Sorting SharePoint list item attachments in alphabetical order (Fixed)

Note: Please read the complete article and notice the changes. It 100% worked for me.

SharePoint 2007 provides an OOTB facility to sort list item attachments in alphabetical order while SharePoint 2010 don't. I have googled around for many days but could not find any OOTB feature that can help me out to do so. So i decided to go with custom JS code. I found the article by Sopholos and it was the main turning point for me.

Here is the final result of my list item.

I copied the code as per on his article (in Russian) and pasted in my v4.master page. Absolutely nothing happened :o) . I dug  into it and used my programming skills and found that I was not using the code at the right place. I moved the code from top of the page to its bottom, used alerts to check if the code is running or not. Final screenshot below...

1. Use below JS Code and save it with name TSorter_1.js to user it later in your code.

/*--------------------------------------------------------------*/
// HTML TABLE SORTER
// OBJECT ORIENTED JAVASCRIPT IMPLEMENTATION OF QUICKSORT
// @author	Terrill Dent 
// @source	http://www.terrill.ca
// @date	August 28th, 2006
/*--------------------------------------------------------------*/
function TSorter(){
	var table = Object;
	var trs = Array;
	var ths = Array;
	var curSortCol = Object;
	var prevSortCol = '300';
	var sortType = Object;

	function get(){}

	function getCell(index){
		return trs[index].cells[curSortCol] 
	}

	/*----------------------INIT------------------------------------*/
	// Initialize the variable
	// @param tableName - the name of the table to be sorted
	/*--------------------------------------------------------------*/
	this.init = function(tableName)
	{
		table = document.getElementById(tableName);
		ths = table.getElementsByTagName("th");
		for(var i = 0; i < ths.length ; i++)
		{
			ths[i].onclick = function()
			{
				sort(this);
			}
		}
		return true;
	};
	
	/*----------------------SORT------------------------------------*/
	// Sorts a particular column. If it has been sorted then call reverse
	// if not, then use quicksort to get it sorted.
	// Sets the arrow direction in the headers.
	// @param oTH - the table header cell (<th>) object that is clicked
	/*--------------------------------------------------------------*/
	function sort(oTH)
	{
		curSortCol = oTH.cellIndex;
		sortType = oTH.abbr;
		if (!table.tBodies[0])
			return;
		
		trs = table.tBodies[0].getElementsByTagName("tr");

		//set the get function
		setGet(sortType)

		// it would be nice to remove this to save time,
		// but we need to close any rows that have been expanded
		for(var j=0; j<trs.length; j++)
		{
			if(trs[j].className == 'detail_row')
			{
				closeDetails(j+2);
			}
		}

		// if already sorted just reverse
		if(prevSortCol == curSortCol)
		{
			oTH.className = (oTH.className != 'ascend' ? 'ascend' : 'descend' );
			reverseTable();
		}
		// not sorted - call quicksort
		else
		{
			oTH.className = 'ascend';
			if (ths[prevSortCol]) {			
				if(ths[prevSortCol].className != 'exc_cell'){ths[prevSortCol].className = '';}
			}
			quicksort(0, trs.length);
		}
		prevSortCol = curSortCol;
	}
	this.doSort = sort;
	/*--------------------------------------------------------------*/
	// Sets the GET function so that it doesnt need to be 
	// decided on each call to get() a value.
	// @param: colNum - the column number to be sorted
	/*--------------------------------------------------------------*/
	function setGet(sortType)
	{
		switch(sortType)
		{   
			case "link_column":
				get = function(index){
					return  getCell(index).firstChild.firstChild.firstChild.nodeValue;
				};
				break;
			default:
				get = function(index){	
					//return  getCell(index).firstChild.firstChild.firstChild.nodeValue;
					return getCell(index).firstChild.nodeValue;
				};
				break;
		};	
	}

	/*-----------------------EXCHANGE-------------------------------*/
	//  A complicated way of exchanging two rows in a table.
	//  Exchanges rows at index i and j
	/*--------------------------------------------------------------*/
	function exchange(i, j)
	{
		if(i == j+1) {
			table.tBodies[0].insertBefore(trs[i], trs[j]);
		} else if(j == i+1) {
			table.tBodies[0].insertBefore(trs[j], trs[i]);
		} else {
			var tmpNode = table.tBodies[0].replaceChild(trs[i], trs[j]);
			if(typeof(trs[i]) == "undefined") {
				table.appendChild(tmpNode);
			} else {
				table.tBodies[0].insertBefore(tmpNode, trs[i]);
			}
		}
	}
	
	/*----------------------REVERSE TABLE----------------------------*/
	//  Reverses a table ordering
	/*--------------------------------------------------------------*/
	function reverseTable()
	{
		for(var i = 1; i<trs.length; i++)
		{
			table.tBodies[0].insertBefore(trs[i], trs[0]);
		}
	}

	/*----------------------QUICKSORT-------------------------------*/
	// This quicksort implementation is a modified version of this tutorial: 
	// http://www.the-art-of-web.com/javascript/quicksort/
	// @param: lo - the low index of the array to sort
	// @param: hi - the high index of the array to sort
	/*--------------------------------------------------------------*/
	function quicksort(lo, hi)
	{
		if(hi <= lo+1) return;
		 
		if((hi - lo) == 2) {
			if(get(hi-1) > get(lo)) exchange(hi-1, lo);
			return;
		}
		
		var i = lo + 1;
		var j = hi - 1;
		
		if(get(lo) > get(i)) exchange(i, lo);
		if(get(j) > get(lo)) exchange(lo, j);
		if(get(lo) > get(i)) exchange(i, lo);
		
		var pivot = get(lo);
		
		while(true) {
			j--;
			while(pivot > get(j)) j--;
			i++;
			while(get(i) > pivot) i++;
			if(j <= i) break;
			exchange(i, j);
		}
		exchange(lo, j);
		
		if((j-lo) < (hi-j)) {
			quicksort(lo, j);
			quicksort(j+1, hi);
		} else {
			quicksort(j+1, hi);
			quicksort(lo, j);
		}
	}
}

2.Copy the file into the directory below

c:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\1033\

3. Copy the below code in your v4.Master file using SP Designer 

<SharePoint:ScriptLink language="javascript" name="TSorter_1.js" OnDemand="false" runat="server"/>

<script type="text/javascript">

function init()

{

var table = document.getElementById("idAttachmentsTable");

if (!table)

   RETURN;

var thead = document.createElement("thead");

var trow = document.createElement("tr");

var column = document.createElement("TH");

column.abbr = "link_column";

column.innerHTML = '<a href="#"></a>';

table.appendChild(thead);

thead.appendChild(trow);

trow.appendChild(column);

var Table1Sorter = new TSorter;

Table1Sorter.init('idAttachmentsTable');

Table1Sorter.doSort(column);

Table1Sorter.doSort(column);

}

init();

</script>

4. Save the master page, Check In and publish it. You are done.

Regards,