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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.

Configure the tool

Use Dictionary Order: Select to enable the associated drop down, then select a character or language set to sort by.

Letters are sorted alphabetically.

Using the default sort, the uppercase set comes before the lowercase set. All letters without accent marks come before all letters with accent marks.

Using the dictionary sort, each lowercase letter comes before the uppercase equivalent. The letters are sorted in the order of the selected language's alphabet.

Letter string sort example

Default	English Dictionary	Swedish Dictionary
A	a	a
Y	A	A
Z	Ä	y
Ä	Ä	Y
a	y	Z
y	Y	a
Ä	Z	Ä

Numeric strings are sorted before letter values.

Using the default sort, numeric strings are sorted left to right, character by character.

Using the dictionary sort, numeric strings are sorted from the smallest to largest number.

Numeric string sort example

Default	Dictionary
1	1
10	2
100	3
11	10
110	11
2	100
3	110

Using the default sort, punctuation is ordered by ASCII value and is not grouped.

Using the dictionary sort, punctuation is grouped and sorts before other values.

Punctuation sort example

Default	Dictionary
,	,
Z	~
a	a
~	Z

Select sort Fields with the drop downs.

Name: The column to sort on.
Order: The sequence the output follows. The default value is Ascending.

If the data is sorted on multiple columns, the Sort tool determines sorting order with the Fields list, starting with the uppermost entry. Manipulate the list sorting order with the Up, Down, and Delete buttons on the right.

The Sort tool uses a stable sorting algorithm to maintain the relative order of rows that have equal sort values.
Two records are input, Record1 before Record2. The records have the same value being sorted on. Record1 is before Record2 in the sorted output.