T5: Categorized sorting in "grid"

[Bill Holloway <bi...@gmail.com>]

We want to use a grid with categorized items like this:

first row in grid:
   column 1:  Category name
   column 2:  <empty>
   column 3:  <empty>

second row in grid:

   column 1:  <empty>
   column 2:  Item 1, name
   column 3:  Item 1, some property that extends Comparable

third row in grid:

   column 1:  <empty>
   column 2:  Item 2, name
   column 3:  Item 2, some property that extends Comparable

I'll write some generic class to encapsulate both kinds of rows (categories
and items) for the source parameter of the Grid.  The challenge is sorting.
When we click on column 3's header for sorting, we want just the items to be
sorted (not categories) and for the items to remain under their category
rows.

Anybody know of a component out there for this?  Or, has anyone solved this
elegantly already and is willing to share?

Bill