Sort records (and items in any table)

Sorting of records is best performed in Result set View in which records are listed in a table of two or more columns:

Records can be sorted on the values in one or more columns.

Although we demonstrate how to sort items (rows) in Result set View, the broad technique described here is the same for sorting items in all of the many tables you will come across in Collections.

Note about sorting values in columns: indexed, non-indexed and Free text indexed fields

  • Although it is possible to add non-indexed fields as columns in Result set View, it is not possible to sort records by the values in non-indexed fields. To help identify which fields are non-indexed, they are clearly differentiated in the list of fields1.
  • It is not possible to sort on long text fields such as Notes and Description even if they are indexed. These fields typically have a Free text index, which cannot be sorted. An exception is often the (documentation) Title field.

Sort records by the values in one or more columns

If a column header includes three vertically aligned dots, sorting and filtering records based on the values in the column is possible:

Sort and filter

The values in a column can be in one of three states:

Note: If you need to sort records by values in a field that is not included in the Result set View, it is possible to add (and remove) columns in the Result set settings box, which is accessed by selecting Settings in the Result set View toolbar.

Automatic sorting of records in an Advanced search

As we see above, when viewing search results in Result set View it is a simple matter to sort records by values in one or more columns.

It is also possible to adapt a search statement specified on the Advanced search tab of the Search box so that the search results are already sorted when you view them in any of the Display Views.