Sort fields

Owned by Dorian Port
Last updated: Sept 05, 2014
2 min read

The presentation configuration screen includes a tab labelled "Sort fields".  Selecting this tab will allow you to choose which options are at the bottom of the list when users select the "Search" button.  The sort options are listed at the foot of the search window, under the heading "Sort by".  Users can choose when search results are displayed to sort by any of the values configured here, either ascending or descending.

If you have been changing labels / fields in the 'Display fields', please ensure you select 'Update' before switching tabs to 'Sort fields'

Selecting which fields to use for sorting results

To alter the values, click on the presentation layer icon and select the 'Sort fields' tab.  The available fields are listed in the left hand column and include fields in the current database table (and related tables where possible).  The fields that are currently configured as sort fields are displayed in the column on the right of the screen.

To enable fields for sorting, select in the left hand column and tap on the right arrow to move to the right hand column.  To remove fields from the search menu, select in the right hand column and tap the left arrow to remove from the current presentation configuration.

Copy from display fields - There is a button added to copy the fields from the "Display fields" to "Search fields".  If you want to configure exactly the same fields as are displayed, use "Copy from display fields" to add all fields.

Splitting fields

In the 'Display fields' section, users can combine fields to display in the same column.  You will need to split these fields into individual search parameters if you want to use in a search (you cannot have a combined field in searches). 

When configuring sort fields, please select each of the fields configured to check for combined fields:

  1. Select the presentation configuration icon
  2. Tap on the 'Display fields' tab and check the details displayed, do any of your fields have two values, separated by a comma in the 'Dbfieldname'?  If fields have two values, you will need to remove the current field from the sort and add the two fields back in as separate entries:
    1. Make a note of the two values combined.  Select the "Sort field" tab and select the combined field
    2. Tap the left arrow to remove from the current presentation configuration
    3. Select the first of the values (that was separated by a comma) in the left hand column, tap on the right arrow to add to the current sort configuration
    4. Repeat the exercise for the second field listed
  3. Select "Save" button in the top left of the screen to save your changes