Helper methods on column collection.

Added helper methods and a ColumnCollection object to help you when
getting both filtered and sorted columns.

Improved sample code.

Author: ALMMa

DataTables.Mvc/ColumnCollection.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+#region Copyright
+/* The MIT License (MIT)
+
+Copyright (c) 2014 Anderson Luiz Mendes Matos
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
+all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
+THE SOFTWARE.
+*/
+#endregion Copyright
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Linq;
+using System.Text;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+
+namespace DataTables.Mvc
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Represents a read-only DataTables column collection.
+    /// </summary>
+    public class ColumnCollection : IEnumerable<Column>
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// For internal use only.
+        /// Stores data.
+        /// </summary>
+        private IReadOnlyList<Column> Data;
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Created a new ReadOnlyColumnCollection with predefined data.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="columns">The column collection from DataTables.</param>
+        public ColumnCollection(IEnumerable<Column> columns)
+        {
+            if (columns == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("The provided column collection cannot be null", "columns");
+            Data = columns.ToList().AsReadOnly();
+        }
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Get sorted columns on client-side already on the same order as the client requested.
+        /// The method checks if the column is bound and if it's ordered on client-side.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <returns>The ordered enumeration of sorted columns.</returns>
+        public IOrderedEnumerable<Column> GetSortedColumns()
+        {
+            return Data
+                .Where(_column => !String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(_column.Data) && _column.IsOrdered)
+                .OrderBy(_c => _c.OrderNumber);
+        }
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Get filtered columns on client-side.
+        /// The method checks if the column is bound and if the search has a value.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <returns>The enumeration of filtered columns.</returns>
+        public IEnumerable<Column> GetFilteredColumns()
+        {
+            return Data
+                .Where(_column => !String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(_column.Data) && _column.Searchable && !String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(_column.Search.Value));
+        }
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Returns the enumerable element as defined on IEnumerable.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <returns>The enumerable elemento to iterate through data.</returns>
+        public IEnumerator<Column> GetEnumerator()
+        {
+            return Data.GetEnumerator();
+        }
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Returns the enumerable element as defined on IEnumerable.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <returns>The enumerable element to iterate through data.</returns>
+        System.Collections.IEnumerator System.Collections.IEnumerable.GetEnumerator()
+        {
+            return ((System.Collections.IEnumerable)Data).GetEnumerator();
+        }
+    }
+}

DataTables.Mvc/DataTables.Mvc.csproj

@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@
     <Compile Include="IDataTablesRequest.cs" />
     <Compile Include="NameValueCollectionExtensions.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Properties\AssemblyInfo.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="ColumnCollection.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Search.cs" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>

DataTables.Mvc/DataTablesBinder.cs

@@ -106,10 +106,10 @@ public object BindModel(ControllerContext controllerContext, ModelBindingContext
             ParseColumnOrdering(requestParameters, columns);
 
             // Attach columns into the model.
-            model.AddColumns(columns);
+            model.SetColumns(columns);
 
             // Returns the filled model.
-            return model;
+            return (IDataTablesRequest)model;
         }
         /// <summary>
         /// Resolves the NameValueCollection from the request.
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ protected virtual List<Column> GetColumns(NameValueCollection collection)
         {
             try
             {
-                var returnCollection = new List<Column>();
+                var columns = new List<Column>();
 
                 // Loop through every request parameter to avoid missing any DataTable column.
                 for (int i = 0; i < collection.Count; i++)
@@ -163,23 +163,16 @@ protected virtual List<Column> GetColumns(NameValueCollection collection)
                         var columnSearchValue = Get<string>(collection, String.Format(COLUMN_SEARCH_VALUE_FORMATTING, i));
                         var columnSearchRegex = Get<bool>(collection, String.Format(COLUMN_SEARCH_REGEX_FORMATTING, i));
 
-                        var column = new Column(
-                            columnData,
-                            columnName,
-                            columnSearchable,
-                            columnOrderable,
-                            columnSearchValue,
-                            columnSearchRegex);
-
-                        returnCollection.Add(column);
+                        columns.Add(new Column(columnData, columnName, columnSearchable, columnOrderable, columnSearchValue, columnSearchRegex));
                     }
                     else break; // Stops iterating because there's no more columns.
                 }
 
-                return returnCollection;
+                return columns;
             }
             catch
             {
+                // Returns an empty column collection to avoid null exceptions.
                 return new List<Column>();
             }
         }

DataTables.Mvc/IDataTablesRequest.cs

@@ -57,22 +57,44 @@ public interface IDataTablesRequest
         /// <summary>
         /// Gets the read-only collection of client-side columns with their options and configs.
         /// </summary>
-        IReadOnlyCollection<Column> Columns { get; }
+        ColumnCollection Columns { get; }
     }
     /// <summary>
     /// For internal use only.
     /// Represents DataTables request parameters.
     /// </summary>
     class DataTablesRequest : IDataTablesRequest
     {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// For internal use only.
+        /// Gets/Sets the draw counter from DataTables.
+        /// </summary>
         public int Draw { get; set; }
+        /// <summary>
+        /// For internal use only.
+        /// Gets/Sets the start record number (jump) for paging.
+        /// </summary>
         public int Start { get; set; }
+        /// <summary>
+        /// For internal use only.
+        /// Gets/Sets the length of the page (paging).
+        /// </summary>
         public int Length { get; set; }
+        /// <summary>
+        /// For internal use only.
+        /// Gets/Sets the global search term.
+        /// </summary>
         public Search Search { get; set; }
-        private List<Column> _Columns { get; set; }
-        public IReadOnlyCollection<Column> Columns { get { return _Columns.AsReadOnly(); } }
-        public DataTablesRequest() { _Columns = new List<Column>(); }
-        public void AddColumn(Column column) { _Columns.Add(column); }
-        public void AddColumns(IEnumerable<Column> columns) { _Columns.AddRange(columns); }
+        /// <summary>
+        /// For internal use only.
+        /// Gets/Sets the column collection.
+        /// </summary>
+        public ColumnCollection Columns { get; private set; }
+        /// <summary>
+        /// For internal use only.
+        /// Set the new columns on the mechanism.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="columns">The columns to be set.</param>
+        public void SetColumns(IEnumerable<Column> columns) { Columns = new ColumnCollection(columns); }
     }
 }

README.md

@@ -37,36 +37,30 @@ public JsonResult MyActionResult([ModelBinder(typeof(DataTablesBinder)] IDataTab
 	return Json(new DataTablesResponse(requestModel.Draw, paged, myFilteredData.Count(), myOriginalDataSet.Count()));
 }
 ```
-<h3>Any gotchas?</h3>
+<h3>What about ordering?</h3>
 <p>
-	There is one. Simple but tricky.
+	It's a no brainer too.
 </p>
 <p>
-	When sorting on client-side, DataTables send a request to your server to order by the selected columns. It defaults to the first column but you can change that.<br />
+	Filter/sort info from each column is, well, included on each column.
 </p>
 <p>
-	The problem comes on the server-side when dealing with IQueryable, IEnumerable and IList elements.
-	DataTables provides you with the sorting column indexes and directions but we don't have a method to order an IQueryable, IEnumerable or IList using the index of the field.
+	To help you out, get only the columns which were ordered on client-side with <code>IDataTablesRequest.GetSortedColumns()</code>.
+	Than, iterate through then and use <code>Column.SortDirection</code> to sort your dataset.
 </p>
 <p>
-	Also, consider that you have an unbound column (model: null). You won't find a way to order that column on server-side (but you might want to order through other columns).
-</p>
-<p>
-	So, you'll have work with 3 elements: <code>Column.IsOrdered</code>, <code>Column.OrderNumber</code> and <code>Column.SortDirection</code>.
-</p>
-<p>
-	Tips:
+	Sample:
 </p>
 ```C#
-var columns = requestParameters.Columns.Where(_column => _column.IsOrdered && !String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(_column.Data));
-if (columns.Any())
+var filteredColumns = requestParameters.Columns.GetFilteredColumns();
+foreach(var column in filteredColumns)
+    Filter(column.Data, column.Search.Value, column.Search.IsRegexValue);
+
+var sortedColumns = requestParameters.Columns.GetSortedColumns();
+var isSorted = false;
+foreach(var column in sortedColumns)
 {
-    var sortedColumns = columns.OrderBy(_column => _column.OrderNumber);
-    var isSorted = false;
-    foreach(var column in sortedColumns)
-    {
-        if (!isSorted) { Sort(column.Data, column.SortDirection); isSorted = true; }
-        else { SortAgain(column.Data, column.SortDirection); }
-    }
+    if (!isSorted) { Sort(column.Data, column.SortDirection); isSorted = true; }
+    else { SortAgain(column.Data, column.SortDirection); }
 }
 ```