diff --git a/.eslintrc b/.eslintrc
index 79a8f02d..61c540d3 100644
--- a/.eslintrc
+++ b/.eslintrc
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
         "mocha": true
     },
     "parserOptions": {
-        "ecmaVersion": 2018
+        "ecmaVersion": 2020
     },
     "globals": {
         "SELECT": true,
diff --git a/data-viewer/app/viewer/app.js b/data-viewer/app/viewer/app.js
index e09e5a2d..41e806d2 100644
--- a/data-viewer/app/viewer/app.js
+++ b/data-viewer/app/viewer/app.js
@@ -2,12 +2,19 @@
 const GET = (url) => axios.get('/-data'+url)
 const storageGet = (key, def) => localStorage.getItem('data-viewer:'+key) || def
 const storageSet = (key, val) => localStorage.setItem('data-viewer:'+key, val)
+const columnKeysFirst = (c1, c2) => {
+  if (c1.isKey  && !c2.isKey) return -1
+  if (!c1.isKey && c2.isKey) return 1
+  if (c1.isKey && c2.isKey) return c1.name.localeCompare(c2.name)
+  return 0 // retain natural order of normal columns
+}
 
 const vue = new Vue ({
 
   el:'#app',
 
   data: {
+    error: undefined,
     dataSource: storageGet('data-source', 'db'),
     skip: storageGet('skip', 0),
     top: storageGet('top', 20),
@@ -32,6 +39,7 @@ const vue = new Vue ({
       if (vue.dataSource === 'db')  url += `?dataSource=db`
       const {data} = await GET(url)
       vue.entities = data.value
+      vue.entities.forEach(entity => entity.columns.sort(columnKeysFirst))
       const entity = vue.entity && vue.entities.find(e => e.name === vue.entity.name)
       if (entity) { // restore selection from previous fetch
         vue.columns = entity.columns
@@ -54,11 +62,30 @@ const vue = new Vue ({
     async fetchData () {
       let url = `/Data?entity=${vue.entity.name}&$skip=${vue.skip}&$top=${vue.top}`
       if (vue.dataSource === 'db')  url += `&dataSource=db`
-      const {data} = await GET(url)
-      vue.data = data.value.map(d => d.record.map(r => r.data))
-      const row = vue.data.find(data => vue._makeRowKey(data) === vue.rowKey)
-      if (row)  vue._setRowDetails(row)
-      else vue.rowDetails = {}
+
+      try {
+        const {data} = await GET(url)
+        // sort data along column order
+        const columnIndexes = {}
+        vue.columns.forEach((col, i) => columnIndexes[col.name] = i)
+        vue.data = data.value.map(d => d.record
+          .sort((r1, r2) => columnIndexes[r1.column] - columnIndexes[r2.column])
+          .map(r => r.data)
+        )
+        const row = vue.data.find(data => vue._makeRowKey(data) === vue.rowKey)
+        if (row)  vue._setRowDetails(row)
+        else vue.rowDetails = {}
+        vue.error = undefined
+      } catch (err) {
+        if (err.response?.data?.error) {
+          vue.error = err.response?.data?.error
+        } else {
+          vue.error = err
+        }
+        vue.data = []
+        vue.rowDetails = {}
+      }
+
     },
 
     inspectRow (eve) {
diff --git a/data-viewer/app/viewer/index.html b/data-viewer/app/viewer/index.html
index 3e91bb4a..1ec4f1ff 100644
--- a/data-viewer/app/viewer/index.html
+++ b/data-viewer/app/viewer/index.html
@@ -7,13 +7,14 @@
   <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/axios/dist/axios.min.js"></script>
   <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/vue"></script>
   <style>
+    th { position: sticky; top:0; z-index: 2; background-color: white; }
     .noscroll { overflow: hidden; }
     .hovering tr:hover td { background: #ebeefc; cursor: pointer; }
     .highlight { background: #ebeefc !important; }
     .rating-stars { color:teal }
     .succeeded { color:teal }
     .failed { color:red }
-    .condensed { max-width: 100px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; }
+    .condensed { max-width: 100px; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; }
     .key { font-weight: bold }
     .not-key { font-weight: lighter;}
     .with-sidebar { display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 1rem; }
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@
     .not-sidebar-sub {  max-height: 40vh; overflow-y: scroll; }
     .horizontal label { display: inline; }
     .horizontal input { width: initial; display: inline; }
+    .error { color: red; }
   </style>
 </head>
 
@@ -60,7 +62,7 @@
         <label for="top">Top:</label>
         <input id="top" v-model.lazy="top" title="No. of entries to read" type="number" min="0">
       </div>
-      <div v-if="entity" class="not-sidebar-main">
+      <div v-if="data" class="not-sidebar-main">
         <table id='data' class="hovering striped-table condensed">
           <thead>
             <th v-for="col in columns" :title="col.type" :class="[col.isKey ? 'key' : 'not-key']">{{ col.name }} </th>
@@ -70,6 +72,9 @@
           </tr>
         </table>
       </div>
+      <div v-if="error" class="not-sidebar-main error">
+        Error: {{ error.code }} &ndash; {{ error.message }}
+      </div>
       <p></p>
       <div v-if="rowDetails"  class="not-sidebar-sub">
         <table id='rowDetails'>