Toggle sort direction default via directive in <th>

[tw-zz-rk]

Feature request - would be nice to specify the default sort direction for a column via a directive in the <th>, as an example (note the order-direction attr):

<md-data-table-container>
      <table md-data-table md-row-select="tableConfig.selected">
          <thead md-trim-column-names md-order="tableConfig.order">
              <tr>
                  <th order-by="name">Report Name</th>
                  <th numeric order-by="views.value" order-direction="descending">Visits</th>
                  <th numeric order-by="users.value" order-direction="ascending">Unique Users</th>
              </tr>
          </thead>
          <tbody md-auto-select>
              <tr ng-repeat="report in reports_data | orderBy: tableConfig.order">
                  <td>{{report.name}}</td>
                  <td>{{report.views.value}}</td>
                  <td>{{report.users.value}}</td>
              </tr>
          </tbody>
      </table>
  </md-data-table-container>

[daniel-nagy]

I can see why this would be desirable. Are you thinking the attribute should restrict the direction to only sort descending or ascending, or just the default direction? order-direction makes it seem like it can only sort in that direction.

[tw-zz-rk]

Thanks for the prompt response. Yeah, in my experience the user usually wants to see text columns alphabetically (so default ascending works well) and numeric columns from highest to lowest (or biggest to smallest). And to clarify, it would be the default sort direction, but the user could still toggle between either state. So order-direction is not a great name - perhaps order-default-direction or the like?

[daniel-nagy]

Okay, order-default-direction is a little verbose. We can probably think of something sorter that makes sense. I've been thinking of shortening some of the other attributes as well. For example, md-data-table-* would become md-table-*; md-data-table-pagination could just be md-pagination. I guess that is a personal preference but I think most people would prefer shorter attribute names. I'd end up breaking everyone's tables tough 😛