GridView sorting: SortDirection always Ascending

You can use a session variable to store the latest Sort Expression and when you sort the grid next time compare the sort expression of the grid with the Session variable which stores last sort expression. If the columns are equal then check the direction of the previous sort and sort in the opposite direction.

Example:

DataTable sourceTable = GridAttendence.DataSource as DataTable;
DataView view = new DataView(sourceTable);
string[] sortData = ViewState["sortExpression"].ToString().Trim().Split(' ');
if (e.SortExpression == sortData[0])
{
    if (sortData[1] == "ASC")
    {
        view.Sort = e.SortExpression + " " + "DESC";
        this.ViewState["sortExpression"] = e.SortExpression + " " + "DESC";
    }
    else
    {
        view.Sort = e.SortExpression + " " + "ASC";
        this.ViewState["sortExpression"] = e.SortExpression + " " + "ASC";
    }
}
else
{
    view.Sort = e.SortExpression + " " + "ASC";
    this.ViewState["sortExpression"] = e.SortExpression + " " + "ASC";
}

A simple solution:

protected SortDirection GetSortDirection(string column)
{
    SortDirection nextDir = SortDirection.Ascending; // Default next sort expression behaviour.
    if (ViewState["sort"] != null && ViewState["sort"].ToString() == column)
    {   // Exists... DESC.
        nextDir = SortDirection.Descending;
        ViewState["sort"] = null;
    }
    else
    {   // Doesn't exists, set ViewState.
        ViewState["sort"] = column;
    }
    return nextDir;
}

Much like the default GridView sorting and lightweight on the ViewState.

USAGE:

protected void grdHeader_OnSorting(object sender, GridViewSortEventArgs e)
{
    List<V_ReportPeriodStatusEntity> items = GetPeriodStatusesForScreenSelection();

    items.Sort(new Helpers.GenericComparer<V_ReportPeriodStatusEntity>(e.SortExpression, GetSortDirection(e.SortExpression));
    grdHeader.DataSource = items;
    grdHeader.DataBind();
}

Automatic bidirectional sorting only works with the SQL data source. Unfortunately, all the documentation in MSDN assumes you are using that, so GridView can get a bit frustrating.

The way I do it is by keeping track of the order on my own. For example:

    protected void OnSortingResults(object sender, GridViewSortEventArgs e)
    {
        // If we're toggling sort on the same column, we simply toggle the direction. Otherwise, ASC it is.
        // e.SortDirection is useless and unreliable (only works with SQL data source).
        if (_sortBy == e.SortExpression)
            _sortDirection = _sortDirection == SortDirection.Descending ? SortDirection.Ascending : SortDirection.Descending;
        else
            _sortDirection = SortDirection.Ascending;

        _sortBy = e.SortExpression;

        BindResults();
    }

The problem with Session and Viewstate is that you also have to keep track of the gridview control for which SortColumn and Direction is stored if there is more than one gridview on the page.

An alternative to Session and Viewstate is to add 2 attributes to the Gridview and keep track of Column and Direction that way.

Here is an example:

private void GridViewSortDirection(GridView g, GridViewSortEventArgs e, out SortDirection d, out string f)
{
    f = e.SortExpression;
    d = e.SortDirection;

    //Check if GridView control has required Attributes
    if (g.Attributes["CurrentSortField"] != null && g.Attributes["CurrentSortDir"] != null)
    {
        if (f == g.Attributes["CurrentSortField"])
        {
            d = SortDirection.Descending;
            if (g.Attributes["CurrentSortDir"] == "ASC")
            {
                d = SortDirection.Ascending;
            }
        }

        g.Attributes["CurrentSortField"] = f;
        g.Attributes["CurrentSortDir"] = (d == SortDirection.Ascending ? "DESC" : "ASC");
    }

}