Chronological hierarchy of sorting in tables

[Kirk_Masden]

Here’s how sorting works on Numbers, Apple’s spreadsheet program:

1. Start with a simple table, where everything is displayed in the original order:

2. Sort a part of the table. In this case, I sorted the Amount in descending order:

3. Sort another part of the table. In this case, I sorted the Category in ascending order:

Notice that, where the Category values are equal, the Amount values remain sorted in descending order.

In table view we can easily sort by tapping on the header at the top (if the headers are displayed). However, when we tap on another header, AppSheet seems to forget what it has just done and sorts the table as though a sort had not preceded it.

If it’s not too difficult (or too expensive in terms of computing power), I think it would be great if AppSheet’s table sort could remember preceding sorts in the manner I’ve described here.

[Aleksi]

If it’s not too complicated to your user, you could that with the Usersettings

[Kirk_Masden]

Thanks @Aleksi! I should have mentioned that I looked at your sorting example:

www.appsheet.com/portfolio/531778

I can see how this use of the Usersettings can be helpful. However, it doesn’t seem to have the flexibility, ease of use, and intuitiveness of the kind of function I described above.

I am also aware that there are other ways to accomplish similar things. For example, here’s a great contribution by @GreenFlux:

Search multiple columns with different criteria Tips & Tricks 💡

The built in search is very easy to use, but it only allows a single search term across all (searchable) columns. [36%20AM] A multi-term search can be built by constructing a Virtual Column of type List with elements of type Reference. The formula should return a list of keys from the table you want to search, and should update the list based on your search terms. FILTER("Order", AND( OR( ISBLANK([_THISROW].[Status]) , IN([Status] ,[_THISROW].[Status]) ), OR( ISBLANK([_THISR…

It might be possible to add the sorting order of a column or two to this kind of interface as well.

So, I understand that there are ways to accomplish similar things as the platform is constituted right now. It just seems to me that, from both the perspective of the app developer and the user, it would be a significant step forward in table sorting could be “cumulative,” instead of starting over with each tap.

[Aleksi]

Understood

[Philip_Guin]

Hey there, could y’all prioritize this? This feature is referred to as “stable sort” and is quite standard in the software world. Adding it is usually quite simple (just a change in sort algorithm) and would eliminate the need for multiple table views with groupings to effectively do the same. Think of all the unnecessary views we could delete!

I’m sure things get more complicated under the hood, but as a software dev exploring the form builder, this really seems like a critical feature. Google Sheets already supports it, where it is much appreciated.

Have a great day!

[Kirk_Masden]

Thanks! I wasn’t familiar with the term “stable sort.” I’m no longer able to edit this (I posted it quite a long time ago) but I wish I had used the term from the beginning.

en.wikipedia.org

Category:Stable sorts

Stable sorting algorithms maintain the relative order of records with equal keys (i.e. values). That is, a sorting algorithm is stable if whenever there are two records R and S with the same key and with R appearing before S in the original list, R will appear before S in the sorted list. See here for a more complete description. The following 18 pages are in this category, out of 18 total. This list may not reflect recent changes (learn more).