Views ‘last updated/commented’ field fails to sort entities without comment statistics

I will postpone this on 🐛 Last read comment field/filter/argument uses still the node.changed instead of node_field_data.changed column Needs work because it will likely conflict.

But a workaround in the mean time if anybody else needs this for table click sorting.

modules/custom/CUSTOM_MODULE/CUSTOM_MODULE.views.inc

/**
 * Implements hook_views_data_alter().
 */
function CUSTOM_MODULE_views_data_alter(array &$data):void {
  // Replace the core comment CES "last updated" sort handler with our NULL-safe version.
  if (isset($data['comment_entity_statistics']['last_updated']['sort'])) {
    $data['comment_entity_statistics']['last_updated']['field']['id'] = 'comment_ces_last_updated_nullsafe';
    $data['comment_entity_statistics']['last_updated']['sort']['id'] = 'comment_ces_last_updated_nullsafe';
  }
}

modules/custom/CUSTOM_MODULE/src/Plugin/views/field/NullSafeStatisticsLastUpdated.php

namespace Drupal\CUSTOM_MODULE\Plugin\views\field;

use Drupal\views\Attribute\ViewsField;
use Drupal\views\Plugin\views\field\Date;

/**
 * NULL‑safe field for newer of last comment / entity updated.
 */
#[ViewsField('comment_ces_last_updated_nullsafe')]
class NullSafeStatisticsLastUpdated extends Date {

  public function query() {
    $this->ensureMyTable();
    $entity_type = \Drupal::entityTypeManager()->getDefinition($this->getEntityType());
    $entity_data_table = $this->query->ensureTable($entity_type->getDataTable(), $this->relationship);

    $this->field_alias = $this->query->addField(
      NULL,
      "GREATEST({$entity_data_table}.changed, COALESCE({$this->tableAlias}.last_comment_timestamp, {$entity_data_table}.changed))",
      $this->tableAlias . '_' . $this->field
    );

  }
}

modules/custom/CUSTOM_MODULE/src/Plugin/views/sort/NullSafeStatisticsLastUpdated.php

namespace Drupal\CUSTOM_MODULE\Plugin\views\sort;

use Drupal\views\Attribute\ViewsSort;
use Drupal\views\Plugin\views\sort\Date;

/**
 * NULL‑safe sort for newer of last comment / entity updated.
 */
#[ViewsSort('comment_ces_last_updated_nullsafe')]
class NullSafeStatisticsLastUpdated extends Date {

  public function query() {
    $this->ensureMyTable();
    $entity_type = \Drupal::entityTypeManager()->getDefinition($this->getEntityType());
    $entity_data_table = $this->query->ensureTable($entity_type->getDataTable(), $this->relationship);

    $this->field_alias = $this->query->addOrderBy(
      NULL,
      "GREATEST({$entity_data_table}.changed, COALESCE({$this->tableAlias}.last_comment_timestamp, {$entity_data_table}.changed))",
      $this->options['order'],
      $this->tableAlias . '_' . $this->field
    );
  }
}

Add regression tests for comment statistics sort with and without comment supported node types, so we don't need to do that later.

This test failure seems unrelated — it’s complaining about a missing schema definition for click_sort_column, but that property is already used in many places in core. A bit annoying to have to fix this, and I’m not sure whether it should be addressed here or spun off into a separate follow-up, though a quick issue search talks about it here 🌱 Make views consistent in code, schema, tests, and APIs Needs review .

There should be no errors in configuration 'views.view.test_comment_last_updated_click_sort'. Errors:
├ Schema key views.view.test_comment_last_updated_click_sort:display.default.display_options.fields.comment_entity_statistics_last_updated.click_sort_column failed with: missing schema