[Bug/UX] Sorting icons should be hidden when there are no records in ngx-datatable

[dr-bharada]

Current Behavior

Record_2025-08-08-00-20-28.mp4

Currently, when the ngx-datatable has no rows (i.e. no data found), the table still displays the sorting indicators (˅, ˄) on the column headers.
This implies that sorting is possible even when there's no data, which leads to confusion for the end user.

Expected Behavior

When there are no records:

Sorting icons should not be shown.

Sorting click behavior should be disabled or ignored.

A clean header with no indicators would better match the “empty” state and improve UX.

Reproduction of the Issue

This issue can be seen directly in the official demo:
🔗 https://siemens.github.io/ngx-datatable/#/empty

When there are no rows, sorting icons still appear on column headers (e.g., Name, Gender).

Columns remain clickable even though there's no data to sort.

I'm not running ngx-datatable locally — this is observed in the official documentation/demo.

Version

24.1.0

What browsers are you seeing the problem on?

Chrome

[spike-rabbit]

@panch1739 please provide your opinion here

[dr-bharada]

@spike-rabbit @panch1739 thanks for reviewing.
Just following up to check if there’s any progress or planned fix for this issue.

[panch1739]

@spike-rabbit @panch1739 thanks for reviewing. Just following up to check if there’s any progress or planned fix for this issue.

@dr-bharada Thanks for reporting! I understand your point, but im not sure this is a bug.

• The sort icons indicate that the column supports sorting. Even if no data is currently displayed, they help users understand what interactions will be available once rows are present.
• Keeping the sort indicators visible ensures the table header looks the same across all states: empty, loading, or populated. Hiding them would cause small but noticeable layout shifts when data appears, which can feel unstable.
• Sorting is a column-level capability, not a data-dependent one. The table doesn’t remove the icon just because there are 0 rows, it’s simply rendering the headers as defined.

If users have trouble recognizing that the table contains no data, maybe you need to consider adding an empty state that clearly communicates this and guides them on what to do next. @spike-rabbit do we support already empty states here? i dont remember