Sorting in WPF PropertyGrid

7 May 20217 minutes to read

You can sort the properties according to your needs. You can change the sorting order of the properties by SortDirection property. Values of SortDirection property is Ascending, Descending and Null. Based on the SortDirection property, the property item’s nested properties also sorted. The Default value of the SortDirection property is Ascending order.

Sorting the Properties

Properties in the PropertyGrid are sorted by using the SortDirection property. They sorted based only on the name of the property, not by the display name of the property. If the properties are in the grouped view, then the groups are sorted based on the group name either Ascending or Descending order.

C#

using System;
using System.ComponentModel;
public class ViewModel {
    public Object SelectedEmployee { get; set; }
    public ViewModel() {
        SelectedEmployee = new Employee();
    }
}

public class Employee
{
    [Category("Identity")]
    public string Name { get; set; }
    [Category("Contact Details")]
    public string Email { get; set; }
    [Category("Account Details")]
    public string Bank { get; set; }     
    [Category("Identity")]
    public string ID { get; set; }
    [Category("Account Details")]
    public string AccountNumber { get; set; }
}

XAML

<syncfusion:PropertyGrid SelectedObject="{Binding SelectedEmployee}"   
                         SortDirection="Ascending"
                         x:Name="propertyGrid1">
    <syncfusion:PropertyGrid.DataContext>
        <local:ViewModel></local:ViewModel>
    </syncfusion:PropertyGrid.DataContext>
</syncfusion:PropertyGrid>

C#

PropertyGrid propertyGrid1 = new PropertyGrid();
propertyGrid1.DataContext = new ViewModel();
propertyGrid1.SetBinding(PropertyGrid.SelectedObjectProperty, new Binding("SelectedEmployee"));
propertyGrid1.SortDirection = ListSortDirection.Ascending;

SortDirection= Ascending

SortDirection= Descending

Disable the Sorting

We can disable the sorting by setting the SortDirection property as null. When sorting is disabled, the properties are arranged based on the value of the Order attributes or on
the order they added into the SelectedObject.

C#

using System;
using System.ComponentModel;

public class Employee {
    [Category("Identity")]
    public String Gender { get; set; }
    [Category("Address")]
    public String Country { get; set; }
    [Category("Contact Details")]
    public string Email { get; set; }
    [Category("Identity")]
    public string FirstName { get; set; }
    public string Designation { get; set; }
    [Category("Identity")]
    public string LastName { get; set; }
    public string ID { get; set; }
    public DateTime DOB { get; set; }
    [Category("Contact Details")]
    public string Mobile { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }
}

public class ViewModel {
    public Object SelectedEmployee { get; set; }
    public ViewModel() {
        SelectedEmployee = new Employee() 
        { 
            FirstName = "Carl",
            LastName = "johnson", 
            Age = 30,
            Country = "United States", 
            Designation = "Team Lead",
            DOB = new DateTime(2000, 12, 01),
            Email = "[e-mail]", 
            Gender = "Male", 
            ID = "SF001", 
            Mobile = "1234567890"
        };
    }
}

XAML

<syncfusion:PropertyGrid SelectedObject="{Binding SelectedEmployee}"
                         SortDirection="{x:Null}" x:Name="propertyGrid1" >
    <syncfusion:PropertyGrid.DataContext>
        <local:ViewModel></local:ViewModel>
    </syncfusion:PropertyGrid.DataContext>
</syncfusion:PropertyGrid>

C#

PropertyGrid propertyGrid1 = new PropertyGrid();
propertyGrid1.DataContext = new ViewModel();
propertyGrid1.SetBinding(PropertyGrid.SelectedObjectProperty, new Binding("SelectedEmployee"));
propertyGrid1.SortDirection = null;

Here, the properties are arranged from the Gender property and end with Age property by the order in which they were added to the class.

Show or Hide the Sort Button

We can change the view of the properties from grouped view to sort view by the SortButton. We can show or hide the sort button by using the ButtonPanelVisibility property. If we want to hide the SortButton, set the ButtonPanelVisibility property as Collapsed. The Default value of the ButtonPanelVisibility property is Visible.

XAML

<syncfusion:PropertyGrid x:Name="propertyGrid1" Width="350" Height="400"
                         ButtonPanelVisibility="Collapsed">
    <syncfusion:PropertyGrid.SelectedObject>
        <Button></Button>
    </syncfusion:PropertyGrid.SelectedObject>
</syncfusion:PropertyGrid>

C#

PropertyGrid propertyGrid = new PropertyGrid();
propertyGrid.Width = 350;
propertyGrid.Height = 400;
propertyGrid.SelectedObject = new Button();
propertyGrid1.ButtonPanelVisibility = Visibility.Collapsed;

Click here to download the sample that showcases the property sorting support using the attributes.