turn off re-sorting in angularJS while editing

Question

I have an AngularJS app that lists a bunch of items in a table. Like this:

<table class='unstyled tmain'>
  <tr>
    <td ng-click='setSort($event)'>X</td>
    <td ng-click='setSort($event)'>Desc</td>
    <td ng-click='setSort($event)'>created</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr ng-repeat="item in items | orderBy:itemNormalizationFunction:sortReverse">
    <td><input type='checkbox' ng-model='item.done'
             ng-click='onCheckedChanged(item)'/></td>
    <td><div edit-in-place="item.text"
             on-save="updateItemText(value,previousValue,item)"></div></td>
    <td><span class='foo'>{{item.created | dateFormatter}}</span></td>
  </tr>
</table>

The table headers are clickable to set the sort order. The cell in the 2nd column in each data row is editable "in place" - if you click on the text it gets replaced with an input textbox, and the user can edit the text. I have a little directive enabling that. This all works.

The problem comes in while editing. Suppose I have it set to sort by "description" (the 2nd column). Then if I edit the description (via the edit-in-place directive), as I am typing in the input box, the sort order changes. If I change the first few characters, then angular re-sorts and the item is no longer under my cursor. Nor is it even focused. I have to go hunting through the list to find out where it got re-sorted to, then I can re-focus, and resume typing.

This is kinda lame.

What I'd like to do is tell angular to (a) stop re-sorting while I am keying in the input box, or (b) sort on a separate (not-displayed) index value that preserves the ordering before the edit began. But I don't know how to do either of those. Can anyone give me a hint?

I know this is sort of complicated so I'll try to put together a plunkr to show what's happening.

Answer 1

This is the plunkr that shows how I solved the problem.

http://embed.plnkr.co/eBbjOqNly2QFKkmz9EIh/preview