Sorting String Based Expressions - Aging and Balance Bucket Example

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Article Goal

This article explains how to enforce a custom sort order for bucketed string fields (such as aging or balance ranges) in Visualize. Your data field names and calculated field may have different names.  For this example, we used BalanceBuckets and AgeAtPlacement for the data we want to display in the target control, and BalanceBucketSort and AgeAtPlacementSort for the sorting expression.  By separating display values from sort values using calculated expressions, you can ensure filters and charts render buckets in a logical, business-friendly order rather than default alphanumeric order.

Steps and Examples

Step 1: Open BridgeWorks VDM.

Step 2: Open and run the view that contains the Visualization you want to configure.

Step 3: Open Visualize Designer.

Step 4: Create a new expression or edit an existing one under Calculated Fields.

Figure 1 Example expression for a balance bucket.

Figure 2 Example expression for an aging bucket.

Figure 3 Example expression for a balance bucket sort.

Figure 4 Example expression for an aging bucket sort.

Step 5: Add the BalanceBucketSort or AgeAtPlacementSort to Hidden Data Items / Measures.  

Step 6: Set the function to Max

Step 7: Apply the Sort to the BalanceBuckets and AgeAtPlacementBuckets.

Figure 5 shows the resulting output.