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Sort Records (New Layout/Report assistant)

In this panel of the New Layout/Report assistant, you select the fields that you want the records sorted by.

The sort hierarchy is determined by the order you specify. For example, if you want to sort by year and then month, choose the Year field first, then the Month field.

If you are creating a report with grouped data and have selected one or more break fields, you see them at the top of the Sort order list with a lock icon. You can't remove them or change their position because the records must be sorted by those fields first for the report categories to display properly.

 

To	Do this
Include a field to sort by	In Report fields, double-click the fields you want, in the order you want them used in the sort hierarchy. (Or, select a field, then click Move.)
Remove fields you've already selected	In Sort order, double-click the field you want to remove. (Or, select a field, then click Clear.)
Change the order of the fields to change the sorting hierarchy	In Sort order, drag the double arrow next to the field name to a new position.
Change the way FileMaker Pro sorts the fields	With the field selected in Sort order, click  • Ascending order to sort in alphabetical order for text, lowest to highest for numbers, and earliest to latest for dates and times.  • Descending order to sort in reverse alphabetical order for text, highest to lowest for numbers, and latest to earliest for dates and times.  • Custom order based on value list and choose (or define) a value list to sort in the order that matches a field's value list. For example, sort in order by month.
Reorder the records based on the values in a summary field	In Sort order, select the non-summary field that you want to reorder based on the values in a summary field. Click Reorder based on summary field, and click Specify. In the Specify Field dialog box, select a summary field and click OK.

Notes and tips

•

By default, the field list in the Sort Records dialog box shows only the fields from the current layout. If you want to sort using other fields, return the Specify Fields panel, choose a table from the tables list above the list of fields, select additional fields, then return to the Sort Records panel.

•	Data sorts differently in different field types. See Sorting records.

•	Repeating fields sort by the value in the first repetition.

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The Reorder based on summary field option lets you sort grouped summary data. Suppose you want to group data by region, then display total sales in each region from highest to lowest rather than alphabetically by region. To do this, you can define a summary field in the file (for example, Total Sales) and group the report by Region in the Organize Records by Category panel of the New Layout/Report assistant. Next include and select the Region field in the Sort order list of the assistant’s Sort Records panel, select Reorder based on summary field, and choose the summary field Total Sales in the Select Field dialog box.

•	System formats affect the way numbers, dates, and times sort.

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When you define a text field, the default language for indexing and sorting text is determined by the operating system on which FileMaker Pro is running. You can override the default language for a sort and specify a different language. See Options for sorting records. To permanently change a field’s default language, see Defining field indexing options.

Related topics 

Creating a layout