Angular Material - Sort Header

The <mat-sort-header> and matSort, an Angular Directives, are used to add sorting capability to a table header.

In this chapter, we will showcase the configuration required to show a Sort Header using Angular Material.

Create Angular Application

Follow the following steps to update the Angular application we created in Angular Material - First Application chapter −

app.ts

Following is the content of the modified app.ts.

import { Component, signal } from '@angular/core';
import { FormsModule, ReactiveFormsModule } from '@angular/forms';
import { MatFormFieldModule } from '@angular/material/form-field';
import { MatSortModule, Sort } from '@angular/material/sort';

export interface Food {
   calories: number;
   carbs: number;
   fat: number;
   name: string;
   protein: number;
}

@Component({
   selector: 'app-root',
   imports: [
      FormsModule,
      MatFormFieldModule,
      MatSortModule, 
      ReactiveFormsModule,
   ],
   templateUrl: './app.html',
   styleUrl: './app.css'
})
export class App {
   protected readonly title = signal('material-app');
   foods: Food[] = [
      {name: 'Yogurt', calories: 159, fat: 6, carbs: 24, protein: 4},
      {name: 'Sandwich', calories: 237, fat: 9, carbs: 37, protein: 4},
      {name: 'Eclairs', calories: 262, fat: 16, carbs: 24, protein: 6},
      {name: 'Cupcakes', calories: 305, fat: 4, carbs: 67, protein: 4},
      {name: 'Gingerbreads', calories: 356, fat: 16, carbs: 49, protein: 4},
   ];
   sortedFood: Food[];
   constructor() {
      this.sortedFood = this.foods.slice();
   }
   sortFood(sort: Sort) {
      const data = this.foods.slice();
      if (!sort.active || sort.direction === '') {
         this.sortedFood = data;
         return;
      }
      this.sortedFood = data.sort((a, b) => {
         const isAsc = sort.direction === 'asc';
         switch (sort.active) {
            case 'name': return compare(a.name, b.name, isAsc);
            case 'calories': return compare(a.calories, b.calories, isAsc);
            case 'fat': return compare(a.fat, b.fat, isAsc);
            case 'carbs': return compare(a.carbs, b.carbs, isAsc);
            case 'protein': return compare(a.protein, b.protein, isAsc);
            default: return 0;
         } 
      });
   }
}
function compare(a: number | string, b: number | string, isAsc: boolean) {
   return (a < b ? -1 : 1) * (isAsc ? 1 : -1);
}

app.html

Following is the content of the modified HTML host file app.html.

<table matSort (matSortChange) = "sortFood($event)">
   <tr>
      <th mat-sort-header = "name">Dessert (100g)</th>
      <th mat-sort-header = "calories">Calories</th>
      <th mat-sort-header = "fat">Fat (g)</th>
      <th mat-sort-header = "carbs">Carbs (g)</th>
      <th mat-sort-header = "protein">Protein (g)</th>
   </tr>
   @for (food of sortedFood; track food) {
   <tr>
      <td>{{food.name}}</td>
      <td>{{food.calories}}</td>
      <td>{{food.fat}}</td>
      <td>{{food.carbs}}</td>
      <td>{{food.protein}}</td>
   </tr>
   }
</table>

Result

Verify the result.

Details

• Here, we've created a table. Added matSort and handles its matSortChange event.