Use generic SortDescriptor

Updated on Sep 23, 2026

This help article will show you how to create generic expression SortDescriptor<T> for a databound RadGridView.

This article will use the viewmodel and model defined in Examples 3 and 4 in the Getting Started article. Before continuing, you should familiarize yourself with it.

Generic SortDescriptor

The RadGridView control allows for ordering the data items by the result of a complex calculation without having to expose it through a read-only property. All you need to do is to use a SortDescriptor<TElement, TKey=>. In order to demonstrate this, we will setup the RadGridView as demonstrated in Example 1.

Example 1: Setting up the RadGridView

XAML

<Grid>
       <Grid.DataContext>
           <my:MyViewModel />
       </Grid.DataContext>
       <Grid.RowDefinitions>
           <RowDefinition Height="*" />
           <RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
       </Grid.RowDefinitions>

       <telerik:RadGridView Name="clubsGrid" 
                            ItemsSource="{Binding Clubs}"
                            AutoGenerateColumns="False"
                            GroupRenderMode="Flat">
           <telerik:RadGridView.Columns>
               <telerik:GridViewDataColumn DataMemberBinding="{Binding Name}"  />
               <telerik:GridViewDataColumn DataMemberBinding="{Binding StadiumCapacity}" 
                                           Header="Stadium" 
                                           DataFormatString="{}{0:N0}"/>
           </telerik:RadGridView.Columns>
       </telerik:RadGridView>

       <StackPanel Grid.Row="1">
           <Button Content="Add Generic SortDescriptor" Click="Button_Click" />
       </StackPanel>
   </Grid>

After that, when the button is clicked we will create a generic SortDescriptor and add it to the SortDescriptors collection of the RadGridView. Note, that in Example 2 we are simply returning a property of the bound object, however we have the option of working with all of its properties in order to construct a SortingExpression.

Example 2: Create a generic SortDescriptor

C#

private void Button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    var descriptor = new SortDescriptor<Club, int>
    {
        SortingExpression = c => c.StadiumCapacity,
        SortDirection = ListSortDirection.Descending
    };

    this.clubsGrid.SortDescriptors.Add(descriptor);
}

For more information you can check the Sorting section.

See Also

• Use expression descriptors