[outdated] ZO_ComboBox sort order

[merlight]

ZO_ComboBox allows custom ordering of items via ZO_ComboBox:SetSortOrder(sortOrder, sortType)
I can attach custom data to entries, and use them for sorting, but currently only as tiebreakers. The limitation lies in function ComboBoxSortHelper, where "name" is hardcoded as the primary sort key.

I have a combo box with 1 "default" item and a variable number of user-created items. The "default" item shall always be on top of the drop-down list, while the rest should be properly sorted (they can be added/removed at run-time). So I added "priority" key to each entry, the "default" entry has priority=1, user entries have priority=2. Now I want to set "priority" as the primary sort key, and "name" as the tiebreaker, like this:

combo:SetSortOrder(ZO_SORT_ORDER_UP, {priority={tiebreaker="name"}, name={}})
combo:SetPrimarySortKey("priority") -- or a third parameter to the previous function, doesn't matter much

[circonian]

Originally Posted by merlight ZO_ComboBox allows custom ordering of items via ZO_ComboBox:SetSortOrder(sortOrder, sortType) I can attach custom data to entries, and use them for sorting, but currently only as tiebreakers. The limitation lies in function ComboBoxSortHelper, where "name" is hardcoded as the primary sort key. I have a combo box with 1 "default" item and a variable number of user-created items. The "default" item shall always be on top of the drop-down list, while the rest should be properly sorted (they can be added/removed at run-time). So I added "priority" key to each entry, the "default" entry has priority=1, user entries have priority=2. Now I want to set "priority" as the primary sort key, and "name" as the tiebreaker, like this: combo:SetSortOrder(ZO_SORT_ORDER_UP, {priority={tiebreaker="name"}, name={}}) combo:SetPrimarySortKey("priority") -- or a third parameter to the previous function, doesn't matter much

This one may or may not be possible, but if your only populating the box once, you could add everything except the top item, sort it & then insert the top item in key = 1 position:

table.insert(comboBox.m_sortedItems, 1, {name = "top of the list", control ="whatever", ...})

Or probably a better idea would be to just sort the table yourself...or partial do it yourself. Call table.sort & call your own sort function to check if one of the items is the item you want at the top of the list & return the appropriate value, else pass it on to the ZO_TableOrderingFunction to sort by name.

local function MySort(item1, item2)
    if item1.name == "top of the list" then 
        return true 
    elseif item2.name == "top of the list" then 
        return false
    end
    return ZO_TableOrderingFunction(item1, item2, "name", comboBox.m_sortType, comboBox.m_sortOrder)
end
    
table.sort(comboBox.m_sortedItems, function(item1, item2) return MySort(item1, item2) end)

Oh, and if your storing other data in there besides name and were wanting to sort by that, you could still do the same thing just alter it for whatever data you wanted to sort by. You could pass whatever key you want to ZO_TableOrderingFunction, or just do the entire sort yourself in your own MySort() function.
You just may also need to manually set (if they need changed):

comboBox.m_sortOrder = sortOrder or ZO_SORT_ORDER_UP
comboBox.m_sortType = sortType or ZO_SORT_BY_NAME

[merlight]

Yes it's perfectly doable. I will SetSortsItems(false) and override UpdateItems() using my desired sort method. I placed this in the Wish-List section as it would be nice if the control allowed me to simply set the primary sort key

[circonian]

Originally Posted by merlight Yes it's perfectly doable. I will SetSortsItems(false) and override UpdateItems() using my desired sort method. I placed this in the Wish-List section as it would be nice if the control allowed me to simply set the primary sort key

Clicked on this from "Todays Posts" didn't even realize it was in the wish section, but yeah it would be nice.

[merlight]

Oh and to top if off, I've now discovered a bug. ZO_ComboBox:UpdateItems() begins with this condition:

if self.m_sortOrder and self.m_sortsItems then
    table.sort(...)
end

But since ZO_SORT_ORDER_DOWN == false, items will not be sorted at all if you specify descending order. The condition should only check m_sortsItems.

Edit: the bug extends to SetSortOrder() as well:

function ZO_ComboBox:SetSortOrder(sortOrder, sortType)
    self.m_sortOrder = sortOrder or ZO_SORT_ORDER_UP -- wrong
    self.m_sortType = sortType or ZO_SORT_BY_NAME
    self:UpdateItems()                                
end

m_sortOrder will always end up being UP, because DOWN == false.

[sirinsidiator]

You should also take a look at the enchantment filter for the trading house.
They have a similar problem where they want to sort the list except for the first and last element

	-- Sort the tables, ensuring that the first and last entries of each table remain anchored ('any' and 'other' filters).
	for _, v in pairs(enchantmentTypes) do
		ZO_TradingHouse_SortComboBoxEntries(v, ZO_SORT_BY_NAME, ZO_SORT_ORDER_UP, ANCHOR_FIRST_ENTRY, ANCHOR_LAST_ENTRY)
	end

[merlight]

Originally Posted by sirinsidiator You should also take a look at the enchantment filter for the trading house. They have a similar problem where they want to sort the list except for the first and last element

Nice find. One more reason to have that possible with ZO_ComboBox alone.

[merlight]

Reviving because:

1. sort by "name" is still hardcoded in ComboBoxSortHelper
2. incorrect is-defined-tests of sortOrder (which may be ZO_SORT_ORDER_DOWN == false) are still there, only moved to ZO_ComboBox_Base:UpdateItems and ZO_ComboBox_Base:SetSortOrder
3. found another such incorrect test in ZO_SortHeaderGroup:OnHeaderClicked
   

   function ZO_SortHeaderGroup:OnHeaderClicked(header, suppressCallbacks, forceReselect)
       if self:IsEnabled() then
           local resetSortDir = false
           if forceReselect or not self:IsCurrentSelectedHeader(header) then
               self:DeselectHeader()
               resetSortDir = true
           end
    
           -- this is wrong, initialDirection == false should be taken as valid value
           self.sortDirection = resetSortDir and header.initialDirection or not self.sortDirection
   ...

   
   fixed:
   

   function ZO_SortHeaderGroup:OnHeaderClicked(header, suppressCallbacks, forceReselect)
       if self:IsEnabled() then
           if forceReselect or not self:IsCurrentSelectedHeader(header) then
               self:DeselectHeader()
               self.sortDirection = header.initialDirection
           else
               self.sortDirection = not self.sortDirection
           end
   ...