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Sort Tool

The Sort tool arranges the records in a table in alphanumeric order based on the values of the specified data fields.

Configuration Properties

Sort fields are chosen by pulling down the drop down button, revealing the fields in the data table.

  1. Select the Name of the field to sort on.

  2. Select the Order of the sort. The default value is Ascending.

  3. If multiple fields are used to sort the data, the Sort tool uses the Fields list to determine the field sorting order, starting with the uppermost entry. Manipulate the field sorting order with the Up, Down, and Delete buttons on the right.

  4. The Use Dictionary Order option allows you to select the type of language characters in the source data. By selecting this option, the sort tool will sort according to the selected character/language set.

    5.  

    Default Sort Order

    (without Use Dictionary Order enabled)

    Dictionary Sort Order

    (with Use Dictionary Order enabled)

    Letters

    Letters are sorted alphabetically and uppercase letters come before lowercase letters in the list.

    Record #

    Data Field

    1

    A

    2

    B

    3

    Y

    4

    Z

    5

    a

    6

    b

    7

    y

    8

    z

    Letters WITHOUT accent marks come before letters WITH accent marks.

    Record #

    Data Field

    1

    A

    2

    Z

    3

    Ă

     

    Letters are sorted alphabetically and lowercase letters come before uppercase letters for each letter in the list.

    Record #

    Data Field

    1

    a

    2

    A

    3

    b

    4

    B

    5

    y

    6

    Y

    7

    z

    8

    Z

    With English Dictionary sort:

    Letters are sorted the way they show in an English dictionary, with similar letters together.

    Record #

    Data Field

    1

    A

    2

    Ă

    3

    Z

    With Swedish Dictionary sort:

    Letters are sorted in the order of the Swedish alphabet.

    Record #

    Data Field

    1

    A

    2

    Z

    3

    Ă

     

    Numeric Strings

    Numeric strings are sorted left to right, character by character, and come before letters in the list.

    Record #

    Data Field

    1

    1

    2

    10

    3

    100

    4

    11

    5

    110

    6

    2

    7

    3

     

    Numeric strings are sorted from the smallest number to the largest number and come before letters in the list.

    Record #

    Data Field

    1

    1

    2

    2

    3

    3

    4

    10

    5

    11

    6

    100

    7

    110

     

    Punctuation

    Some punctuation is sorted before letters and some are sorted after (based on the underlying ASCII value of the character).

    Record #

    Data Field

    1

    ,

    2

    Z

    3

    a

    4

    ~

     

    Punctuation is always sorted first.

     

    Record #

    Data Field

    1

    ,

    2

    ~

    3

    a

    4

    Z

     

The Sort tool utilizes a stable sorting algorithm, which maintains the relative order of records that have equal keys or values.
Two records are input, Record1 before Record2. The records have the same key. Record1 will appear before Record2 in the sorted list.

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