SortingTableViewByClickingColumnHeaderExample

It is much better to use this delegate method which only gets triggered only when clicking the header cell (not when resizing a column):

- (void)tableView:(NSTableView *)tableView didClickTableColumn:(NSTableColumn *)tableColumn
{
	// Either reverse the sort or change the sorting column
}

To reverse the sorting of a column, you should reverse the array that the table is getting data from. Something like this (category method which extends NSMutableArray):

@implementation NSMutableArray (ReverseArray)

- (void)reverse
{
	int i;

	for (i=0; i<(floor([self count]/2.0)); i++) {
		[self exchangeObjectAtIndex:i withObjectAtIndex:([self count]-(i+1))];
	}
}

@end

Here's a simple example that shows how to sort NSTableView columns in ascending or descending order by clicking the column header. It also illustrates two undocumented methods in NSTableView to display the familiar up and down arrows in the column header to indicate sorting order. (WARNING: Use undocumented method calls at your own risk. Apple could change or remove these without notice in a future release of OS X.)

Our example has two classes: the Cartoon class is used to represent cartoon characters, which will be shown in a table view. The CartoonTableController class is used as the data source and delegate for the NSTableView.

The Cartoon class is very simple, it has three instance variables and three corresponding accessors.

// Cartoon.h
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
@interface Cartoon : NSObject {
    NSString * name;
    int shoeSize;
    NSString * tagLine;
}
- (id)initWithName:(NSString *)theName
          shoeSize:(int)theShoeSize
           tagLine:(NSString *)theTagLine;
- (NSString *) name;
- (int) shoeSize;
- (NSString *) tagLine;
@end


// Cartoon.m
#import "Cartoon.h"
@implementation Cartoon
- (id)initWithName:(NSString *)theName
          shoeSize:(int)theShoeSize
           tagLine:(NSString *)theTagLine {
    if (self = [super init]) {
        name = [theName retain];
        shoeSize = theShoeSize;
        tagLine = [theTagLine retain];
    }
    return self;
}
- (void) dealloc {
    [name release];
    [tagLine release];
    [super dealloc];
}
- (NSString *) name {
    return name;
}
- (int) shoeSize {
    return shoeSize;
}
- (NSString *) tagLine {
    return tagLine;
}
@end

Next, we create an extension to the Cartoon class containing methods to compare two Cartoon objects.

These methods could be put in Cartoon.h/.m, but we choose to put these methods in a separate file because they aren't part of the Cartoon's zen nature; they are only useful to the CartoonTableController object to sort the table. This is called creating a category. For details see ClassCategories.

Note that the names for these sort routines are in a specific form, closely related to the method names for the Cartoon accessors.

// Cartoon-Sorting.h.
#import "Cartoon.h"
@interface Cartoon(Sorting)
- (NSComparisonResult)nameComparison:
        (Cartoon *)otherCharacter;
- (NSComparisonResult)shoeSizeComparison:
        (Cartoon *)otherCharacter;
- (NSComparisonResult)tagLineComparison:
        (Cartoon *)otherCharacter;
@end

// Cartoon-Sorting.m
#import "Cartoon-Sorting.h"
@implementation Cartoon(Sorting)
- (NSComparisonResult)nameComparison:
        (Cartoon *) otherCharacter {
    return [name compare: [otherCharacter name]
                 options: NSCaseInsensitiveSearch];
}
- (NSComparisonResult)shoeSizeComparison:
        (Cartoon *) otherCharacter {
   if (shoeSize < [otherCharacter shoeSize])
      return NSOrderedAscending;
   else if (shoeSize > [otherCharacter shoeSize])
      return NSOrderedDescending;
   else
      return NSOrderedSame;
}
- (NSComparisonResult)tagLineComparison:
        (Cartoon *) otherCharacter {
    return [tagLine compare: [otherCharacter tagLine]];
    // case-sensitive compare
}
@end

Finally, let's create the CartoonTableController class. It has four instance variables to manage the list of Cartoon objects and keep sorting information. It also implements the NSTableDataSource protocol to act as a data source for the NSTableView, and one of the table view's delegate methods to respond to clicks in a column header.

// CartoonTableController.h
#import <AppKit/AppKit.h>
@interface CartoonTableController : NSObject {
    NSMutableArray * characters; // array of Cartoon objects
    NSTableColumn * lastColumn;  // track last column chosen
    SEL columnSortSelector;      // holds a method pointer
    BOOL sortDescending;         // sort in descending order
}
// NSTableView data source/delegate methods
- (int)  numberOfRowsInTableView: (NSTableView *) tableView;
- (id)                 tableView: (NSTableView *) tableView
       objectValueForTableColumn: (NSTableColumn *) tableColumn
                             row: (int) row;
- (void)               tableView: (NSTableView *) tableView
             didClickTableColumn: (NSTableColumn *) tableColumn;
@end

The -tableView:didClickTableColumn: method is where we handle the user's column click action. We determine whether the clicked column is already selected, determine the new sorting order and re-sort the table. It constructs a selector name as a string, and uses NSSelectorFromString to find the selector by that name, which is stored in the columnSortSelector instance variable.

Note the two class method calls [NSTableView _defaultTableHeaderSortImage] and [NSTableView _defaultTableHeaderReverseSortImage], which return NSImage objects; these calls will generate warning messages during compile, since the method names are not declared in the NSTableView header file.

Finally, the [tableView setHighlightedTableColumn: tableColumn]; method call makes the selected column header display in blue. If you don't want this behavior, just remove that line.

// CartoonTableController.m
#import "CartoonTableController.m"

#import "Cartoon.h"
#import "Cartoon-Sorting.m" // don't really need this import statement

// To prevent compiler warnings, declare the two undocumented methods
@interface NSTableView(SortImages)
+ (NSImage *) _defaultTableHeaderSortImage;
+ (NSImage *) _defaultTableHeaderReverseSortImage;
@end

@implementation CartoonTableController
- (void) awakeFromNib {
    // create demo characters array
    characters = [[NSMutableArray arrayWithObjects:
        [[[Cartoon alloc] initWithName: @"Fred Flintstone"
                              shoeSize: 12
                               tagLine: @"Yabba, Dabba, Do!!!!!!"]
                                                      autorelease],
        [[[Cartoon alloc] initWithName: @"Popeye"
                              shoeSize: 9
                               tagLine: @"I'm Popeye, the sailor man!"]
                                                      autorelease],
        [[[Cartoon alloc] initWithName: @"Scooby Doo"
                              shoeSize: 2
                               tagLine: @"Ruh-Roh!"] autorelease],
        [[[Cartoon alloc] initWithName: @"Bart Simpson"
                              shoeSize: 5
                               tagLine: @"Don't have a cow, man!"]
                                                      autorelease],
        nil] retain];
}

// The next two functions implement the NSTableView's
// data source protocol
- (int) numberOfRowsInTableView: (NSTableView *) tableView {
    return [characters count];
}

- (id)              tableView: (NSTableView *) tableView
    objectValueForTableColumn: (NSTableColumn *) tableColumn
                          row: (int) row {
    Cartoon * character = [characters objectAtIndex:
        (sortDescending ? [characters count] - 1 - row : row)];
    return [character valueForKey: [tableColumn identifier]];
}

// NSTableView delegate function
- (void)      tableView: (NSTableView *) tableView
    didClickTableColumn: (NSTableColumn *) tableColumn {
    if (lastColumn == tableColumn) {
        // User clicked same column, change sort order
        sortDescending = !sortDescending;
    } else {
        // User clicked new column, change old/new column headers,
        // save new sorting selector, and re-sort the array.
        sortDescending = NO;
        if (lastColumn) {
            [tableView setIndicatorImage: nil
                inTableColumn: lastColumn];
            [lastColumn release];
        }
        lastColumn = [tableColumn retain];
        [tableView setHighlightedTableColumn: tableColumn];
        columnSortSelector = NSSelectorFromString([NSString
            stringWithFormat: @"%@Comparison:",
            [tableColumn identifier]]);
        [characters sortUsingSelector: columnSortSelector];
    }
    // Set the graphic for the new column header
    [tableView setIndicatorImage: (sortDescending ?
        [NSTableView _defaultTableHeaderReverseSortImage] :
        [NSTableView _defaultTableHeaderSortImage])
        inTableColumn: tableColumn];
    [tableView reloadData];
}
@end

Enjoy!

<fergy/> pdferguson@attbi.com

- Resorting the array everytime the user clicks on a table header, just to change the order, isn't necessary and is often a bad idea. Instead just sort the array when you really need to (when new items are added or the user changes the column that decides the sort criteria). See http://forums.macnn.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=34&t=002351 for info on this subject.

/Tobias

<fergy/>

Hillegass implements table sorting in an example in the second edition of his book using bindings and NSArrayController and sort descriptors. Nary an NSComparisonResult? in view (although perhaps behind the scenes?)

(Note: Bindings are nice, but be aware that they are only available on Panther (10.3) and newer.)

See JaguarOrPanther. This is no longer a limitation in most cases.

The documented way for displaying sorting arrows is using [NSImage imageNamed:@] as follows:

[aTableView setIndicatorImage: (sortDescending ?
     [NSImage imageNamed:@"NSDescendingSortIndicator"] :
     [NSImage imageNamed:@"NSAscendingSortIndicator"])
     inTableColumn: aTableColumn];

But is there any way to know if the last clicked column is ascending or descending ? Or do you have to create the mecanism "by hand" ?

Why not just override - (void)tableView:(NSTableView *)tableView sortDescriptorsDidChange:(NSArray *)oldDescriptors in your table view data source (NSTableDataSource)?

- (void)tableView:(NSTableView *)tableView sortDescriptorsDidChange:(NSArray *)oldDescriptors
{
    [myTableDataArray sortUsingDescriptors:[tableView sortDescriptors]];
    [tableView reloadData];
}

Do this in conjunction with setting sort keys for each table column (can be done in Interface Builder) and you are done.