Details on Column Properties – Sort Order


When the selected column is a String, it is possible to change the sort order from the standard sort order of the data type to natural string sort or to a custom sort order.

Note: If you are working with in-database data and the external data source already has defined a sort order, then you will not be able to modify the sort order here.

  1. Select Edit > Column Properties.

  2. Click on the Sort Order tab.

data_properties_sort_order.png

Top part of dialog

Option

Description

Data table

Only available when more than one data table is available in the analysis. Specifies the data table that you are currently viewing column properties for.

Columns and hierarchies

Lists all columns and hierarchies available in the data table. You can narrow down the list of available columns by typing a part of a name in the "Type to search" field. You can also enter an expression in the field, using the rules described on the Searching in TIBCO Spotfire page.

Insert

 

     Calculated Column

Opens the Insert Calculated Column dialog, where you can create a new column from an expression.

     Binned Column

Opens the Insert Binned Column dialog, where you can group the values of a column into a smaller number of bins (groups).

     Hierarchy

Opens the Insert Hierarchy dialog, where you can create a hierarchy (an ordered structure) by combining columns with each other.

Delete

Removes the selected column or hierarchy from the data table.

Sort Order tab

Option

Description

Sort column values by

[The options below are only applicable to String columns.]

   Standard sort order for data type
   

Use this option to apply the standard sort order for the data type of the selected column. For example, this means that a string column will be sorted alphabetically. Below is an example of how strings containing digits and non-alphanumeric characters will be sorted:

a#

a1

a20

a3

b1

   Natural string sort
   

Use this option to apply natural string sort order to the selected column. This means that a string column will be sorted alphabetically. Below is an example of how strings containing digits and non-alphanumeric characters will be sorted:

a1

a3

a20

a#

b1

   Custom sort order
   

Use this option to specify a different sort order. For example, a column containing months could be sorted by the actual order of months as in the example in the image above.
Note: Custom sort order will be disabled if the column contains a large number of unique values.

   Configure...
   

Opens the Custom Sort Order dialog, where the desired sort order can be specified.

   Sample
   

Displays a sample of how the column will be sorted using the current settings.

Apply sort order from column

[The options below are only applicable to String columns.]
To be able to apply a sort order from another column, there must be some matching values in the two columns. If the column with the sort order you want to apply for example contains months, the column you want to sort must contain some of the months. This means that you cannot use a column with months sorted alphabetically to sort a column with names alphabetically.

   Data table
  

Specifies the data table containing the column from which you wish to copy a sort order.

   Column
   

Select a column from the drop-down list to copy a sort order from another column.

   Apply Sort Order
   

Applies the sort order from the chosen column to the currently selected column.

See also:

Column Properties - General

Column Properties - Formatting

Column Properties - Properties

Column Properties – Geocoding

How to Edit Column Properties