Sorting Options Menu and Buttons

This section explains about sorting values in columns.

Sorting Mechanisms

You can use one of the following mechanisms to sort values in columns:

• Right-click in the column header of pivot tables and tables to display the following list of options for sorting the columns. In the Selected Columns pane, click the Options button. You can also right-click to display the Right-Click Menu for Tables and Pivot Tables, where you can select options for sorting.
• Sort Ascending - Sorts the values in the column by ascending order, as a first-level sort. For example, string values sort alphabetically A through Z, numbers sort lowest to highest, and dates sort earliest to latest. In the Selected Columns pane, when you select this option as the first sort, a Sort button is displayed to the left of the column name in the Selected Columns pane. If you later add another sort, then the Sort button includes the number 1.
• Sort Descending - Sorts the values in the column by descending order, as a first-level sort. In the Selected Columns pane, when you select this option as the first sort, a Sort button is displayed to the left of the column name in the Selected Columns pane. If you later add another sort, then the Sort button includes the number 1.
• Add Ascending Sort - Specifies that an ascending sort for this column is added as another sort for the analysis. In the Selected Columns pane, when you select this option, a Sort button with a number such as 2 or 3 is displayed to the left of the column name in the Selected Columns pane.
• Add Descending Sort - Specifies that an descending sort for this column is added as another sort for the analysis. In the Selected Columns pane, when you select this option, a Sort button with a number such as 2 or 3 is displayed to the left of the column name in the Selected Columns pane.
• Clear Sort - Removes the sort specification for the specified column. This option works differently in the Selected Columns pane than in other places. If you make sort specifications in both the Selected Columns pane and in the view itself, then you return to the Selected Columns pane and click Clear Sort, only the sort that you specified in the Selected Columns pane is removed. A sort that you specified in the view remains.
• Clear Sorts in All Columns or Clear All Sorts in View - Removes all sort specifications that you have made. The Clear Sorts in All Columns option works differently in the Selected Columns pane than in other places. If you make sort specifications in both the Selected Columns pane and in the view itself, then you return to the Selected Columns pane and click Clear Sorts for All Columns, only the sorts that you specified in the Selected Columns pane are removed. Sorts that you specified in the view remain.
• Hover the mouse pointer over the area to the right of the column name in the header of a pivot table or table and click either the upward facing triangle (Sort Ascending) or the downward facing triangle (Sort Descending) for that column. These sort specifications override those that you make with the right-click menu. Hovering is not available in the Selected Columns pane.

If you see a shaded-in sort button in the column header or the row header, then you know that the column contains a primary sort. You can add a second-level or third-level sort by hovering over another innermost column header or row header and clicking the appropriate sort button.

These options are also available in the Results tab: Data View editor, the Results tab: Table editor, and in views on dashboards. The Sort Ascending and Sort Descending triangles are not available in the Selected Columns pane or the Layout pane.