sort_index_controller_usage.rb

# see http://gist.github.com/341278 (sort_index.rb)
# see http://gist.github.com/341295 (sort_index_view_usage.html.erb)

# this example is an employees controller and using the will_paginate plugin
# however code should work fine with a standard ActiveRecord#find(:all, :order => ...
# put the sort_index.rb code in your rails lib directory

class EmployeesController < ApplicationController
  # index sort constant config for sorting index action
  # default is order by updated_at DESC
  INDEX_SORT = SortIndex::Config.new(
    {'updated_at' => 'updated_at'},
    {
      'full_name' => 'UPPER(first_name), UPPER(last_name)',
      'email' => 'email'
    }
    #, optionally SortIndex::SORT_KEY_ASC
  )

  def index
    @sortable = SortIndex::Sortable.new(params, INDEX_SORT)
    @employees = Employee.paginate :page => params[:page], :order => @sortable.order
    # render index.html.erb
  end
end