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The Sort(IComparer) method overload takes an instance of a class that implements the IComparer interface as a parameter. This overload is useful when you want to provide custom sorting; for example, when the values in a column do not have a natural sort order or when the natural sort order is inappropriate. In this case, you cannot use automatic sorting, but you might still want your users to sort by clicking the column headers. You can call this overload in a handler for the ColumnHeaderMouseClick event if you do not use column headers for selection.

Note: The Sort(IComparer) method overload works only when the DataGridView control is not bound to an external data source and the VirtualMode property value is false. To customize sorting for columns bound to an external data source, you must use the sorting operations provided by the data source. In virtual mode, you must provide your own sorting operations for unbound columns.

To use the Sort(IComparer) method overload, you must create your own class that implements the IComparer interface. This interface requires your class to implement the IComparer.Compare(Object) method, to which the DataGridView passes DataGridViewRow objects as input when the Sort(IComparer) method overload is called. With this, you can calculate the correct row ordering based on the values in any column.

The Sort(IComparer) method overload does not set the SortedColumn and SortOrder properties, so you must always set the DataGridViewColumnHeaderCell.SortGlyphDirection property to display the sorting glyph.

As an alternative to the Sort(IComparer) method overload, you can provide custom sorting by implementing a handler for the SortCompare event. This event occurs when users click the headers of columns configured for automatic sorting or when you call the Sort(DataGridViewColumn,ListSortDirection) overload of the Sort method. The event occurs for each pair of rows in the control, enabling you to calculate their correct order.

Note: The SortCompare event does not occur when the DataSource property is set or when the VirtualMode property value is true.