Adf - secondary sort

Question

Hi,
We have adf display only table with 3 columns with the default sort on each column.
It works fine independantly.
Is there a way to do a secondary sort on a second column maintaining the first column sort?
Is there a setting in the column properties that I can use to set this?
Thanks

Answer 1

ADF provides only single column sorting, but you can retain the previous sort orders and apply the current sort order as follows:
1) Create a class variable that retains all the previous sort orders in the managed bean registered in pageFlowScope.
private List<SortCriterion> tableSortList = new ArrayList<SortCriterion>();
2) When a sort is performed, if the attribute is already present, remove the old sort criterian for the attribute and add the new one by having custom sort function.
Here is the sample code:
Sample.jspx:
<af:document id="d1">
<af:messages id="m1"/>
<af:form id="f1">
<af:table value="#{bindings.Departments.collectionModel}" var="row"
rows="#{bindings.Departments.rangeSize}"
emptyText="#{bindings.Departments.viewable ? 'No data to display.' : 'Access Denied.'}"
fetchSize="#{bindings.Departments.rangeSize}"
rowBandingInterval="0"
selectedRowKeys="#{bindings.Departments.collectionModel.selectedRow}"
selectionListener="#{bindings.Departments.collectionModel.makeCurrent}"
rowSelection="single" id="t1"
*sortListener="#{pageFlowScope.SampleBean.onSort}">*
<af:column sortProperty="Deptid" sortable="true"
headerText="#{bindings.Departments.hints.Deptid.label}"
id="c1">
<af:outputText value="#{row.Deptid}" id="ot2">
<af:convertNumber groupingUsed="false"
pattern="#{bindings.Departments.hints.Deptid.format}"/>
</af:outputText>
</af:column>
<af:column sortProperty="Deptname" sortable="true"
headerText="#{bindings.Departments.hints.Deptname.label}"
id="c2">
<af:outputText value="#{row.Deptname}" id="ot1"/>
</af:column>
</af:table>
</af:form>
</af:document>
*SampleBean.java:*
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import oracle.adf.view.rich.component.rich.data.RichTable;
import org.apache.myfaces.trinidad.event.SortEvent;
import org.apache.myfaces.trinidad.model.SortCriterion;
public class SampleBean {
public SampleBean() {
*private List<SortCriterion> tableSortList = new ArrayList<SortCriterion>();*
*public void onSort(SortEvent sortEvent) {*
*List currentSortList = sortEvent.getSortCriteria();*
*SortCriterion currentSortCriterion =*
*(SortCriterion)currentSortList.get(0);*
*// Remove the criteria if already present*
*this.removeIfCurrentSortCriteriaAlreadyPresent(currentSortCriterion);*
*// Add the current criteria to the list*
*this.tableSortList.add(currentSortCriterion);*
*// Print current sorting order for debugging purpose*
*this.printCurrentSortingOrder();*
*// Apply the current list of sort criterions to the table*
*RichTable richTable = (RichTable)sortEvent.getComponent();*
*richTable.setSortCriteria(tableSortList);*
private boolean removeIfCurrentSortCriteriaAlreadyPresent(SortCriterion currentSortCriterion) {
if (tableSortList != null && tableSortList.size() > 0) {
for (SortCriterion sortCriterion : tableSortList) {
if (sortCriterion.getProperty().equals(currentSortCriterion.getProperty())) {
tableSortList.remove(sortCriterion);
return true;
return false;
private void printCurrentSortingOrder() {
System.out.println(":: CURRENT SORT APPLIED ::");
if (tableSortList != null && tableSortList.size() > 0) {
for (SortCriterion sortCriterion : tableSortList) {
System.out.println(sortCriterion.getProperty() + "----" +
sortCriterion.isAscending());
Register the bean in pageFlowScope.
The code is self explanatory.
Thanks,
Navaneeth