Index: lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/usermanagement/util/LastNameAlphabeticComparator.java
===================================================================
diff -u
--- lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/usermanagement/util/LastNameAlphabeticComparator.java	(revision 0)
+++ lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/usermanagement/util/LastNameAlphabeticComparator.java	(revision 128327683fe1ee4865f88b2d6719f34c843e7121)
@@ -0,0 +1,156 @@
+/***************************************************************************
+ * Copyright (C) 2005 LAMS Foundation (http://lamsfoundation.org)
+ * =============================================================
+ * 
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ * 
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ * 
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307
+ * USA
+ * 
+ * http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.txt
+ * ************************************************************************
+ */
+package org.lamsfoundation.lams.usermanagement.util;
+
+import java.io.Serializable;
+import java.lang.reflect.Method;
+import java.util.Comparator;
+import java.lang.Class;
+import java.lang.Object;
+
+import org.apache.log4j.Logger;
+
+/**
+ * Compare two objects using alphabetical comparison by Last Name, First Name
+ * and Login in that order. The object must have methods getLastName,
+ * getFirstName, getLogin.
+ * 
+ * @author Anthony Sukkar
+ * 
+ */
+public class LastNameAlphabeticComparator implements Comparator, Serializable {
+
+	/**
+	 * 
+	 */
+	private static final long serialVersionUID = 4294765895924263296L;
+
+	private static Logger log = Logger
+			.getLogger(LastNameAlphabeticComparator.class);
+
+	/**
+	 * @see java.util.Comparator#compare(Object, Object)
+	 */
+	public int compare(Object o1, Object o2) {
+		if (o1 == null || o2 == null) {
+			return compareNull(o1, o2);
+		} else {
+			int retValue = compareLastName(o1, o2);
+			if (retValue == 0)
+				retValue = compareFirstName(o1, o2);
+			if (retValue == 0)
+				retValue = compareLogin(o1, o2);
+			return retValue;
+		}
+	}
+
+	private int compareLastName(Object o1, Object o2) {
+		String surname1 = null;
+		String surname2 = null;
+
+		try {
+
+			Method lastNameMethod;
+			lastNameMethod = o1.getClass().getMethod("getLastName",
+					(Class[]) null);
+			surname1 = (String) lastNameMethod.invoke(o1, (Object[]) null);
+
+			lastNameMethod = o2.getClass().getMethod("getLastName",
+					(Class[]) null);
+			surname2 = (String) lastNameMethod.invoke(o2, (Object[]) null);
+
+		} catch (Exception e) {
+			log.warn("Compare threw ", e);
+		}
+
+		int retValue = -1;
+		if (surname1 == null || surname2 == null)
+			retValue = compareNull(surname1, surname2);
+		else
+			retValue = surname1.compareTo(surname2);
+		return retValue;
+	}
+
+	private int compareFirstName(Object o1, Object o2) {
+		String name1 = null;
+		String name2 = null;
+
+		try {
+
+			Method lastNameMethod;
+
+			lastNameMethod = o1.getClass().getMethod("getFirstName",
+					(Class[]) null);
+			name1 = (String) lastNameMethod.invoke(o1, (Object[]) null);
+
+			lastNameMethod = o2.getClass().getMethod("getFirstName",
+					(Class[]) null);
+			name2 = (String) lastNameMethod.invoke(o2, (Object[]) null);
+
+		} catch (Exception e) {
+			log.warn("Compare threw ", e);
+		}
+
+		int retValue = -1;
+		if (name1 == null || name2 == null)
+			retValue = compareNull(name1, name2);
+		else
+			retValue = name1.compareTo(name2);
+		return retValue;
+	}
+
+	private int compareLogin(Object o1, Object o2) {
+		String name1 = null;
+		String name2 = null;
+
+		try {
+
+			Method lastNameMethod;
+
+			lastNameMethod = o1.getClass()
+					.getMethod("getLogin", (Class[]) null);
+			name1 = (String) lastNameMethod.invoke(o1, (Object[]) null);
+
+			lastNameMethod = o2.getClass()
+					.getMethod("getLogin", (Class[]) null);
+			name2 = (String) lastNameMethod.invoke(o2, (Object[]) null);
+
+		} catch (Exception e) {
+			log.warn("Compare threw ", e);
+		}
+
+		int retValue = -1;
+		if (name1 == null || name2 == null)
+			retValue = compareNull(name1, name2);
+		else
+			retValue = name1.compareTo(name2);
+		return retValue;
+	}
+
+	private int compareNull(Object o1, Object o2) {
+		if (o1 == null)
+			return (o2 != null ? -1 : 0);
+		else
+			return 1;
+	}
+}