    /**
     * Represents a single sorter that can be applied to a Store. The sorter is used
     * to compare two values against each other for the purpose of ordering them. Ordering
     * is achieved by specifying either:
     *
     * - {@link #property A sorting property}
     * - {@link #sorterFn A sorting function}
     *
     * As a contrived example, we can specify a custom sorter that sorts by rank:
     *
     *     Ext.define('Person', {
     *         extend: 'Ext.data.Model',
     *         fields: ['name', 'rank']
     *     });
     *
     *     Ext.create('Ext.data.Store', {
     *         model: 'Person',
     *         proxy: 'memory',
     *         sorters: [{
     *             sorterFn: function(o1, o2){
     *                 var getRank = function(o){
     *                     var name = o.get('rank');
     *                     if (name === 'first') {
     *                         return 1;
     *                     } else if (name === 'second') {
     *                         return 2;
     *                     } else {
     *                         return 3;
     *                     }
     *                 },
     *                 rank1 = getRank(o1),
     *                 rank2 = getRank(o2);
     *
     *                 if (rank1 === rank2) {
     *                     return 0;
     *                 }
     *
     *                 return rank1 < rank2 ? -1 : 1;
     *             }
     *         }],
     *         data: [{
     *             name: 'Person1',
     *             rank: 'second'
     *         }, {
     *             name: 'Person2',
     *             rank: 'third'
     *         }, {
     *             name: 'Person3',
     *             rank: 'first'
     *         }]
     *     });
     */
    Ext.define('Ext.util.Sorter', {

        /**
         * @cfg {String} property
         * The property to sort by. Required unless {@link #sorterFn} is provided. The property is extracted from the object
         * directly and compared for sorting using the built in comparison operators.
         */

        /**
         * @cfg {Function} sorterFn
         * A specific sorter function to execute. Can be passed instead of {@link #property}. This sorter function allows
         * for any kind of custom/complex comparisons. The sorterFn receives two arguments, the objects being compared. The
         * function should return:
         *
         *   - -1 if o1 is "less than" o2
         *   - 0 if o1 is "equal" to o2
         *   - 1 if o1 is "greater than" o2
         */

        /**
         * @cfg {String} root
         * Optional root property. This is mostly useful when sorting a Store, in which case we set the root to 'data' to
         * make the filter pull the {@link #property} out of the data object of each item
         */

        /**
         * @cfg {Function} transform
         * A function that will be run on each value before it is compared in the sorter. The function will receive a single
         * argument, the value.
         */

        /**
         * @cfg {String} direction
         * The direction to sort by.
         */
        direction: "ASC",

        constructor: function(config) {
            var me = this;

            Ext.apply(me, config);

            //<debug>
            if (me.property === undefined && me.sorterFn === undefined) {
                Ext.Error.raise("A Sorter requires either a property or a sorter function");
            }
            //</debug>

            me.updateSortFunction();
        },

        /**
         * @private
         * Creates and returns a function which sorts an array by the given property and direction
         * @return {Function} A function which sorts by the property/direction combination provided
         */
        createSortFunction: function(sorterFn) {
            var me        = this,
                direction = me.direction || "ASC",
                modifier  = direction.toUpperCase() == "DESC" ? -1 : 1;

            //create a comparison function. Takes 2 objects, returns 1 if object 1 is greater,
            //-1 if object 2 is greater or 0 if they are equal
            return function(o1, o2) {
                return modifier * sorterFn.call(me, o1, o2);
            };
        },

        /**
         * @private
         * Basic default sorter function that just compares the defined property of each object
         */
        defaultSorterFn: function(o1, o2) {
            var me = this,
                transform = me.transform,
                v1 = me.getRoot(o1)[me.property],
                v2 = me.getRoot(o2)[me.property];

            if (transform) {
                v1 = transform(v1);
                v2 = transform(v2);
            }

            return v1 > v2 ? 1 : (v1 < v2 ? -1 : 0);
        },

        /**
         * @private
         * Returns the root property of the given item, based on the configured {@link #root} property
         * @param {Object} item The item
         * @return {Object} The root property of the object
         */
        getRoot: function(item) {
            return this.root === undefined ? item : item[this.root];
        },

        /**
         * Set the sorting direction for this sorter.
         * @param {String} direction The direction to sort in. Should be either 'ASC' or 'DESC'.
         */
        setDirection: function(direction) {
            var me = this;
            me.direction = direction ? direction.toUpperCase() : direction;
            me.updateSortFunction();
        },

        /**
         * Toggles the sorting direction for this sorter.
         */
        toggle: function() {
            var me = this;
            me.direction = Ext.String.toggle(me.direction, "ASC", "DESC");
            me.updateSortFunction();
        },

        /**
         * Update the sort function for this sorter.
         * @param {Function} [fn] A new sorter function for this sorter. If not specified it will use the default
         * sorting function.
         */
        updateSortFunction: function(fn) {
            var me = this;
            fn = fn || me.sorterFn || me.defaultSorterFn;
            me.sort = me.createSortFunction(fn);
        },

        serialize: function() {
            return {
                root: this.root,
                property: this.property,
                direction: this.direction
            };
        }
    });