Task 6:  Sort the data

When you first create and preview a report, the report displays the data rows in the order in which the query returns them. The order can vary, depending on many factors, such as how data was supplied in the data source. In most cases, you will want to change the order in which data appears in the report.

1	Choose Layout to return to the layout editor.

2	Open Property Editor, if necessary. If you use the default report design perspective, Property Editor appears below the layout editor. If it is not open, choose Window→Show View→Property Editor.

3	In the layout editor, select the table by selecting the Table tab in the lower left corner, as shown in Figure 1-18. This tab appears when you hover the mouse pointer over the lower left corner of the table.

Figure 1-18  Selecting the table

[layout_tabletab.png]

Property Editor displays the properties for the table, as shown in Figure 1-19.

Figure 1-19  Property Editor displaying the general properties of the table

[prop_editor_table.png]

4	Choose the Sorting tab, then choose Add to specify a sort key.

5	In New Sort Key, specify the following values:

In Key, select CUSTOMERNAME from the drop-down list.

Use the default values for the other fields.

Figure 1-20 shows the sort definition.

Figure 1-20  Sort definition in New Sort Key

[NewSortKey_qs.png]

Choose OK. The Sort page displays the defined sort key.

6	Preview the report. The sorted data appears in ascending order by customer name, as shown in Figure 1-21.

Figure 1-21  Data sorted by customer name

[output_sorted_1.png]

Notice that names with uppercase letters appear at the top of the list. BIRT sorts string data by UCS-2 code point values. In ASCII-based character sets, uppercase letters have lower code point values than lowercase letters. Therefore, uppercase letters appear before lowercase letters.

7	Sort the customer names case-insensitively so that ANG Resellers appears after American Souvenirs Inc., rather than before.

1	Choose Layout to return to the layout editor.

2	In the Sort page, shown in Figure 1-22, select the sort key, then choose Edit.

Figure 1-22  Sort key displayed on the Sort page

[sortpage.png]

3	In Edit Sort Key, change the Sort Key expression to the following expression, then choose OK:

row["CUSTOMERNAME"].toUpperCase()

This expression uses the JavaScript toUpperCase( ) function to convert all the customer name values to uppercase before sorting. JavaScript function names are case-sensitive, so you must type toUpperCase( ) exactly as shown. References to column names are also case-sensitive. In this expression, row["CUSTOMERNAME"] is the correct name to use. If you type row["customername"], for example, BIRT Report Designer displays an error when you run the report. You can verify the capitalization of a column name by looking at the name that is displayed in Data Explorer.

8	Preview the report.