6. Adding Sort and Filters

Sort and Filters​

The @refinedev/react-table package is based on the TanStack Table package, meaning that we can add sorting and filtering features to our table as suggested in the TanStack documentation.

Tanstack Table keeps the sorting and filters states in the useTable hook. When these states are changed, the useTable hook will automatically fetch the data and update the table with the new data.

Since @refinedev/react-table provides a headless solution, there are many ways to handle filtering and sorting. In this tutorial, we will show a basic way of adding sorting and filtering to the table.

Adding Sorting​

We first need to create a ColumnSorter/> component to use in our table header, which, when clicked on, will sort the table by the column:

import { IconButton } from "@chakra-ui/react";
import { IconChevronDown, IconSelector, IconChevronUp } from "@tabler/icons";
import type { Column } from "@tanstack/react-table";

export const ColumnSorter: React.FC<{ column: Column<any, any> }> = ({
    column,
}) => {
    if (!column.getCanSort()) {
        return null;
    }

    const sorted = column.getIsSorted();

    return (
        <IconButton
            aria-label="Sort"
            size="xs"
            onClick={column.getToggleSortingHandler()}
        >
            {!sorted && <IconSelector size={18} />}
            {sorted === "asc" && <IconChevronDown size={18} />}
            {sorted === "desc" && <IconChevronUp size={18} />}
        </IconButton>
    );
};

<ColumnSorter/> is a simple component that renders a button, which will call the column.getToggleSortingHandler() method that will toggle the sorting state of the table when clicked on.

In addition, we are using the column.getCanSort() method to check if the column is sortable and not render the <ColumnSorter/> if it is not.

Lastly, if the column is not sorted, the IconSelector component is displayed; otherwise, either the IconChevronDown or IconChevronUp component is displayed based on the current sorting state.

Now, we can finally use <ColumnSorter/> in our table header.

First, import the <ColumnSorter/> component:

```tsx title="src/pages/blog-posts/list.tsx"
import { ColumnSorter } from "../../components/table/ColumnSorter";
```

Then add the <ColumnSorter/> component to the <Th/> as a child like below:

```tsx title="src/pages/blog-posts/list.tsx"
<Thead>
    {getHeaderGroups().map((headerGroup) => (
        <Tr key={headerGroup.id}>
            {headerGroup.headers.map((header) => (
                <Th key={header.id}>
                    {!header.isPlaceholder &&
                        flexRender(
                            header.column.columnDef.header,
                            header.getContext(),
                        )}
                    //highlight-next-line
                    <ColumnSorter column={header.column} />
                </Th>
            ))}
        </Tr>
    ))}
</Thead>
```

Finally, disable sorting for the actions column by setting the enableSorting property of the column to false in the column definition like below:

```tsx title="src/pages/blog-posts/list.tsx"
{
    id: "actions",
    accessorKey: "id",
    header: "Actions",
    //highlight-next-line
    enableSorting: false,
},
```

Now, we can sort the table by clicking on the sort button in the table header.

{
    id: "name",
    accessorKey: "name",
    header: "Name",
    enableSorting: false,
},

Adding Filters​

Create a <ColumnFilter/> component to use in our table header which will be responsible for changing the filters state of the table.

import React, { useState } from "react";
import {
    Input,
    Menu,
    IconButton,
    MenuButton,
    MenuList,
    VStack,
    HStack,
} from "@chakra-ui/react";
import { IconFilter, IconX, IconCheck } from "@tabler/icons";
import type { Column } from "@tanstack/react-table";

export const ColumnFilter: React.FC<{ column: Column<any, any> }> = ({
    column,
}) => {
    const [state, setState] = useState(null as null | { value: any });

    if (!column.getCanFilter()) {
        return null;
    }

    const open = () =>
        setState({
            value: column.getFilterValue(),
        });

    const close = () => setState(null);

    const change = (value: any) => setState({ value });

    const clear = () => {
        column.setFilterValue(undefined);
        close();
    };

    const save = () => {
        if (!state) return;
        column.setFilterValue(state.value);
        close();
    };

    const renderFilterElement = () => {
        const FilterComponent = (column.columnDef?.meta as any)?.filterElement;

        if (!FilterComponent && !!state) {
            return (
                <Input
                    borderRadius="md"
                    size="sm"
                    autoComplete="off"
                    value={state.value}
                    onChange={(e) => change(e.target.value)}
                />
            );
        }

        return (
            <FilterComponent
                value={state?.value}
                onChange={(e: any) => change(e.target.value)}
            />
        );
    };

    return (
        <Menu isOpen={!!state} onClose={close}>
            <MenuButton
                onClick={open}
                as={IconButton}
                aria-label="Options"
                icon={<IconFilter size="16" />}
                variant="ghost"
                size="xs"
            />
            <MenuList p="2">
                {!!state && (
                    <VStack align="flex-start">
                        {renderFilterElement()}
                        <HStack spacing="1">
                            <IconButton
                                aria-label="Clear"
                                size="sm"
                                colorScheme="red"
                                onClick={clear}
                            >
                                <IconX size={18} />
                            </IconButton>
                            <IconButton
                                aria-label="Save"
                                size="sm"
                                onClick={save}
                                colorScheme="green"
                            >
                                <IconCheck size={18} />
                            </IconButton>
                        </HStack>
                    </VStack>
                )}
            </MenuList>
        </Menu>
    );
};

<ColumnFilter/> is a component that renders a button which will open a menu when clicked on. In the menu, we are rendering the filter element of the column, which is <Input/> in this example but you can render any component you want.

Filter element is a component that renders an input element. When the user changes the value of the input element, the filter value of the column will be changed.

<ColumnFilter/> also contains "clear" and "apply" buttons, which will respectively clear or set the filter value of the column when clicked on.

Now, we can use <ColumnFilter/> in our table header.

1. Import the <ColumnFilter/> component:

   src/pages/blog-posts/list.tsx

   import { ColumnFilter } from "../../components/table/ColumnFilter";
   

2. Add the <ColumnFilter/> component to the <Th/> as a child:

   src/pages/blog-posts/list.tsx

   <Thead>
       {getHeaderGroups().map((headerGroup) => (
           <Tr key={headerGroup.id}>
               {headerGroup.headers.map((header) => (
                   <Th key={header.id}>
                       {!header.isPlaceholder &&
                           flexRender(
                               header.column.columnDef.header,
                               header.getContext(),
                           )}
                       <ColumnSorter column={header.column} />
                       <ColumnFilter column={header.column} />
                   </Th>
               ))}
           </Tr>
       ))}
   </Thead>
   

3. Change the filter operator for columns to "contains" by changing the meta property of the column definition:

   {
        id: "title",
       accessorKey: "title",
       header: "Title",
       meta: {
           filterOperator: "contains",
       },
   },
   {
       id: "content",
       accessorKey: "content",
       header: "Content",
       meta: {
           filterOperator: "contains",
       },
   },
   
   TIP

   There are many values that you can pass to the filterOperator, for more information about them, refer to the Filtering section of the useTable documentation→

4. Disable filtering for the "actions" column by setting the enableColumnFilter property of the column to false in the column definition like below:

   {
       id: "actions",
       accessorKey: "id",
       header: "Actions",
       enableColumnFilter: false,
       ...
   },
   
   TIP

   You can similarly disable filtering for specific columns by setting their enableColumnFilter property to false.

Now, we can filter the table by clicking on the filter button in the table header.

{
    id: "category",
    header: "Category",
    accessorKey: "category.id",
    meta: {
        filterElement: (props) => <Select {...props} />,
    },
},