private void restoreColumnSortState(Element xmlElement) {
		final TableSortState sortState = TableSortState.restoreFromXML(xmlElement);
		if (sortState == null) {
			return;
		}

		TableModel model = table.getModel();
		if (!(model instanceof SortedTableModel)) {
			// this implies a model has been changed and the preferences are for the old model
			return;
		}

		SortedTableModel sortedModel = (SortedTableModel) model;
		if (!isValidSortState(sortState, sortedModel)) {
			return; // no longer valid--don't restore
		}
		sortedModel.setTableSortState(sortState);
	}
Gets the most unique identifier possible for a given column.
Ghidra/Framework/Docking/src/main/java/docking/widgets/table/TableColumnModelState.java