Sort by Custom Field

[Gulfcoast]

I have the sort option on category pages and wanted to add the ability to sort by a custom product field. I have tried the following but it lacks something:

<mvt:if expr="g.Sort_By EQ 'customfield_values:customfields:brand'">
<option value="brand" selected="selected">Brand</option>
<mvt:else>
<option value="brand">Brand</option>
</mvt:if>

If someone could point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Bruce - PhosphorMedia]

AFAIK, you cannot sort by custom field.

[Brennan]

There is nothing built in to sort by a custom field, but you can do it with some template code.

You'll first need to add the custom field the products array so you can later sort on it. This code should go above your category product list loop.

<mvt:foreach iterator="product" array="category_listing:products">

    <mvt:assign name="g.brand" value="''" />
    <mvt:item name="customfields" param="Read_Product_Code( l.settings:product:code, 'brand', g.brand )" />
    
    <mvt:if expr="NOT ISNULL g.brand">
        <mvt:assign name="l.settings:product:brand" value="g.brand" />
    </mvt:if>

</mvt:foreach>

<mvt:if expr="g.Sort_By EQ 'Brand'">
    <mvt:do file="g.module_library_utilities" name="l.null" value="QuickSortArray(l.settings:products, '', 1)" />
</mvt:if>

[Gulfcoast]

Thanks for your help Brennan. The bottom expression would go with the sort function. The top expression I wasn't sure what you meant by "category product list loop" placement?

[Jim Cockerham]

Thanks for your help Brennan. The bottom expression would go with the sort function. The top expression I wasn't sure what you meant by "category product list loop" placement?

Gulfcoast did you have any luck with this yet? I am trying to get it working too.

[Gulfcoast]

I have not Jim. I never got a response from Brennan.

[netblazon]

Is there now some way to do this out of the box? The thread is three years old, but I can't find any new references.
Thanks,
Susan

[Bruce - PhosphorMedia]

Apparently its as easy as

      <mvt:do file="g.module_library_utilities" name="l.success" value="QuickSortArray(l.settings:subcats, ':customfield_values:customfields:CatPaperType' , 1)" />

where

':customfield_values:customfields:CatPaperType'

is the custom field variable string used as a literal (and yes, with a colon in front--yea, weird).

the 1 is sort direction so you have 1 or -1.

Scott Shepard figured this out, I just use it...so bug him if it doesn't work for you :)

[netblazon]

Bruce, thanks. Unfortunately that only works if you don't use pagination, as it only sorts the products set to show on a given page. I appreciate the input, however.

PS Brennan said it's still not available out of the box in any other way.

[Bruce - PhosphorMedia]

Wouldn't this work if you do this in a component module and replace the existing array?

(i mean, you do know how to write modules :) )

[netblazon]

Yes, I can add it to the CSSUI Product List module, and that's what I suggested to the client. They just don't like the idea of having to maintain it when Miva updates the stock version. It's always a trade-off though, and I tried to explain that.

[Bruce - PhosphorMedia]

You could write it as an 'overlay' module. So long as you stick with APIs it should survive all but the most apocalyptic updates.