Attractive Sorting Indicators

by Matt Petrowsky

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Isn't is great when you know what the status is? I'm sure you appreciate walking into a mall and knowing whether a store is opened or closed based on that sign in the front door - you know, the classic open/closed sign they just flip around.

It certainly prevents you from having to walk over to the store and rapping on the door to see if someone is there - in other words, expend the extra effort to find out what the status is. The same thing applies to your user interface. Giving a visual indicator of status is a great feedback tool when a user is using your solution.

In this video, I walk through the use of a single script which is attached to a very attractive sort indicator. Adding this feature to your database gives your user a nice indication of the sorted state of your list views. It uses conditional formatting to accomplish the sort indicator so there's no extra fields, relationships or table occurrences to deal with.

It's portable, and can be added or extended within a few seconds to account for as many different fields as you desire. Watch the video and dissect the technique file for a better understanding!