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transformations:sort

SORT

Category: Transform / Basic


Description

This action sorts the table by one or more columns in ascending or descending order. Order of the columns matters.

Since the values of a column can be of mixed types, the sorting order depends on the value type. For ascending sorting, the order is the following:

  • Errors
  • Empty cells
  • Boolean values
  • Text
  • Numbers

In descending order, the sorting order is the reverse.


Use cases

  • To find the least/greatest amounts in a column. (numeric)
  • To create an alphabetized list. (text)
  • To establish a date-time ordered list. (date)
  • To discover errors in a column by grouping them at the top/bottom of the column. (error)


Action settings

SettingDescription
ColumnsSelect the column to arrange the values of.
Sort orderOptions: Ascending and Descending. This setting determines the order of the sort for the selected column.

Additional columns can be added to the sorting criteria by clicking the Sort by more columns option.


Examples

Example 1 (single-column sort): Arrange the rivers in alphabetical order.

Source table: The longest rivers in the world

River Length (km) Continent
Nile 6650Africa
Amazon 6400South America
Yangtze 6300Asia
Mississippi 6275North America
Yenisei 5539Asia
Yellow River 5464Asia
Ob 5410Asia
Paraná 4880South America


Action parameters:

Column: River
Sorting order: Ascending


Result table:

River Length (km) Continent
Amazon 6400South America
Mississippi 6275North America
Nile 6650Africa
Ob 5410Asia
Paraná 4880South America
Yangtze 6300Asia
Yellow River 5464Asia
Yenisei 5539Asia



Example 2 (two-column sort): Arrange values in ascending order by Continent, then River (using the source table above).

Action parameters:

Column, Sorting order: Continent, ascending
Column, Sorting order: River, ascending


Result table:

River Length (km) Continent
Nile 6650Africa
Ob 5410Asia
Yangtze 6300Asia
Yellow River 5464Asia
Yenisei 5539Asia
Mississippi 6275North America
Amazon 6400South America
Paraná 4880South America


Community examples


Shortcuts

Fast ways to create the action:

  • Right-click on the heading of the column to sort and select "Sort".
  • To sort by multiple columns, select the columns included in the sort. Right-click on one of the selected column headings and select "Sort". Columns will be sorted in left-to-right column order.
transformations/sort.txt · Last modified: 2021/07/18 23:13 by craigt

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