The By drop-down menu lists items used as a basis for a complex sort condition (for example, sorting Cities by the revenue generated in each). The drop-down menu includes each numerical data item in the report as well as the keyword entry "label." These choices provide two ways to sort the dimensional item specified in the Sort menu:
Sorting by Label—By default Interactive Reporting sorts dimensional data items alphabetically by name when you create your report – this is equivalent to sorting by labels. When selected, label indicates that the item chosen from the Sort list is sorted by label or name, rather than by reference to corresponding numeric data values in the report.
Sorting by Value—Sorting by a numeric data item orders each value of the target item chosen from the Sort list by its corresponding numeric value in the Value list.
Sorting by values produces an entirely different sort order. For example, your chart may list each state in which your company has made sales revenue and the total cost-of-sales for each. The states are initially listed in alphabetical order. When you sort by cost-of-goods, the states are ranked in order by each corresponding cost-of-sales figure.