Sort items by name in template instead of controller - angularjs

Question

Here is my runable Plunker
I want to sort items by name. This is the bug, for the top one, "Please select a student name", it displays as an empty field.
<select ng-options="student as student.name for student in students | orderBy: sortNameExcludeTopOne"
ng-model = "student">
</select>
$scope.sortNameExcludeTopOne = function(student) {
if (student.id === 0) {
return -1;
}
return student.name;
}
What I want:
Now I sort items by its name by using a custom function in the controller, can we do sort items by its name in the template? instead of in controller?
What UI I want for select is:
"Please select a student name" -> "Bar" -> "Foo"
Update: I want the "Please select a student name" at the top of select

Answer 1

You don't need push the item to array, you can put then direct in the view:
<select ng-options="student as student.name for student in students | orderBy: 'name'" ng-model = "student">
<option value="">Please select a student name</option>
</select>

Answer 2

You want the options available to them sorted by the name:
<select ng-options="student as student.name for student in students | orderBy: 'name'" ng-model="student">
</select>
That should sort the students by their 'name' property.
Edit:
If you want to add the extra option at the top, then, use your controller to sort the 'students' first:
students() {
const studentList = someStudents();
studentList.sort((a, b) => {
if(a.name < b.name) return -1;
if(a.name > b.name) return 1;
return 0;
});
studentList.unshift({ new: option, goes: here });
}
Then you can sort it there, and insert one more option at the beginning with the option you want visible.
Incidentally you could use orderBy: 'name' still, assuming your options are based on 'value'; you'd have to have one more default entry with a numeric value like so:
<select ng-options="student as student.name for student in students | orderBy: 'name'"
ng-model="student">
<option value="-1">Please select a student name:</option>
</select>