Header-click sorting is a silent no-op for nested field refs in DataGrid columns

[vparys]

Summary

A DataGrid column declared with a nested field ref (field={it.relation.scalar} through a hasOne — e.g. a scalar on a 1:1 view entity) registers its sortingField as the dotted path, but useSortingState.setOrderBy / directionOf key the toggle by the ref's leaf fieldName — the sortableFields guard never matches, so a header click on such a column is a silent no-op and the sort indicator never lights.

Environment

• @contember/bindx@0.1.46 (version installed in the reporting project)
• Reproduces on contember/bindx@main as of 3c2fd0d
• Failing test: tests/react/dataview/nestedFieldSortingKey.test.tsx
• Branch: bug/datagrid-nested-field-sorting-noop

Reproduction

const it = createCollectorProxy<Project>(new SelectionScope(), 'Project', schemaRegistry)
const nestedRef = it.stats.memberCount            // hasOne('ProjectStats') → scalar

extractFieldName(nestedRef)                        // 'stats.memberCount' — what createColumn
                                                   // stores as the column's sortingField

const { result } = renderHook(() =>
	useSortingState({ sortableFields: new Set(['stats.memberCount']) }))

act(() => result.current.setOrderBy(nestedRef, 'next'))   // ← what a header click dispatches

result.current.resolvedOrderBy                     // expected [{ stats: { memberCount: 'asc' } }]
                                                   // actual   undefined (silent no-op)
result.current.directionOf(nestedRef)              // expected 'asc', actual null

A top-level ref (it.name) sorts fine, and seeding the same dotted key via initialSorting: { 'stats.memberCount': 'desc' } resolves to the correct nested orderBy [{ stats: { memberCount: 'desc' } }] — both covered as passing controls in the test file. So the dotted path is already the canonical sorting key end to end; only the ref→key derivation in setOrderBy / directionOf disagrees with it.

Expected behavior

Clicking a sortable column header declared with a nested field ref toggles the sort, producing the nested orderBy ([{ stats: { memberCount: 'asc' } }]) — same as DataGridNumberColumn field={it.stats.memberCount} sortable promises, and consistent with initialSorting handling of dotted keys.

Actual behavior

setOrderBy returns early on the sortableFields.has(fieldName) guard, because:

• sortableFields contains the DOTTED path: useDataGridSetup.ts:180-181 adds col.sortingField, which createColumn.ts:76,112 derives via extractFieldName = meta.fullPath.join('.') (columns.tsx:67-72);
• setOrderBy keys by field[FIELD_REF_META].fieldName — the LEAF segment only (useDataViewState.ts:186-187); directionOf has the same leaf keying (useDataViewState.ts:213), so the header indicator never lights either.

No error is thrown; the click just does nothing.

Suspected root cause

packages/bindx-dataview/src/useDataViewState.ts (useSortingState):

const setOrderBy = useCallback(
	<T>(field: FieldRef<T>, action: SortingDirectionAction, append?: boolean): void => {
		const fieldName = field[FIELD_REF_META].fieldName   // ← leaf only, e.g. 'memberCount'
		if (!sortableFields.has(fieldName)) return          // ← set contains 'stats.memberCount'

while the registration side (createColumn.ts → extractFieldName) uses fullPath.join('.'). resolvedOrderBy already resolves dotted keys via buildNestedOrderBy (useDataViewState.ts:220,226), so everything downstream of the state expects the dotted form.

Suggested fix

In useSortingState, derive the key the same way the registration side does — e.g. reuse extractFieldName:

const meta = field[FIELD_REF_META]
const fieldName = meta.fullPath && meta.fullPath.length > 0 ? meta.fullPath.join('.') : meta.fieldName

in both setOrderBy and directionOf. Top-level refs are unaffected (fullPath of length 1 joins to the same leaf, or is absent). If persisted sorting state could contain leaf keys written by older code, a fallback lookup on meta.fieldName may be warranted — deferring that call to maintainers.

Workaround shipped downstream

We applied a temporary workaround in our project, marked TODO [BindX] (<this-issue-url>): <description>. The workaround wraps the nested field ref passed to the column so its FIELD_REF_META.fieldName carries the dotted path, making the header-click key match sortableFields; we will remove it once this issue is resolved.