Sorting Records

The Sort tab allows you to define the criteria based on which the various fields must be sorted in the input records before they are sent into the dataflow.

  1. On the Sort tab, click Add.
  2. Click the drop-down arrow in the Field Name column and select the field you want to sort by. The fields available for selection depend on the fields defined in this input file.
  3. In the Order column, select whether you want the field to be sorted in Ascending or Descending.
  4. In the Type field, you can leave the data type as string if you do not intend to perform any mathematical or date time operations with the data. However, if you intend to perform these kinds of operations, select an appropriate data type. This will convert the string data from the file to a data type that will enable the proper manipulation of the data in the dataflow.
  5. If you want to have any excess space characters removed from the beginning and end of a field's value string, select the Trim check box.
  6. In the Treat Null As field, select whether you wish to treat null values of the particular field in any record as the largest or smallest value among all records.
  7. Repeat until you have added all the input fields you wish to use for sorting. Change the order of the sort by highlighting the row for the field you wish to move and clicking Up or Down.