To sort the rows of a data set using the values in a given column, call the sort() method on the data set:

var dsPhotos = new Spry.Data.XMLDataSet("/photos.php?galleryid=2000", "/gallery/photos/photo");
...
dsPhotos.sort("@path"); // Sort the rows of the data set using the "@path" column.

Calling the sort() method of a data set sorts the rows in ascending order, using data in the specified column.

The sort() method takes two arguments. The first argument can be the name of the column, or an array of column names to use when sorting. If the first argument is an array, the first element of the array serves as the primary sort column; each column after that is used for secondary and tertiary sorting, and so on. The second argument is the sort order to use, and must be one of the following strings: "ascending", "descending", or "toggle". If the second argument is not specified, the sort order defaults to "ascending". Specifying "toggle" as the sort order causes the data sorted in "ascending" order to be sorted in "descending" order, and the reverse. If the column was never sorted before, and the sort order used is "toggle", the data is initially sorted in "ascending" order.

var dsPhotos = new Spry.Data.XMLDataSet("/photos.php?galleryid=2000", "/gallery/photos/photo");
...
dsPhotos.sort("@path", "toggle"); // Toggle the Sort order of the rows of the data set using the "@path" column.

To have the data in the data set sorted automatically whenever data is loaded, specify the column to sort by and the sort order to use as an option to the data set constructor. Use the "sortOnLoad" option to the data set constructor to specify a column to sort by. In the following example, the data set automatically sorts in descending order by using the data in the @path column.

var dsPhotos = new Spry.Data.XMLDataSet("/photos.php?galleryid=2000", "/gallery/photos/photo", { sortOnLoad: "@path", sortOrderOnLoad: "descending" });

By default, all values in the data set are treated as text. This can be problematic when sorting numeric or date values. You can specify the data type for a given column by calling the setColumnType() method.

var dsPhotos = new Spry.Data.XMLDataSet("/photos.php?galleryid=2000", "/gallery/photos/photo");
dsPhotos.setColumnType("@width", "number");
dsPhotos.setColumnType("@height", "number");
...
dsPhotos.sort("@width"); // Sort the rows of the data set using the "@width" column.

Current supported data types are "number", "date", "html", and "string".