You can also order the result set returned by the SQL query in a relational database connection. You can opt for Ascending, Descending, Selection Order and Default. Default is the natural order in which dimension members are returned, based on the data source outline. Selection Order is the order in which members were selected in Dimension Browser.
You must be aware that unlike OLAP servers, relational cubes are compiled and defined by Web Analysis Studio. The current label mode, alias tables, and selection orders from Dimension Browser are manually coordinated. Sort by alias may perform comparatively slow, as the default query result set is sorted by ID, and sorting by alias requires a complete client-side re-sort.
In addition, the source of the relational dimension header sort impacts performance. Defining a relational dimension header sort using Data Layout sorts all dimensions as part of the query result set being displayed.
You alternatively, can sort a relational dimension using the data object shortcut menu: Data Display / Dimension Header Sort. This method requires you to right-click a dimension header.
Lastly, you can apply dimension header sort definitions to relational generation defined in the Generation Editor. These definitions only impact the sort ordering displayed by the Dimension Browser however. Using the Order By Mode list, you can also specify to order members by ID or Alias.