Sorting DataGridView string column containing numbers and strings

Question

I have a bound DataGridView that displays file sizes:

133 kb
20 Mb
43.11 Mb
2.23 Gb

etc

I would usually ensure the column type was decimal in the DataSource (Datatable here) but the value contains size designations preventing this. How can I sort them both numerically while abiding by the data units?

cardano dev 12 · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-28 20:48:27Z

1

This is what I have now.

<!-- language: lang-vb-->
     Dim d As New DataTable()

    Dim c As New DataColumn("Size")
    c.DataType = GetType(Integer)

    Dim c2 As New DataColumn("SizeInUnits")
    c2.DataType = GetType(String)

    d.Columns.Add(c)
    d.Columns.Add(c2)

    Dim strFileSize As String = ""
    Dim di As New IO.DirectoryInfo("C:\temp")
    Dim aryFi As IO.FileInfo() = di.GetFiles("*.*")


    For Each fi As IO.FileInfo In aryFi
        Dim r As DataRow = d.NewRow()
        r(0) = fi.Length
        r(1) = GetSizeInUnits(fi.Length)
        d.Rows.Add(r)
    Next

    d.DefaultView.Sort = "Size ASC"
    DataGridView1.DataSource = d
    DataGridView1.Columns(0).Visible = False

    'New Code Here, Don't Auto Sort. We will sort the data ourselves in event
    'DataGridView1_ColumnHeaderMouseClick. You will have to do some additional work
    'to determin the sort direction. i.e. If Current Sort Order is ASC, the sort DESC 
    'and vice versa
    DataGridView1.Columns(1).SortMode = DataGridViewColumnSortMode.Programmatic

     Private Sub DataGridView1_ColumnHeaderMouseClick(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As        System.Windows.Forms.DataGridViewCellMouseEventArgs) Handles DataGridView1.ColumnHeaderMouseClick
            DataGridView1.Sort(DataGridView1.Columns(0), System.ComponentModel.ListSortDirection.Descending)
     End Sub

    Private Function GetSizeInUnits(ByVal size As Double) As String
    Dim sizeKB As String = "KB"
    Dim sizeMB As String = "MB"
    Dim sizeGB As String = "GB"

    If (size < 1000000) Then
        Return size / 1000 & sizeKB
    End If

    If (size > 1000000 AndAlso size < 1000000000) Then
        Return size / 1000000 & sizeMB
    End If

    If (size > 1000000000) Then
        Return size / 1000000000 & sizeGB
    End If

    End Function

edited Sep 28, 2012 at 20:48

answered Sep 27, 2012 at 12:58

cardano dev 12

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5 Comments

madlan Over a year ago

I'm using System.IO.FileInfo to generate a list of files and their attributes (into a datatable). This returns the file value in bytes which I pass through a function to convert it to a readable value before populating a column in the datatable.

cardano dev 12 Over a year ago

If I may suggest another possible solution which would require only one column on DataTable. You could use a Dictionary Object. Using Lenght as Key and Unit Size as value. You could then sort the Dictionary to return a list in the order that you want. Iterate this list and add to the datatable.

madlan Over a year ago

Will clicking the DataGridView header for SizeInUnits not remove the sort on the hidden column though?

cardano dev 12 Over a year ago

We are setting the order by programtically. so clicking the header will have no affect. its the click event that sets the order. have you tried the code above.

madlan Over a year ago

Hi, The changes work well - Sort on ColumnHeaderMouseClick. Do you know if it's possible to display the sort direction arrow on the header? That seems to be the only down side.

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