Setting a default dimension value order

In an auto-generated dimension, you don't have direct access to and, hence, can't manually rank, the dimension values. Instead, you must set a default rank order.

Default dimension value ranking is used with dimensions that are auto-generated.

Note: The paragraph above describes Developer Studio's default behavior with respect to auto-generated dimensions. Developer Studio also offers features that allow you load and/or promote an auto-generated dimension in Developer Studio so that you can edit it, including setting manual ranking for its values.

To set a default dimension value rank order:

In Dimension view, double-click the dimension you want to edit to open it in the Dimension editor.
From the Refinements sort order menu, choose one of the following:
- Alpha, to rank the dimension in ascending alphabetical order.
- Integer, to rank the dimension in ascending numerical order.
- Floating point, to rank the dimension in ascending numerical order.
Click OK.

To better understand the difference between the dimension value ordering types, consider an example of a dimension called Score that has the dimension values 1, 5, 5.5, 9, and 10. The following table shows what the ordering would be for each type.

Original dimension	Alpha ordering	Integer ordering	Floating point ordering
-- Score	1	1	1
-- 1	10	5	5
-- 5	5	5	5.5
-- 5.5	5.5	9	9
-- 9	9	10	10
-- 10

With integer ordering, the value 5.5 has been truncated to 5, and it is unclear which 5 is the original version and which is the truncated version. For some applications this may be acceptable, for others it is not. Additionally, integer ordering is significantly faster than floating point ordering. When choosing a numeric ordering type, you must balance the needs of your application against the extra time it takes to use floating point ordering.

Note:

The Refinements Sort Order setting has no bearing on how records are sorted. It only controls how refinement dimension values are sorted.
Configuring a dimension so that its dimension values are pruned according to their popularity overrides any manual or default dimension value ranking you may have specified.