Hi Nijel!
I'm too lazy to get the correct sourceforge-Tracker item to my screen so I'm posting this here:
Generally I like the ability to sorty by index, but the current placement takes away too much interface space, IMHO. How about splitting the dropdown up into two: [key] [DESC/ASC] and place it as a new column in the table display. I mean just on the right side of the table headers, where we can already sort by existing fields. There it would have a better context and won't take up too much place. I don't like how nearly half of the screen is taken away by dropdowns etc. before the actual content comes to screen...
BTW: Your arbitrary server patch rocks!!!
Regards, Garvin.