Sitecore 8.2 How to sort items based on a specific parameter within a content item

Question

So I have a list of items (e.g. FAQs). and I am calling them through the WEB Api. I want to be able to do a get from Sitecore and be able to sort based on the date created and sort it either ascending or descending. Is there a work-around, or there is something OOB?

Answer 1

It's possible to extend although not entirely that easy because Sitecore uses a lot of dynamics instead of actually typing things when it comes to ItemWebApi.

A small example (note that this kinda works but isn't intended to actually be used, more like a starting point):

public class SortResult : ReadProcessor
    {
        #region Overrides of OperationProcessor<ReadArgs>

        public override void Process(ReadArgs arguments)
        {
            // Gets the sorting parameter. 
            // This needs to exist in the parameters list found underneath processor type="Sitecore.ItemWebApi.Pipelines.Request.CheckParameters, Sitecore.ItemWebApi"
            var sortingParameter = arguments.Context.HttpContext.Request.Params["sorting"];
            if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(sortingParameter)) return;

            var getResult = arguments.Result as Dictionary<string, object>;
            var result = getResult?["result"] as Dictionary<string, object>;
            var items = result?["items"] as Sitecore.ItemWebApi.Dynamic[];

            if (items != null)
            {
                // Sort the result using the key provided.
                var sortedItems = items.OrderBy(item => item[sortingParameter]);
                result["items"] = sortedItems.ToArray();
            }
        }

        #endregion
    }

And the config showing where to patch it:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration xmlns:patch="http://www.sitecore.net/xmlconfig/">
  <sitecore>
    <pipelines>
      <itemWebApiRead>
        <processor type="ItemWebApi.Pipelines.Read.SortResult, ItemWebApi"
                   patch:after="processor[@type='Sitecore.ItemWebApi.Pipelines.Read.GetResult, Sitecore.ItemWebApi']" />
      </itemWebApiRead>
    </pipelines>
  </sitecore>
</configuration>

This works but I think it might be easier just to overwrite GetResult inside the itemWebApiRead pipeline instead of going through the hassle of changing the dynamics.

Answer 2

If the WEB Api returns the same order as items sorted in the content tree you can change it by:

1. Select an item folder where all sub-items required to be sorted by some criteria.
2. On the Home Ribbon click "Sorting" and change sort order to created.

Before:

Result: