How To Sort Table in JavaScript

DataGrid Library may be used as a sort-only JavaScript plugin. It may sort any HTML content, including DIVs, lists, or tables. Let's see how to sort a basic table with random data.

First, let's add a minimal HTML structure:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
    <head>
        <meta charset="UTF-8" />
        <title>Sort HTML Table with DataGrid Library</title>
        <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no" />
    </head>
    <body>

    </body>
</html>

Now, let's add a table with some sample data. It will contain three columns - user first name, user last name, and age. Each column has an appropriate CSS class: .age, .first-name and .last-name.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
    <head>
        <meta charset="UTF-8" />
        <title>Sort HTML Table with DataGrid Library</title>
        <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no" />
    </head>
    <body>
        <table class="demo-table">
            <thead>
                <tr>
                    <th>First Name</th>
                    <th>Last Name</th>
                    <th>Age</th>
                </tr>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
                <tr>
                    <td class="first-name">Wendye</td>
                    <td class="last-name">Lightwing</td>
                    <td class="age">24</td>
                </tr>
                <tr>
                    <td class="first-name">Milena</td>
                    <td class="last-name">Torre</td>
                    <td class="age">82</td>
                </tr>
                <tr>
                    <td class="first-name">Erinn</td>
                    <td class="last-name">Hills</td>
                    <td class="age">81</td>
                </tr>
                <tr>
                    <td class="first-name">Yoshiko</td>
                    <td class="last-name">Smithson</td>
                    <td class="age">62</td>
                </tr>
                <tr>
                    <td class="first-name">Umberto</td>
                    <td class="last-name">McFadden</td>
                    <td class="age">93</td>
                </tr>
                <tr>
                    <td class="first-name">Donaugh</td>
                    <td class="last-name-name">Huban</td>
                    <td class="age">75</td>
                </tr>
                <tr>
                    <td class="first-name">Cami</td>
                    <td class="last-name">Pickthorn</td>
                    <td class="age">45</td>
                </tr>
                <tr>
                    <td class="first-name">Alistair</td>
                    <td class="last-name">Reddell</td>
                    <td class="age">55</td>
                </tr>
                <tr>
                    <td class="first-name">Genia</td>
                    <td class="last-name">Crawshay</td>
                    <td class="age">60</td>
                </tr>
                <tr>
                    <td class="first-name">Allyn</td>
                    <td class="last-name">Liell</td>
                    <td class="age">37</td>
                </tr>
            </tbody>
        </table>
    </body>
</html>

Also, let's add some styles:

.demo-table{
    margin: 2rem auto;
    border: 1px solid #ddd;
    border-collapse: collapse;
}

.demo-table td,
.demo-table th{
    padding: 1rem;
    border: 1px solid #ddd;
}

.demo-table tr:nth-child(even) td{
    background: #f4f4f4;
}

select{
    margin: auto;
    display: block;
}

Now we need to add a DataGrid CSS to the HEAD of the document:

<!-- DataGrid library CSS -->
<link href="datagrid.min.css" rel="stylesheet" />

And additionally, we need to add the DataGrid script at the bottom of the document.

<!-- DataGrid library JavaScript -->
<script src="datagrid.min.js"></script>

All we need to do now is to define what exactly should be sorted. Let's add the data-grid attribute to the <tbody> element of the table, and data-grid-item property to each <tr> element. Now the table will look like follows:

<table class="demo-table">
    <thead>
        <tr>
            <th>First Name</th>
            <th>Last Name</th>
            <th>Age</th>
        </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody data-grid>
        <tr data-grid-item>
            <td class="first-name">Wendye</td>
            <td class="last-name">Lightwing</td>
            <td class="age">24</td>
        </tr>
        <tr data-grid-item>
            <td class="first-name">Milena</td>
            <td class="last-name">Torre</td>
            <td class="age">82</td>
        </tr>
        <tr data-grid-item>
            <td class="first-name">Erinn</td>
            <td class="last-name">Hills</td>
            <td class="age">81</td>
        </tr>
        <tr data-grid-item>
            <td class="first-name">Yoshiko</td>
            <td class="last-name">Smithson</td>
            <td class="age">62</td>
        </tr>
        <tr data-grid-item>
            <td class="first-name">Umberto</td>
            <td class="last-name">McFadden</td>
            <td class="age">93</td>
        </tr>
        <tr data-grid-item>
            <td class="first-name">Donaugh</td>
            <td class="last-name-name">Huban</td>
            <td class="age">75</td>
        </tr>
        <tr data-grid-item>
            <td class="first-name">Cami</td>
            <td class="last-name">Pickthorn</td>
            <td class="age">45</td>
        </tr>
        <tr data-grid-item>
            <td class="first-name">Alistair</td>
            <td class="last-name">Reddell</td>
            <td class="age">55</td>
        </tr>
        <tr data-grid-item>
            <td class="first-name">Genia</td>
            <td class="last-name">Crawshay</td>
            <td class="age">60</td>
        </tr>
        <tr data-grid-item>
            <td class="first-name">Allyn</td>
            <td class="last-name">Liell</td>
            <td class="age">37</td>
        </tr>
    </tbody>
</table>

Now let's add a sort control HTML:

<select data-grid-control="sort">
    <option data-path=".first-name" data-direction="asc" data-type="text" selected>Sort by first name asc</option>
    <option data-path=".first-name" data-direction="desc" data-type="text">Sort by first name desc</option>
    <option data-path=".last-name" data-direction="asc" data-type="text">Sort by last name asc</option>
    <option data-path=".last-name" data-direction="desc" data-type="text">Sort by last name desc</option>
    <option data-path=".age" data-direction="asc" data-type="number">Sort by age asc</option>
    <option data-path=".age" data-direction="desc" data-type="number">Sort by age desc</option>
</select>

You may find the detailed documentation of the sort dropdown control here.

The final step is to initialize the DataGrid library as follows:

<script>
    datagrid();
</script>

That's all! The final HTML is:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
    <head>
        <meta charset="UTF-8" />
        <title>Sort HTML Table with DataGrid Library</title>
        <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no" />

        <!-- Demo page styles -->
        <style>
        .demo-table{
            margin: 2rem auto;
            border: 1px solid #ddd;
            border-collapse: collapse;
        }
        
        .demo-table td,
        .demo-table th{
            padding: 1rem;
            border: 1px solid #ddd;
        }
        
        .demo-table tr:nth-child(even) td{
            background: #f4f4f4;
        }
        
        select{
            margin: auto;
            display: block;
        }
        </style>

        <!-- DataGrid library CSS -->
        <link href="datagrid.min.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    </head>
    <body>
        <select data-grid-control="sort">
            <option data-path=".first-name" data-direction="asc" data-type="text" selected>Sort by first name asc</option>
            <option data-path=".first-name" data-direction="desc" data-type="text">Sort by first name desc</option>
            <option data-path=".last-name" data-direction="asc" data-type="text">Sort by last name asc</option>
            <option data-path=".last-name" data-direction="desc" data-type="text">Sort by last name desc</option>
            <option data-path=".age" data-direction="asc" data-type="number">Sort by age asc</option>
            <option data-path=".age" data-direction="desc" data-type="number">Sort by age desc</option>
        </select>

        <table class="demo-table">
            <thead>
                <tr>
                    <th>First Name</th>
                    <th>Last Name</th>
                    <th>Age</th>
                </tr>
            </thead>
            <tbody data-grid>
                <tr data-grid-item>
                    <td class="first-name">Wendye</td>
                    <td class="last-name">Lightwing</td>
                    <td class="age">24</td>
                </tr>
                <tr data-grid-item>
                    <td class="first-name">Milena</td>
                    <td class="last-name">Torre</td>
                    <td class="age">82</td>
                </tr>
                <tr data-grid-item>
                    <td class="first-name">Erinn</td>
                    <td class="last-name">Hills</td>
                    <td class="age">81</td>
                </tr>
                <tr data-grid-item>
                    <td class="first-name">Yoshiko</td>
                    <td class="last-name">Smithson</td>
                    <td class="age">62</td>
                </tr>
                <tr data-grid-item>
                    <td class="first-name">Umberto</td>
                    <td class="last-name">McFadden</td>
                    <td class="age">93</td>
                </tr>
                <tr data-grid-item>
                    <td class="first-name">Donaugh</td>
                    <td class="last-name-name">Huban</td>
                    <td class="age">75</td>
                </tr>
                <tr data-grid-item>
                    <td class="first-name">Cami</td>
                    <td class="last-name">Pickthorn</td>
                    <td class="age">45</td>
                </tr>
                <tr data-grid-item>
                    <td class="first-name">Alistair</td>
                    <td class="last-name">Reddell</td>
                    <td class="age">55</td>
                </tr>
                <tr data-grid-item>
                    <td class="first-name">Genia</td>
                    <td class="last-name">Crawshay</td>
                    <td class="age">60</td>
                </tr>
                <tr data-grid-item>
                    <td class="first-name">Allyn</td>
                    <td class="last-name">Liell</td>
                    <td class="age">37</td>
                </tr>
            </tbody>
        </table>

        <!-- DataGrid library JavaScript -->
        <script src="datagrid.min.js"></script>

        <script>
            datagrid();
        </script>
    </body>
</html>

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