Object
Specifies that if the field being sorted contains numeric (number/int/uint) values, or string representations of numeric values, the comparator use a numeric comparison.
SortField
 InheritedsortCompareType : String
Specifies what compare type will be used for the sortField.
SortField
  styleDeclaration : CSSStyleDeclaration
SortField
  styleManager : IStyleManager2
[read-only]
SortField
  styleName : Object
SortField
  styleParent : IAdvancedStyleClient
SortField
 InheritedusingCustomCompareFunction : Boolean
[read-only] True if this ISortField uses a custom comparator function.
SortField
Public Methods
 MethodDefined By
  
SortField(name:String = null, descending:Boolean = false, numeric:Object = null, sortCompareType:String = null, customCompareFunction:Function = null)
Constructor.
SortField
  
clearStyle(styleProp:String):void
SortField
  
SortField
  
getStyle(styleProp:String):*
SortField
  
hasCSSState():Boolean
SortField
  
initialized(document:Object, id:String):void
SortField
 Inherited
A helper function called by the Sort class to set the default comparison function to perform a comparison based on one of three things: whether or not a custom compare function has been set, the data type for the specified field or the the value of the numeric property.
SortField
  
matchesCSSState(cssState:String):Boolean
SortField
  
matchesCSSType(cssType:String):Boolean
SortField
  
notifyStyleChangeInChildren(styleProp:String, recursive:Boolean):void
SortField
 Inherited
objectHasSortField(object:Object):Boolean
SortField
  
regenerateStyleCache(recursive:Boolean):void
SortField
  
registerEffects(effects:Array):void
SortField
 Inherited
reverse():void
Reverse the criteria for this sort field.
SortField
  
setStyle(styleProp:String, newValue:*):void
SortField
  
styleChanged(styleProp:String):void
SortField
  
SortField
 Inherited
This changes the internal compare function used by the SortField based on the value of sortCompareType.
SortField
Protected Methods
 MethodDefined By
 Inherited
getSortFieldValue(obj:Object):*
SortField
  
stringCompare(a:Object, b:Object):int
[override] Pull the strings from the objects and call the implementation.
SortField
  
xmlCompare(a:Object, b:Object):int
[override] Pull the values out fo the XML object, then compare using the string or numeric comparator depending on the numeric flag.
SortField
Styles
 Style Description Defined By
  
locale
Type: String CSS Inheritance: yes
The locale identifier that specifies the language, region, script and optionally other related tags and keys. The syntax of this identifier must follow the syntax defined by the Unicode Technical Standard #35 (for example, en-US, de-DE, zh-Hans-CN).

For browser based apps, the default locale is based on the language settings from the browser. (Note that this is not the browser UI language that is available from Javascript, but rather is the list of preferred locales for web pages that the user has set in the browser preferences.) For AIR applications, the default UI locale is based on the user's system preferences.

See also

SortField
Property Detail
classNameproperty
className:String  [read-only]


Implementation
    public function get className():String
compareFunctionproperty 
compareFunction:Function[override]

Language Version : ActionScript 3.0
Product Version : Flex 4.5
Runtime Versions : Flash Player 10.1, AIR 2.5

The function that compares two items during a sort of items for the associated collection. If you specify a compareFunction property in an ISort object, Flex ignores any compareFunction properties of the ISort's SortField objects.

The compare function must have the following signature:

function myCompare(a:Object, b:Object):int

This function must return the following values:

The default value is an internal compare function that can perform a string, numeric, or date comparison in ascending or descending order. The string comparison is performed using the locale (language, region and script) specific comparison method from the SortingCollator class. This class uses the locale style to determine a locale. Specify your own function only if you need a need a custom comparison algorithm. This is normally only the case if a calculated field is used in a display.


Implementation
    public function get compareFunction():Function
    public function set compareFunction(value:Function):void
idproperty 
id:String


Implementation
    public function get id():String
    public function set id(value:String):void
inheritingStylesproperty 
inheritingStyles:Object


Implementation
    public function get inheritingStyles():Object
    public function set inheritingStyles(value:Object):void
moduleFactoryproperty 
moduleFactory:IFlexModuleFactory


Implementation
    public function get moduleFactory():IFlexModuleFactory
    public function set moduleFactory(value:IFlexModuleFactory):void
nonInheritingStylesproperty 
nonInheritingStyles:Object


Implementation
    public function get nonInheritingStyles():Object
    public function set nonInheritingStyles(value:Object):void
styleDeclarationproperty 
styleDeclaration:CSSStyleDeclaration


Implementation
    public function get styleDeclaration():CSSStyleDeclaration
    public function set styleDeclaration(value:CSSStyleDeclaration):void
styleManagerproperty 
styleManager:IStyleManager2  [read-only]


Implementation
    public function get styleManager():IStyleManager2
styleNameproperty 
styleName:Object


Implementation
    public function get styleName():Object
    public function set styleName(value:Object):void
styleParentproperty 
styleParent:IAdvancedStyleClient


Implementation
    public function get styleParent():IAdvancedStyleClient
    public function set styleParent(value:IAdvancedStyleClient):void
Constructor Detail
SortField()Constructor
public function SortField(name:String = null, descending:Boolean = false, numeric:Object = null, sortCompareType:String = null, customCompareFunction:Function = null)

Language Version : ActionScript 3.0
Product Version : Flex 4.5
Runtime Versions : Flash Player 10.1, AIR 2.5

Constructor.

Parameters
name:String (default = null) — The name of the property that this field uses for comparison. If the object is a simple type, pass null.
 
descending:Boolean (default = false) — Tells the comparator whether to arrange items in descending order.
 
numeric:Object (default = null) — Tells the comparator whether to compare sort items as numbers, instead of alphabetically.
 
sortCompareType:String (default = null) — Gives an indication to SortField which of the default compare functions to use.
 
customCompareFunction:Function (default = null) — Use a custom function to compare the objects based on this SortField.
Method Detail
clearStyle()method
public function clearStyle(styleProp:String):void

Parameters

styleProp:String

getClassStyleDeclarations()method 
public function getClassStyleDeclarations():Array

Returns
Array
getStyle()method 
public function getStyle(styleProp:String):*

Parameters

styleProp:String

Returns
*
hasCSSState()method 
public function hasCSSState():Boolean

Returns
Boolean
initialized()method 
public function initialized(document:Object, id:String):void

Parameters

document:Object
 
id:String

matchesCSSState()method 
public function matchesCSSState(cssState:String):Boolean

Parameters

cssState:String

Returns
Boolean
matchesCSSType()method 
public function matchesCSSType(cssType:String):Boolean

Parameters

cssType:String

Returns
Boolean
notifyStyleChangeInChildren()method 
public function notifyStyleChangeInChildren(styleProp:String, recursive:Boolean):void

Parameters

styleProp:String
 
recursive:Boolean

regenerateStyleCache()method 
public function regenerateStyleCache(recursive:Boolean):void

Parameters

recursive:Boolean

registerEffects()method 
public function registerEffects(effects:Array):void

Parameters

effects:Array

setStyle()method 
public function setStyle(styleProp:String, newValue:*):void

Parameters

styleProp:String
 
newValue:*

stringCompare()method 
override protected function stringCompare(a:Object, b:Object):int

Language Version : ActionScript 3.0
Product Version : Flex 4.5
Runtime Versions : Flash Player 10.1, AIR 2.5

Pull the strings from the objects and call the implementation.

Parameters

a:Object
 
b:Object

Returns
int
styleChanged()method 
public function styleChanged(styleProp:String):void

Parameters

styleProp:String

stylesInitialized()method 
public function stylesInitialized():void

xmlCompare()method 
override protected function xmlCompare(a:Object, b:Object):int

Language Version : ActionScript 3.0
Product Version : Flex 4.5
Runtime Versions : Flash Player 10.1, AIR 2.5

Pull the values out fo the XML object, then compare using the string or numeric comparator depending on the numeric flag.

Parameters

a:Object
 
b:Object

Returns
int
Examples
SortExample1.mxml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!--

  Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
  contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
  this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
  The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
  (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
  the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at

      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
  limitations under the License.

-->
<s:Application xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009" 
               xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark" 
               xmlns:mx="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/mx" 
               minWidth="955" minHeight="600">
    <!-- Sample program for spark.collections.Sort and SortField --> 
    <fx:Declarations>
        <s:Sort id="sortbyLastName_FirstName">
            <s:fields>
                <s:SortField name="last"/>
                <s:SortField name="first"/>
            </s:fields>
        </s:Sort>
        <mx:ArrayCollection id="collection" sort="{sortbyLastName_FirstName}">
            <mx:source>
                <fx:Object first="Anders" last="Dickerson"/>
                <fx:Object first="Eileen" last="Maccormick"/>
                <fx:Object first="Aiden" last="MacCormick"/>
                <fx:Object first="Steve" last="MacGregor"/>
            </mx:source>
        </mx:ArrayCollection>
    </fx:Declarations>
    
    <s:VGroup>
        <s:VGroup>
            <s:HGroup>
                <s:Label text="Input Locale ID Name: "/>
                <s:TextInput id="inputLocaleIDName"/>
                <!-- 
                Sets the locale style on the document UI component.
                The SortField and Sort objects defined in the 
                fx:Declarations section will inherit this style.
                -->
                <s:Button click="{setStyle('locale', inputLocaleIDName.text); 
                          collection.refresh()}" label="Apply"/>
            </s:HGroup>
            <s:Label text="Example: 'en-US', 'fr-FR', 'zh-CN', 'ar-SA'"/>
        </s:VGroup>
        <s:DataGrid dataProvider="{collection}" width="100%"
                     creationComplete="{collection.refresh()}">
            <s:columns>
                <s:ArrayList>
                    <s:GridColumn dataField="last"/>
                    <s:GridColumn dataField="first"/>
                </s:ArrayList>
            </s:columns>
        </s:DataGrid>
    </s:VGroup>
</s:Application>
SortExample2.mxml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!--

  Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
  contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
  this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
  The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
  (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
  the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at

      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
  limitations under the License.

-->
<s:Application xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009" 
               xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark" 
               xmlns:mx="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/mx" 
               minWidth="955" minHeight="600"
               creationComplete="initApp()">
    <!-- Sample program for spark.collections.Sort and SortField -->    
    <fx:Script>
        <![CDATA[
            import mx.collections.ArrayCollection;
            import spark.collections.*;
            [Bindable]
            private var collection:ArrayCollection = new ArrayCollection();
            
            private function localeChange():void
            {
                // Sets the locale style on this application.
                // The SortField objects will inherit this style.
                setStyle('locale', inputLocaleIDName.text);
                collection.refresh();
            }

            private function initApp() : void
            {
                // Add data to the collection.
                collection.addItem({first:"Anders", last:"Dickerson"});
                collection.addItem({first:"Steve", last:"Maccormick"});
                collection.addItem({first:"Aiden", last:"MacCormick"});
                collection.addItem({first:"Eileen", last:"MacGregor"});
                
                // Create the Sort instance.
                var sort:Sort = new Sort();
                
                // Set the sort field; sort on the last name first, first name 
                // second.
                var sortfieldLastName:SortField = new SortField("last",true);
                var sortfieldFirstName:SortField = new SortField("first",true);
                sort.fields = [sortfieldLastName, sortfieldFirstName];
                
                // Add the sort field objects to this application's list of
                // style clients.  This will cause the sort field objects to 
                // inherit the locale style from this Application. 
                addStyleClient(sortfieldLastName);
                addStyleClient(sortfieldFirstName);
                
                // Assign the Sort object to the view.
                collection.sort = sort;
                
                // Apply the sort to the collection.
                collection.refresh();
            }
        ]]>
    </fx:Script>
    
    <s:VGroup>
        <s:VGroup>
            <s:HGroup>
                <s:Label text="Input Locale ID Name: "/>
                <s:TextInput id="inputLocaleIDName"/>
                <s:Button click="localeChange()" label="Apply"/>
            </s:HGroup>
            <s:Label text="Example: 'en-US', 'fr-FR', 'zh-CN', 'ar-SA'"/>
        </s:VGroup>
        
        <s:DataGrid dataProvider="{collection}" width="100%"
                     creationComplete="{collection.refresh()}">
            <s:columns>
                <s:ArrayList>
                    <s:GridColumn dataField="last"/>
                    <s:GridColumn dataField="first"/>
                </s:ArrayList>
            </s:columns>
        </s:DataGrid>
    </s:VGroup>
</s:Application>