Sorting cases

At times it is useful to see if any values look unusual. The Sort node arranges cases into ascending or descending order based on the values of one or more fields. It also helps in the optimization of other nodes so that they perform more efficiently:

1. Place a Sort node from the Record Ops palette onto the canvas.
2. Connect the Select node to the Sort node.
3. Edit the Sort node.

You can sort data on more than one field. In addition, each field can be sorted in ascending or descending order:

1. Click on the Field Chooser button.
2. Select Age in the Sort by: fieldbox.
3. Click OK:

We will now rank the age cases in ascending order (the youngest people will be at the top of the file and the oldest people will be at the bottom of the file):

1. Click OK.

Now let's take a look at the results from the Sort node:

1. Connect the Sort node to a Table node.
2. Run the Table node:

Notice that there are no longer any children in this file, as the youngest people in the dataset are 18 years old.