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AngularJS sort rows by table header

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Part 7 - Handling events in AngularJS
Part 8 - AngularJS filters
Part 9 - Sorting data in AngularJS



In this video we will discuss how to implement bidirectional sort in Angular JS.



Here is what we want to do
1. The data should be sorted when the table column header is clicked
2. The user should be able to sort in both the directions - ascending and descending. Clicking on the column for the first time should sort the data in ascending order. Clicking on the same column again should sort in descending order.
3. An icon should be displayed next to the column showing the sort column and direction

angularjs bidirectional sort data by table headers

Script.js : The controller function in the script does the following
  • Sets up the model 
  • sortColumn and reverseSort properties are attached to the $scope object. These 2 properties are used to control the column by which the data should be sorted and the sort direction.
  • sortColumn is set to name and reverseSort is set to false. This will ensure that when the form is initially loaded, the table data will be sorted by name column in ascending order.
  • Depending on the column header the user has clicked, sortData() function sets the sortColumn and reverseSort property values. 
  • Based on the sort column and the sort direction, getSortClass() function returns the CSS class name to return. The CSS class controls the sort icon that will be displayed next to the sort column.
var app = angular
        .module("myModule", [])
        .controller("myController", function ($scope) {

            var employees = [
                {
                    name: "Ben", dateOfBirth: new Date("November 23, 1980"),
                    gender: "Male", salary: 55000
                },
                {
                    name: "Sara", dateOfBirth: new Date("May 05, 1970"),
                    gender: "Female", salary: 68000
                },
                {
                    name: "Mark", dateOfBirth: new Date("August 15, 1974"),
                    gender: "Male", salary: 57000
                },
                {
                    name: "Pam", dateOfBirth: new Date("October 27, 1979"),
                    gender: "Female", salary: 53000
                },
                {
                    name: "Todd", dateOfBirth: new Date("December 30, 1983"),
                    gender: "Male", salary: 60000
                }
            ];

            $scope.employees = employees;
            $scope.sortColumn = "name";
            $scope.reverseSort = false;

            $scope.sortData = function (column) {
                $scope.reverseSort = ($scope.sortColumn == column) ?
                    !$scope.reverseSort : false;
                $scope.sortColumn = column;
            }

            $scope.getSortClass = function (column) {

                if ($scope.sortColumn == column) {
                    return $scope.reverseSort
                      ? 'arrow-down'
                      : 'arrow-up';
                }

                return '';
            }
        });

HtmlPage1.html : sortData() function is called when any table header is clicked, passing the name of the column by which the data should be sorted. The div element's, ng-class directive calls getSortClass() function, which returns the CSS class to be applied. The CSS displays the UP or DOWN arrow depending on the sort direction. Finally, with the orderBy filter sortColumn and reverseSort properties of the $scope object are used to control the column by which the data should be sorted and the sort direction.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
    <title></title>
    <script src="Scripts/angular.min.js"></script>
    <script src="Scripts/Script.js"></script>
    <link href="Styles.css" rel="stylesheet" />
</head>
<body ng-app="myModule">
    <div ng-controller="myController">
        <table>
            <thead>
                <tr>
                    <th ng-click="sortData('name')">
                        Name <div ng-class="getSortClass('name')"></div>
                    </th>
                    <th ng-click="sortData('dateOfBirth')">
                        Date of Birth <div ng-class="getSortClass('dateOfBirth')"></div>
                    </th>
                    <th ng-click="sortData('gender')">
                        Gender <div ng-class="getSortClass('gender')"></div>
                    </th>
                    <th ng-click="sortData('salary')">
                        Salary <div ng-class="getSortClass('salary')"></div>
                    </th>
                </tr>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
                <tr ng-repeat="employee in employees | orderBy:sortColumn:reverseSort">
                    <td> {{ employee.name }} </td>
                    <td> {{ employee.dateOfBirth | date:"dd/MM/yyyy" }} </td>
                    <td> {{ employee.gender }} </td>
                    <td> {{ employee.salary  }} </td>
                </tr>
            </tbody>
        </table>
    </div>
</body>
</html>

Styles.css : CSS styles to make the form look pretty.

body {
    font-family: Arial;
}

table {
    border-collapse: collapse;
}

td {
    border: 1px solid black;
    padding: 5px;
}

th {
    border: 1px solid black;
    padding: 5px;
    text-align: left;
    /*cursor property displays hand symbol
        when hovered over the th element*/
    cursor: pointer;
}

/*This class displays the UP arrow*/
.arrow-up {
     width: 0;
     height: 0;
     border-left: 5px solid transparent;
     border-right: 5px solid transparent;
     border-bottom: 10px solid black;
     display:inline-block;
}

/*This class displays the DOWN arrow*/
.arrow-down {
     width: 0;
     height: 0;
     border-left: 5px solid transparent;
     border-right: 5px solid transparent;
     border-top: 10px solid black;
     display:inline-block;
}

AngularJS tutorial for beginners

15 comments:

  1. What is bootstraping as you mentioned this word so many times in angularJS tutorials.Is it adiffrent technology all together?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bootstraping is used for the responsiveness of the website and for the best view of the web in any platform like desktop, tablets and mobile phones....

      Delete
    2. Sanauyar ali,

      Bootstrap not a different technology.It is the most popular HTML, CSS, and JavaScript framework for developing responsive web sites.

      Delete
  2. Sir the arrow up and down doesn't show on the th can you help me?
    thank you in advance!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have a same problem but i run the angular app in chrome incognito mode then it is displaying

      Delete
    2. Use Interent explorer as browser

      Delete
  3. it's ok now sir i have already solved the problem :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am also not able to see triangles on th element. How you managed??

      Delete
  4. I don't understand how angular knows when to reevaluate getSortClass. I see it gets called at every table header click for all div elements. But how does angular know, can you explain?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am not sure. But what i can understand is ng-click is common for the th element. getSortClass is under the th element. So, I might get executed automatically as the click event is for whole th element.

      Delete
  5. Sir cn you please explain why one function has return type and other is not
    $scope.sortData = function (column) {
    $scope.reverseSort = ($scope.sortColumn == column) ?
    !$scope.reverseSort : false;
    $scope.sortColumn = column;
    }

    $scope.getSortClass = function (column) {

    if ($scope.sortColumn == column) {
    return $scope.reverseSort
    ? 'arrow-down'
    : 'arrow-up';
    }

    return '';
    }


    ReplyDelete
  6. Arrow up and down is not working

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Thanseem nazar i have also faced the same . To resolve this problem i used the following steps.

      1) In goolge chrome -> settings -> Cache Images and files: I have cleared cahe data.
      If you face the issue with other than chrome there also clear images and files..

      Delete
  7. for reverse order to work and down arrow:
    I updated function of sortData

    $scope.sortData = function (column) {
    $scope.reverseSort = ($scope.sortColumn == column) ?
    !$scope.reverseSort : false;

    $scope.sortColumn = column;
    }

    ReplyDelete

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