Dealing with ListView control, in the details mode

ListViewColumnSorter.cs

// taken from: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms996467.aspx

using System.Collections;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace ListViewControlling
{
    /// <summary>
    /// This class is an implementation of the 'IComparer' interface.
    /// </summary>
    public class ListViewColumnSorter : IComparer
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Case insensitive comparer object
        /// </summary>
        private readonly CaseInsensitiveComparer m_objectCompare;

        /// <summary>
        /// Class constructor.  Initializes various elements
        /// </summary>
        public ListViewColumnSorter()
        {
            // Initialize the column to '0'
            SortColumn = 0;

            // Initialize the sort order to 'none'
            Order = SortOrder.None;

            // Initialize the CaseInsensitiveComparer object
            m_objectCompare = new CaseInsensitiveComparer();
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// This method is inherited from the IComparer interface.  It compares the two objects passed using a case insensitive comparison.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="x">First object to be compared</param>
        /// <param name="y">Second object to be compared</param>
        /// <returns>The result of the comparison. "0" if equal, negative if 'x' is less than 'y' and positive if 'x' is greater than 'y'</returns>
        public int Compare(object x, object y)
        {
            // Cast the objects to be compared to ListViewItem objects
            var listviewX = (ListViewItem)x;
            var listviewY = (ListViewItem)y;

            // Compare the two items
            int compareResult = m_objectCompare.Compare(listviewX.SubItems[SortColumn].Text, listviewY.SubItems[SortColumn].Text);

            // Calculate correct return value based on object comparison
            if (Order == SortOrder.Ascending)
            {
                // Ascending sort is selected, return normal result of compare operation
                return compareResult;
            }
            else if (Order == SortOrder.Descending)
            {
                // Descending sort is selected, return negative result of compare operation
                return (-compareResult);
            }
            else
            {
                // Return '0' to indicate they are equal
                return 0;
            }
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Gets or sets the number of the column to which to apply the sorting operation (Defaults to '0').
        /// </summary>
        public int SortColumn { get; set; }

        /// <summary>
        /// Gets or sets the order of sorting to apply (for example, 'Ascending' or 'Descending').
        /// </summary>
        public SortOrder Order { get; set; }
    }
}

ListViewUtils.cs

using System;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace ListViewControlling
{
    public class ListViewUtils
    {
        public static void InitListView(ListView lstView)
        {
            lstView.Items.Clear();
            lstView.Columns.Clear();
            lstView.View = View.Details;
            lstView.Tag = new StringBuilder();

            // Create an instance of a ListView column sorter and assign it 
            // to the ListView control.
            var lvwColumnSorter = new ListViewColumnSorter();
            lstView.ListViewItemSorter = lvwColumnSorter;

            lstView.ColumnClick -= ListViewColumnClick;
            lstView.ColumnClick += ListViewColumnClick;

            lstView.KeyUp -= ListViewKeyUp;
            lstView.KeyUp += ListViewKeyUp;
        }

        public static void AppendToListView(ListView lstView, params string[] cols)
        {
            var sb = lstView.Tag as StringBuilder;
            if (sb == null)
                throw new Exception("The tag of the ListView object must be an instance of StringBuilder!");

            const int colLength = 15;

            if (lstView.Columns.Count <= 0)
            {
                foreach (var col in cols)
                {
                    lstView.Columns.Add(col, col);
                }

                sb.AppendLine(CreateCols(colLength, cols));
                sb.AppendLine("-----------------------------------------------------");
            }
            else
            {
                if (cols.Length > lstView.Columns.Count)
                {
                    for (int i = 0; i < cols.Length - lstView.Columns.Count; i++)
                    {
                        lstView.Columns.Add("Unknown", "");
                    }
                }

                lstView.Items.Add(new ListViewItem(cols));

                sb.AppendLine(CreateCols(colLength, cols));
            }
        }

        private static void ListViewKeyUp(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
        {
            // check if Ctrl + C or Ctrl + Insert is pressed
            if (e.Control && (e.KeyCode == Keys.C || e.KeyCode == Keys.Insert))
            {
                var lst = sender as ListView;
                if (lst == null)
                    return;

                var sb = lst.Tag as StringBuilder;
                if (sb == null)
                    return;

                Clipboard.SetText(sb.ToString(), TextDataFormat.UnicodeText);
            }
        }

        private static void ListViewColumnClick(object sender, ColumnClickEventArgs e)
        {
            var lst = sender as ListView;
            if (lst == null)
                return;

            var lvwColumnSorter = lst.ListViewItemSorter as ListViewColumnSorter;
            if (lvwColumnSorter == null)
                return;

            // Determine if clicked column is already the column that is being sorted.
            if (e.Column == lvwColumnSorter.SortColumn)
            {
                // Reverse the current sort direction for this column.
                lvwColumnSorter.Order = lvwColumnSorter.Order == SortOrder.Ascending ?
                    SortOrder.Descending : SortOrder.Ascending;
            }
            else
            {
                // Set the column number that is to be sorted; default to ascending.
                lvwColumnSorter.SortColumn = e.Column;
                lvwColumnSorter.Order = SortOrder.Ascending;
            }

            // Perform the sort with these new sort options.
            lst.Sort();
        }

        private static string CreateCols(int colLength, params string[] cols)
        {
            var sb = new StringBuilder();
            string fmt = "{0,-" + colLength + "}";

            foreach (var col in cols)
            {
                sb.AppendFormat(fmt, col);
            }

            return sb.ToString();
        }
    }
}

Usage.cs

var lstCults = CultureInfo.GetCultures(CultureTypes.AllCultures).ToList();
lstCults.Sort((v1, v2) => v1.Name.CompareTo(v2.Name));
var today = DateTime.Today;

ListViewUtils.InitListView(listView1);
ListViewUtils.AppendToListView(listView1, "Name", "Native-Name", "Y");

foreach (var cult in lstCults)
{
    ListViewUtils.AppendToListView(listView1, cult.Name, cult.NativeName, 
        cult.Calendar.GetYear(today).ToString(),
        cult.DateTimeFormat.FullDateTimePattern);
}