Forum Discussion
How Do I Avoid Alphabetical Sorting?
You need a numeric or alphabetic column that corresponds to that original sort order, then use that to sort.
I am no database expert but that seems like a major oversight to me... Wouldn't all programs start withOUT modification to the list, then allow users to modify the list with features? Odd. But I can do that... Thanks!
No, I wouldn't expect that. The only natural sort orders are alphanumeric or date. Any other order would need to be specified by some other piece of data, such as a row index number. A row index number would be a column in a database. If you don't have a column that corresponds to that piece of data, you don't have that sort order.
I have the same problem... I am trying to display text in a multi-row card or a table or a matrix or anything. Power BI sorts my data alphabetically. I do not want it sorted. So I added a sortby column. However, I cannot hide this sort column from the user.
I sorted the data in the data view. But when I add it to a multi-row card or table PowerBi sorts it for me.
I agree, it would be nice to just display the data in the order in which Power BI received it.
"The order in which Power BI receives it" would be an arbitrary order unique to any given query or refresh. It would essentially be completely random. So that wouldn't help you.
You can add a sort order column based on one or more column s that you want to sort on. Add that column to the table in the report and sort by that column. You can shrink the size of that column so it is not showing. You cannot hide it but you can shrink it to nothing so it doesnt show anyway.
