On 19 Jan 2010, at 07:13, David Godfrey wrote:
Stroller wrote:This is a nice way to achieve the result, but personally I think a better solution would be to sort the SQL Query result before the page is displayed.Wikipedia offers sortable tables, such as the two in this article: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._executive_branch_czars>If you click on the little icon to the right of the column header thenyou will see the sort performed. Apparently this is done with CSS & Javascript. ...This is easier, and can be made a system default easily. Also it will work even if Java is not available!If desired the headers could be made clickable to allow changing the sort order at time of display, but I suspect it is really something that would be set as a default and rarely changed.
I'm inclined to think that the best answer is to offer *both* options - perhaps if Javascript is present then the html sort option you propose (before submitting the query) could be hidden.
Really, Javascript (note: Java*script*) is very common - it is used in many many websites that most people visit every day, and it's what allows Google Maps to offer its in-browser interactivity.
The interface of LedgerSMB seems almost 1990s by comparison (ok... but pre-2003, at least) and this kind of sorting would make it sleeker and help gain acceptance. It is quite frustrating to sell the client on a perfectly suitable open-source solution, only to have them look askance at you because it doesn't look pretty enough.
Stroller.