I would like to ask you if it is possible to have different 'index' for search and sort.

I have a servers side asp mvc backend with an ORM (IBatis) and strongly typed class, and I'm writed a set of classes for the jqgrid to do easily the 90% of the common job needed to display a standard grid (with search, order, ect) starting from a collection of typed object.

I have also a framework to dynamically build the sql needed for sort and search operation.

A common situation when working with data relashionship, is similar as the following

Objects:

class Category {

   int IdCategory,

  string DesCategory,
}

class Product {

   int IdProduct,

  string DesProduct,

   Category category,

}

Data:

Table Product with a relashionship with Table Category

The ORM maps object property in table columns

When I present with jqgrid a list of product, for the colum Category, I display the description 'DesCategory' , but in search toolbar i use the select options with 'DesCategory' as label and 'IdCategory' as value. So:

-) I would like to sort by DesCategory when an user click on the colum header category, because alphabetic order is 'natural'.

-) I would like to filter by IdCategory when an user select a search options item, because numeric filters performs better in the DataBase than char filter.

... but i have only the  'index' property.

Yes, I can use filterModel instead of gridModel but I need to repeate a code silmilar at 90% at the colModel.

Sorry if this feature is already present, but I don't found it.

Best Regards

Marco