How To: Sort values in a drop-down list

Views:

Applies To:

GroupID 8, 9 and 10 – Self-Service

Business Use Case:

We have created a drop-down list in a Self-Service portal. When we add more values to the list, they appear in the order of addition. Is there a way to sort the values in the list?

More Information:

GroupID does not allow you to sort the values in a drop-down list or move them up and down. This list can, however, be sorted manually using the portal's design file.

This article applies to both built-in and custom created drop-down lists in the portal. For reference in this article, let's use a built-in drop-down list, lstExpirationPolicy that displays the expiry policies on the Group Properties page in the portal.

Steps:

To change the order of entries, follow these steps:

Go to the location:

X:\Program Files\Imanami\GroupID <version>\SelfService\Inetpub\Portal_Name\Design\

(where X represents the GroupID installation drive)
You will find an XML file for each of the identity stores linked with the portal.
Open the required file with Notepad.
Search for lstExpirationPolicy. You will find the values that the drop-down list contains under <values>.
Modify or sort the values as required. In this example, I have reverted the order.
In GroupID Management Console, select Self-Service > Portals [Required portal] > Designs. Then select the identity store you edited the design file for.
On the Custom Display Types tab, double-click the lstExpirationPolicy display type to verify that the changes are reflected there.
Now browse the Self-Service portal and verify the sorted values in the Expiration Policy drop-down list.

Note: Take a backup of the portal's design file before making any changes to it.