# Multiple Sorting

Multiple sorting allows you to sort recursively by multiple columns. Simply put, when the primary column (i.e the column the user is currently sorting) has two or more identical items, their order will be determined by a secondary column, and so on, until the list of columns is exhausted.

The above code means that when the user is sorting by `name` and identical names are compared, their order will be determined by the `age` column. If the ages are also identical the `birth_date` column will determine the order. The `matchDir` property tells the plugin whether the secondary sorting should match the direction of the primary column (i.e ascending/descending), or not.

In addition to programmatically setting the sorting in advance, by default the user can also use `Shift+Click` to build his own sorting logic in real time. To disable this option set `clientMultiSorting` to false.

On the server component this behaviour is disabled by default, because it requires addtional server logic to handle the request. To enable it set `serverMultiSorting` to `true`. The request will then contain a `multiSort` array, if applicable.