The global layout and list layout files are saved in XML format (Saving a list layout). You can edit these layout files in a text editor to specify an initial column sorting, for example.
1. Use a text editor to open the desired layout file.
2. Make the desired changes.
3. Open the layout file in the desired list (Reading a list layout).
Example
If, for example, you want to sort column 2 of the list in ascending order and column 3 of the list in descending order, include the following elements in your layout file:
<initialColumnSortings>
<initialColumnSorting columnIndex="2" ascending="true"/>
<initialColumnSorting columnIndex="3" ascending="false"/>
</initialColumnSortings>
The first entry sets the main sorting. If there are entries that are the same with respect to the main sort order, the second entry determines their relative order, and so on. You can set a different sort order for each column in this way. columnIndex is 0-based.
