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Add a sort fields by dictionary sort option.

Currently In tools like the select and join you have the ability to sort the field order by ‘Field’. As I understand if this sorts the fields by ASCII order from the smallest to the largest character that you can display.
 
The English-language ASCII sequence is consistent with the order shown in the following:
blank ! " # $ % & ' ( ) * + , - . /0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 : ; < = > ? @
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z[ ] ˆ_
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z { } ~
 
I would find it very useful to have the ability to use a dictionary sort in these tools.
4 Comments
Ned
Alteryx Alumni (Retired)
If I understand you correctly, you are talking about the select tool, as will as its embedded variants of the select in join, spatial match, etc... 

Mostly I like it, but it will take some thought to figure out how to fit in the UI for all the different languages.  We will discuss in the team and see if we can make it work for the future.
nick_schimweg
8 - Asteroid
You got it. Thanks Ned.
FFFool
9 - Comet

@Ned@nick_schimweg

 

I see that the Dictionary option is a possibility in the sort tool, However, when that box is checked and you sort on a date, that throws it out of order. Wondering if we should have a date field over-ride the Dictionary Check-box in the Sort tool. I can create a new idea if it is not relevant enough to this one. Just happened to notice this when one of my analysts accidentally clicked the box and we started picking up the wrong files in our dynamic input tool. 

 

Thanks,

JMB001
8 - Asteroid

The behavior is also tied to the data type like FFFool points out. When all characters are V_Strings and using the ASCII list above for a "Dictionary Order" in the Sort Tool you get the following outcome where the 0 is moved:

 

Field1

Null

'
!
"
#
$
%
&
(
)
*
,
-
.
/
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
:
;
?
@
[
]
ˆ_
{
}
~
+
0
<
=
>
a
A
b
B
c
C
d
D
e
E
f
F
g
G
h
H
i
I
j
J
k
K
l
L
m
M
n
N
o
O
p
P
q
Q
r
R
s
S
t
T
u
U
v
V
w
W
x
X
y
Y
z
Z