oh no! gist link is broken. here is code dump from https://gist.github.com/peterh-capella/4234752
code accessed Jan 6, 2016
//this code is created to fix this problem: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4299241/
(function( $, undefined ) {
$.widget("ui.fixedsortable", $.ui.sortable, {
options: $.extend({},$.ui.sortable.prototype.options,{fixed:[]}),
_create: function() {
var o = this.options;
this.containerCache = {};
this.element.addClass("ui-sortable");
//Get the items
$.ui.sortable.prototype.refresh.apply(this,arguments);
if( typeof this.options.fixed == "number") {
var num = this.options.fixed
this.options.fixed = [num];
}
else if( typeof this.options.fixed == "string" || typeof this.options.fixed == "object") {
if(this.options.fixed.constructor != Array) {
var selec = this.options.fixed;
var temparr = [];
var temp = $(this.element[0]).find(selec);
var x = this;
temp.each(function() {
var i;
for(i=0;i<x.items.length && x.items[i].item.get(0) != this;++i) {}
if(i<x.items.length) temparr.push(i);
});
this.options.fixed = temparr;
}
}
//Let's determine if the items are being displayed horizontally
this.floating = this.items.length ? o.axis === 'x' || (/left|right/).test(this.items[0].item.css('float')) || (/inline|table-cell/).test(this.items[0].item.css('display')) : false;
//Let's determine the parent's offset
this.offset = this.element.offset();
//Initialize mouse events for interaction
$.ui.sortable.prototype._mouseInit.apply(this,arguments);
},
_mouseCapture: function( event ) {
this._fixPrev = this._returnItems();
return $.ui.sortable.prototype._mouseCapture.apply(this,arguments);
},
_mouseStart: function( event ) {
for(var i=0;i<this.options.fixed.length;++i) {
var num = this.options.fixed[i];
var elem = this.items[num];
if(event.target == elem.item.get(0)) return false;
}
return $.ui.sortable.prototype._mouseStart.apply(this,arguments);
},
_rearrange: function(event, i, a, hardRefresh) {
a ? a[0].appendChild(this.placeholder[0]) :
i.item[0].parentNode.insertBefore(this.placeholder[0], (this.direction == 'down' ? i.item[0] : i.item[0].nextSibling));
this._refix(i);
//Various things done here to improve the performance:
// 1. we create a setTimeout, that calls refreshPositions
// 2. on the instance, we have a counter variable, that get's higher after every append
// 3. on the local scope, we copy the counter variable, and check in the timeout, if it's still the same
// 4. this lets only the last addition to the timeout stack through
this.counter = this.counter ? ++this.counter : 1;
var self = this, counter = this.counter;
window.setTimeout(function() {
if(counter == self.counter) self.refreshPositions(!hardRefresh); //Precompute after each DOM insertion, NOT on mousemove
},0);
},
_refix: function(a) {
var prev = this._fixPrev;
var curr = this._returnItems();
var Fixcodes = this.options.fixed;
var NoFixed = [];
var Fixed = [];
var Mixed = []
var post = [];
for(var i=0;i<Fixcodes.length;++i) {
var fix_index = Fixcodes[i];
var fix_item = prev[fix_index];
var j = 0;
for(j=0;j<curr.length && curr[j].item.get(0) != fix_item.item.get(0);++j) {}
curr.splice(j,1);
Fixed.push(fix_item);
}
for(var i=0;i<curr.length;++i) {
if(curr[i].item.get(0) != this.currentItem.get(0)) {
NoFixed.push(curr[i]);
}
}
var fix_count = 0;
var nofix_count = 0;
for(var i=0;i<Fixed.length + NoFixed.length;++i) {
if(Fixcodes.indexOf(i) >= 0) {
Mixed.push(Fixed[fix_count++]);
}
else {
Mixed.push(NoFixed[nofix_count++]);
}
}
var parent = this.currentItem.get(0).parentNode;
var allchild = parent.children;
for(var i=0;i<Mixed.length;++i) {
parent.removeChild(Mixed[i].item.get(0));
parent.appendChild(Mixed[i].item.get(0));
}
},
_returnItems: function(event) {
this.containers = [this];
var items = [];
var self = this;
var queries = [[$.isFunction(this.options.items) ? this.options.items.call(this.element[0], event, { item: this.currentItem }) : $(this.options.items, this.element), this]];
var connectWith = $.ui.sortable.prototype._connectWith.apply;
if(connectWith) {
for (var i = connectWith.length - 1; i >= 0; i--){
var cur = $(connectWith[i]);
for (var j = cur.length - 1; j >= 0; j--){
var inst = $.data(cur[j], 'sortable');
if(inst && inst != this && !inst.options.disabled) {
queries.push([$.isFunction(inst.options.items) ? inst.options.items.call(inst.element[0], event, { item: this.currentItem }) : $(inst.options.items, inst.element), inst]);
this.containers.push(inst);
}
};
};
}
for (var i = queries.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
var targetData = queries[i][1];
var _queries = queries[i][0];
for (var j=0, queriesLength = _queries.length; j < queriesLength; j++) {
var item = $(_queries[j]);
item.data('sortable-item', targetData); // Data for target checking (mouse manager)
items.push({
item: item,
instance: targetData,
width: 0, height: 0,
left: 0, top: 0
});
};
};
return items;
},
value: function(input) {
//console.log("test");
$.ui.sortable.prototype.value.apply(this,arguments);
}
});
})(jQuery);
And dumping rest of his answer, just in case
dependencies
https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.6.1/jquery.min.js
https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jqueryui/1.8.13/jquery-ui.min.js
Script
function randomColor() { //for a little fun ;)
var r = (Math.floor(Math.random()*256));
var g = (Math.floor(Math.random()*256));
var b = (Math.floor(Math.random()*256));
return "#" + r.toString(16) + g.toString(16) + b.toString(16)
}
$(function() {
$("#sortable1").fixedsortable({
fixed: "> .static", //you can use css selector
sort: function() { //you can add events as well, without getting confused. for example:
$(".static").css("background",randomColor()) //change the fixed items background
},
change: function(event,ui) {
$(ui.item[0]).css("border","2px solid "+randomColor()) //change the captured border color
},
stop: function(event,ui) {
$(ui.item[0]).css("border","2px solid #777"); //change the back the css modifications
$("#sortable1 > li.static").css("background","#aaa");
}
});
$("#sortable2").fixedsortable({ //you can use jQuery object as selector
fixed: $("li[foo]").css("background","red")
});
$("#sortable3").fixedsortable({
fixed: [2,4], //you can use array of zero base indexes as selector
update: function(event, ui) {
alert($(this).fixedsortable('toArray')) //the fixedsortable('toArray') also works
}
})
$("#sortable4").fixedsortable({
fixed: 5 //you can fix a single item with a simple integer
})
});
HTML
<body>
<div style="width:120px;float:left;">
<ul id="sortable1">
<li><a href="#">oranges</a></li>
<li class="static"><a href="#">apples</a></li>
<li><a href="#">bananas</a></li>
<li><a href="#">pineapples</a></li>
<li><a href="#">grapes</a></li>
<li class="static"><a href="#">pears</a></li>
<li><a href="#">mango</a></li>
</ul>
<ul id="sortable2">
<li>bananas</li>
<li foo="asd">oranges</li>
<li foo="dsa">apples</li>
<li>pineapples</li>
<li>grapes</li>
<li>pears</li>
<li>mango</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="width:120px;float:left;">
<ul id="sortable3">
<li id="fru_1">bananas</li>
<li id="fru_2">oranges</li>
<li id="fru_3" style="background:#f4f">apples</li>
<li id="fru_4">pineapples</li>
<li id="fru_5" style="background:#faaba9">grapes</li>
<li id="fru_6">pears</li>
<li id="fru_7">mango</li>
</ul>
<ul id="sortable4">
<li>bananas</li>
<li>oranges</li>
<li>apples</li>
<li>pineapples</li>
<li>grapes</li>
<li style="background:#dada00">pears</li>
<li>mango</li>
</ul>
</div>
</body>
CSS
ul {margin:10px;}
ul#sortable1 > li, ul#sortable2 > li, ul#sortable3 > li, ul#sortable4 > li {
display:block;
width:100px;
height:15px;
padding: 3px;
background: #aaa;
border: 2px solid #777;
margin: 1px;
}
ul#sortable1 > li.static {
opacity:0.5;
}
