You define a sort in a query to extract data in a specific
order.
About this task
A sort can be specified using the native sort or
IBM® Rational® Publishing Engine sort.
The native sort allows you to enter the sort in the format supported
native to the data source. A native sort is interpreted by the data
source, while a
Rational Publishing Engine sort
is processed by
Rational Publishing Engine as
it extracts data from the data source.
For more information on native
sorts, consult the Integrating section of this information center
for your data source and the information center for that data source
to find details on the appropriate syntax.
Procedure
- Select an element in the template content editor.
- In the Properties view, expand Data.
- In the Sort property, click the
ellipsis. The Sort Editor window
displays.
- Specify the sort conditions:
- To use the Rational Publishing Engine sort,
click the Script tab to add to the sort expression.
- Select an attribute from the available attributes column.
- Click the >> icon to add the attribute
to the selected column.
- For the Direction, select Ascending or Descending.
- For Sort as, select one of the following
values:
- Number: Sorts the data as numeric values.
You can use this value when an attribute is defined as a string in
the schema, but the values are all numbers.
- Text: Sorts the data as string values.
- No selection: You can leave the value deselected. The default
value is no selection so that the data is sorted by the information
defined in the schema.
Note: If you are unsure whether the data contains number or text
values, leave the
Sort as value deselected.
- If you select the wrong sort type, the sort might produced undefined
results.
- If all of the values have an identical string prefix followed
by a number and you select Number for the Sort
as field, the data might sort correctly in some circumstances
and not in others.
In both of these situations, leave the
Sort as value
deselected.
- Click OK.
- To use a native sort, click the Native tab
and enter the sort expression in the Native window.
Click OK.
Whenever possible, use a native sort. The native sort generates
documents more quickly than a Rational Publishing Engine sort.
- Click OK.
Results
The selected sort order is added to the current element.
Note: Rational Publishing Engine cannot
check if the native sort is correct. Compare the sort with a sort
in the data source to verify accuracy.
What to do next
You can remove the sort expressions by clicking
Remove option
displayed against each item. To remove all items, click
Remove
All.