Method and system for providing improved specification of multiple sort criteria in a graphical user interface

A system for efficiently specifying multiple sort criteria for a graphical user interface control, the system comprising:

• a central processing unit for controlling the system;
• a storage connected to the central processing unit;
• and
• a graphical user interface stored in the storage for execution by the central processing unit, the graphical user interface including a sort order control for:
• displaying a list of all possible sort criteria in the sort order control,
• displaying a selection indicator next to each sort criteria in the sort order control,
• entering a selection of a sort criteria,
• indicating the selection of the sort criteria in the selection indicator next to the sort criteria, and
• placing a numeric character representing the order in which the sort criteria was selected next to the sort criteria.

A computer program product for use in a computer system, the computer program product comprising:

• a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied in the medium for efficiently specifying multiple sort criteria for a graphical user interface control, the computer readable program code means including:
• computer readable program code means for displaying a list of all possible sort criteria in a sort order control;
• computer readable program code means for displaying a selection indicator next to each sort criteria in the sort order control;
• computer readable program code means for entering a selection of a sort criteria;
• computer readable program code means for indicating the selection of the sort criteria in the selection indicator next to the sort criteria;
• and
• computer readable program code means for placing a numeric character representing the order in which the sort criteria was selected next to the sort criteria.