Sequelize mysql order by concat of two fields - express

Question

My DB has a users table that has a first_name,last_name columns, either of them maybe empty.
I also have a UI dashboard that displays a table with a full_name column that is a concatenation of the two fields, this column is sortable.
I am using sequelize with a mysql database to fetch the users, how can I order by full_name (And trim the spaces of the concatenated field)

Answer 1

The SQL solution
You can order by multiple columns
SELECT * FROM user ORDER BY last_name ASC, first_name ASC
OR you first concatenate the two fields and order by full_name (but keep in mind this might be slow)
SELECT *, TRIM(CONCAT(first_name,' ', last_name)) full_name FROM user ORDER BY full_name ASC
The Sequelize solution
const { Sequelize, DataTypes } = require('sequelize')
const User = sequelize.define('User', {
id: {
type: DataTypes.INTEGER,
allowNull: false,
primaryKey: true
},
first_name: {
type: DataTypes.STRING(100)
},
last_name: {
type: DataTypes.STRING(100)
},
//virtual attribute for concatenation of first_name and last_name
full_name: {
type: DataTypes.VIRTUAL,
get() {
const firstName = this.getDataValue('first_name');
const lastName = this.getDataValue('last_name');
return [firstName, lastName].join(' ').trim();
}
},
});
User.findAll({
/** Order by multiples columns **/
//order: [['first_name', 'DESC'], ['last_name', 'ASC']],
/** Order by the two fields concatenated and trimed */
order: Sequelize.literal("trim(concat(first_name,' ', last_name)) ASC")
}).then(users => {
users.forEach(user=> {
console.log(user.get());
})
})