How it works

A sort reorders records according to the values in the table. It is common to sort records:

• To view records on screen in a particular order,
• Before printing a report or labels,
• Before graphing data.

As you enter data into a new database, 4D stores the records in the order in which they were entered or imported. When you list records in an output form or print records, they appear in this order. Often, you want to view records in another order. For example, you might want to alphabetize a list of names in a report — a sort on the Last Name field reorders the records alphabetically by Last Name.

A sort can be done while you are using an input or output form. If you sort from an input form, the first record in the new sort order is displayed in the input form. Otherwise, the sorted records are displayed in the output form. 

4D conducts indexed sorts very quickly. If you are sorting only one field and that field is indexed, 4D uses the index.

To carry out a sort, you can use the Order By editor, which lets you manually set the sort criteria. 

In the Application environment, you can execute a sort directly via the ORDER BY or ORDER BY FORMULA command. However, it is possible to display the Order By editor via these commands.

In the Design environment, you have the Order By... command in the Records menu. 

Sorting reorders the current selection of records. This sort is temporary and applies only to the current selection; it does not affect the order in which records are stored in the database. A sort is commonly used immediately after a query and before printing a report or labels.