Sort Tool
Sort Tool
One Tool Example
Sort has a One Tool Example. Go to Sample Workflows to learn how to access this and many other examples directly in Alteryx Designer.
Use Sort to arrange the records in a table in alphanumeric order based on the values of the specified data fields.
Configure the Tool
Use Dictionary Order: This is checked by default for English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish languages. Use the associated dropdown, then select a character or language set to sort by.
Sort Method
Depending on the language of your Designer instance, a different default sort order might be used. Consult the Language and Region User Settings to read more about the default Sort Method.
Sort Priority
Letters are sorted alphabetically.
With dictionary sort, each lowercase letter comes before the uppercase equivalent. The letters are sorted in the order of the selected language's alphabet. Note that this is the default selection for English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish versions of Designer.
With Unicode Code Point sort, the uppercase set comes before the lowercase set. All letters without accent marks come before all letters with accent marks.
English Dictionary | Swedish Dictionary | Unicode Code Point |
|---|---|---|
a | a | A |
A | A | Y |
ă | y | Z |
Ă | Y | a |
y | Z | y |
Y | a | Ă |
Z | Ă | ă |
Numeric strings are sorted before letter values.
With dictionary sort, numeric strings are sorted from the smallest to the largest number. Note that this is the default selection for English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish versions of Designer.
With non-dictionary sort, numeric strings are sorted left to right, character by character.
Dictionary Order | Unicode Code Point |
|---|---|
1 | 1 |
2 | 10 |
3 | 100 |
10 | 11 |
11 | 110 |
100 | 2 |
110 | 3 |
With dictionary sort, punctuation is grouped and sorts before other values. Note that this is the default selection for English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish versions of Designer.
With Unicode Code Point sort, punctuation is ordered by ASCII value and is not grouped.
Dictionary Order | Unicode Code Point |
|---|---|
, | , |
~ | Z |
a | a |
Z | ~ |
Sort by Columns
In the Sort by Columns section, use the dropdowns to select the columns you want to sort and the order to sort in.
Name: The column (field) to sort on.
Order: The sequence the output follows. Choose from...
Ascending: The default value.
Descending
If the data is sorted on multiple columns, the Sort tool determines the sort order with the columns list, starting with the uppermost entry. Manipulate the list sorting order with the Up, Down, and Delete buttons on the right.
Important
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. Record1 is before Record2 in the sorted output.