StartKeys for categorized viewPanel and number column

In case this helps someone:

I have a database shared by a couple of departments, I use a field to segregate them. Each document has a MemberKey with a number value.

The first column is the department, sorted but not categorized, then a view were the column is sorted on numbers. As numbers they don't sort in the "proper" order. So I created a new column that padded it with zeroes to for the sort to be correct:

@Right("00000" + @Text(MemberKey);5)

So the third column is just the number, so it appears properly.

So I want this in an XPage viewPanel and to use the startKeys to get the the number desired.

I set the viewPanel to filter by the department name, and don't display the padded view. But it doesn't work. It doesn't work if I use the padded column either. It's because I'm getting just one category, so it's not really "starting" there.

I noticed the startKeys element can take a Vector, so I tried that. And it works.

I have a view panel that does not

I have a field  where I populate a viewScope called vFilter. If that is null, it return just one element in the vector, the department. Otherwise it returns a two element vector, with the department and the number I want to go to.

Here is my code in the startKeys element. (I'm using part of Thomas Adrian's Intrapages).

var query = new java.util.Vector();
var v = database.getView("(LookupUsers)");
var userdoc:NotesDocument = v.getDocumentByKey("User_UNID_" + userid,true);
if(userdoc!=null){
    query.add(userdoc.getItemValueString('regDepartment'));
    } else {
    query.add("Department not found");
    }
if(viewScope.vFilter != null){
query.add(@Right('00000' +  viewScope.vFilter,5));
return query;
}
return query;

Cheers,
Brian