Sorting the Data

Command:

Tools -> Sort...

DataLab provides a simple means for sorting the data of the data matrix. The sorting process is controlled by several parameters and can be applied to the whole data matrix or to only parts of it. After clicking the command Tools/Sort..., a window is displayed which allows the user to select the parameters of the sorting process:

The user may select the sort range, the sort criterion, and the sort order. The sort range is indicated by the yellow area in the right part of the window. The sort range is also displayed numerically above the graphical display. It may be adjusted by changing the slider positions besides the graphical representation.

The sorting process may be controlled by one of the following sort criteria. If either sorting by row or by column is selected, the sort criterion is indicated by a red line in the graphical display. The sort criterion may be adjusted either by clicking into the matrix image, or by using the spin edit boxes, or the ellipses button in the left half of the form:

by Column	Sort the rows of the data matrix according to the values of a specific column.
by Row	Sort the columns of the data matrix according to the values of a specific row.
by Class Number	Sort the rows of the data matrix according to the class information.
by Object Names	Sort the rows of the data matrix according to object names.
by Variable Names	Sort the columns of the data matrix according to variable names.

The sort order can be adjusted to be either ascending or descending. The user should note, that the object and class identifiers (or the variable identifiers) are always sorted along with the data - even if only a limited part of the data has been selected for sorting.

Hint 1:

The only way to revert to the original data is to reload the data from the disk. So, if you want to be sure that the data can be restored in the original order, save the data before issuing a Sort command.

Hint 2:

If the sort criterion contains empty cells then the hidden numeric values of the empty cells will be used for the sorting. Thus it may be necessary to temporarily uncover the empty cells (using the numeric data editor) in order to get an idea on the sorting effects of these cells.

Hint 3:

Ordinal or nominal variables will be sorted according to their ordinal values.