Copyright © Cloud Software Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Sorting a Case List

The iProcess Workspace (Browser) allows you to sort the information in the columns of the case list so they are in the order you would like them listed.

For example, you may want to list all cases started by user “susieq” first, then sort those by case-started date/time, from oldest to most recent. This example would require you to sort on two fields: “Started By” and “Started Date/Time”.

To specify how cases in the case list are sorted:

•	click on the icon, or

•	select Sort... from the case list View menu.

The following dialog is displayed.

The list on the left shows all of the fields that are available to sort on. To sort the case list, you must move the desired fields from the list on the left to the list on the right, then arrange them in the desired priority (order). This is described in the following subsections.

By default, all case lists are sorted by case number, in ascending order.

If you had applied sort criteria the last time you viewed the case list, that same sort criteria will be applied when you open the list again — in other words, the most recently applied sort criteria will remain in effect until you remove it or change it. If previously applied sort criteria is still active when the work item list is displayed, a green check mark will be shown with the Sort icon. Note that sort criteria for a particular list is saved either locally or on the server, depending on a configuration setting made by the system administrator: − If saved locally, and you log into a different machine, the sort you defined for a particular list will not be in effect on that new machine — sort criteria defined on a specific machine will apply only to that individual machine. − If saved on the server, and you log into a different machine (and connect to the same server), the sort criteria you defined will be in effect on the new machine.

Selecting Sort Fields

The Available Fields list on the sort dialog provides a list of the fields you can sort on. It consists of:

•	System Fields - These fields contain information that is provided by the system, e.g., the date and time the case was started, the case number, etc.

A comprehensive list of available system fields is provided in System Fields Available for Sorting Cases.

•	Case Data Fields - These are fields that are defined by the designer of the procedure and that are placed on forms in the procedure.

For example, there may be a “Last Name” field defined in the procedure. You can sort the cases so that they are listed alphabetically according to the text in the “Last Name” field.

Note that case data fields contain “case data” (as opposed to “work item data”). (“Work item data” is the data associated with a work item while it’s in a work queue — if you enter information in a form, then “keep” the work item, work item data includes those changes. “Case data” is the information that is written to the database after you’ve “released” the work item — if you enter information in a form, then “keep” the work item, case data does not include those changes.) For more information about these types of data, see Case Data Fields.

To specify sort fields:

1.	Select the desired sort fields from the Available Fields list:

−	Individual fields can be selected by clicking on the desired name.

−	Multiple fields can be selected by holding down the Ctrl key while clicking on the desired names. A group of fields can be selected by clicking on one name, then holding down the Shift key and clicking on the last name in the desired group.

2.	Move the columns to the desired list:

−	Fields can be moved back and forth between lists by selecting the desired field(s), then clicking the “>” or “<“ buttons.

−	You can also move an individual field to the other list by double-clicking on the field name.

−	All fields can be moved from the Sort Fields list to the Available Fields list by clicking on the “<<“ button.

Note that you can specify a maximum of 5 sort fields for a case list.

Specifying Sort Priority

The order in which the sort fields are listed in the Sort Fields window specifies the priority of the sort. If you have multiple sort fields listed, all cases will first be sorted by the first sort field, then they will be sorted by the next sort field, and so on. For example, if you specified “Case Status” as the first sort field, then “Started Date/Time” as the second sort field (both ascending), the cases would be sorted in the following fashion:

 

Active	Jan. 1, 2006
Active	Jan. 2, 2006
Active	Jan. 3, 2006
Closed	Jan. 1, 2006
Closed	Jan. 2, 2006
Closed	Jan. 3, 2006

In the example shown above, all active cases will be listed first, followed by the closed cases. Within each group of active and closed cases, they are sorted by the date and time they were started.

To change the priority, select the desired sort field(s) in the Sort Fields window, then click on the “+” or “-” button to move the field(s) up or down in the list.

Specifying a Sort Direction

The list of cases can be sorted in either ascending or descending order:

When a sort field is added to the Sort Fields list, it is ascending by default, which is denoted by the up arrow next to the field name:

To change the sort direction, select the desired sort field in the Sort Fields list, then click on the up or down arrow buttons on the sort dialog:

The arrow next to the field name will change to indicate the new sort direction:

System Fields Available for Sorting Cases

The following table lists the system fields available for sorting cases:

 

Sort Field	Data Type
Case Description	Text
Case Number	Numeric
Case Status (“A” = Active; “C” = Closed)	Text
Started Bya	Text
Started Date/Time	DateTime
Terminated Date/Time	DateTime

a. Sorting by Started By is inherently inefficient — sorting by this field may slow down the sorting process.

Note that the way in which the system sorts the values in the sort fields depends on the type of data in that field.

For instance, since the “Case Description” field is text data, that field is sorted alphabetically; and since the “Started Date/Time” field is a DateTime data type, it is sorted chronologically according to the date/time.

Sort As Different Data Type

The way in which the system sorts the values in the sort fields depends on the type of data in that field (e.g., text data is sorted alphabetically, numeric data is sorted numerically, etc.).

You can, however, tell the application to sort the data in a field using a data type that is different than the field’s data type. For instance, you can tell it to sort the data in the Case Description system field (which is a text field) as numeric data.

To sort a field as a different data type, select the desired sort field in the Sort Fields list, then click on the desired data type in the Sort As field:

The value of the sort field will be converted to the specified data type before doing the sorting. Note, however, that if the sort field does not contain something readily convertible to the specified type, the sort results may not be what you expect. For example, if sorting text as a numeric field but some of the text fields contain non-numeric data, the results may not be what you expected.

Applying the Sort Criteria

After specifying the sort fields, priority, direction, etc., click on the OK button to apply the sort criteria you’ve specified.

Anytime you modify a sort criteria, and have not yet clicked the OK button to apply it, the following message is shown to notify you that the changed sort criteria has not been applied:

Whenever the message shown above is displayed, the OK button will be active.

When you click the OK button, a red check mark appears on the Sort icon to indicate sort criteria has been applied.

Sorting the Case List Using Column Headers

You can quickly and easily sort the case list on any one of the columns in the list. To sort on a column, click on the column header. If the column contains text, it is sorted in alphabetical order; if it is numeric, it is sorted in numerical order.

Once you click on a column header, a small arrow head appears in the column header, which indicates the order of the sort — if the arrow head is pointing up, the sort is in ascending order; if it’s pointing down, the sort is in descending order:

Each successive click on the column header, toggles between ascending and descending order.

Note that the ability to sort using column headers is controlled through user access privileges — if you do not have the authority to sort using column headers, the arrow head does not appear in the header when you click it.

Copyright © Cloud Software Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved