sortfor

The sortfor tag is valid on text widgets, and is used to sort and reorder list elements. It accepts a list or sheet name, and a weight element decorator. The contents of the weight decorator are evaluated for each list element. sortfor then generates a sequential order string, sorted by the contents of the weight decorators. Finally, sortfor populates the parent text widget with that string.

Syntax

VAR. A text variable
type: text
sortfor: LISTNAME {weight: Expression to evaluate} 

Examples

Sort text values from a block, use for question option ordering

In this example, the sortfor tag at QC_BRAND_ORD uses the number of purchases entered at Q1 for each brand to determine the sorting weight. That order is then used for the Q2 option order.

See demo See code Restart demo

Sort values from a 100% table, use for block ordering

This example uses the percentage entered for each brand at Q3 to determine the sortfor weight. The QF_BRAND_ORD variable is then applied to the block to determine the order the NPS questions are displayed.

See demo See code Restart demo

Sort values from an awareness table, Brand 1 always first

In this example, the expression (([id]==1)*100) gives Brand 1 a weight of 100, to ensure that sortfor always sorts it first. The other brands use the option selected at Q5 as the weight, which has 3 as the highest value.

See demo See code Restart demo

Ranking, opposite sort

Using sortfor with ranking questions is slightly counterintuitive, because ranking typically uses '1' as the highest value, while sortfor considers '1' the lowest value. The result is that sortfor's output would be the reverse of what is typically desired. We can account for this by making the weight negative, because sortfor will sort -1 first, then -2, -3, etc.

In this example, the expression in the weight decorator is saying: "If $Q7R[id] has a value, make it negative; otherwise, set it to -99,999." The -99,999 value is an arbitrarily large negative number to ensure that unranked options are always sorted last. 

See demo See code Restart demo

Sort based on weight

You can also use sortfor to establish a sequential order based on the weight assigned to a list of options. For instance, the QORD_Q12 variable evaluates each item in the BRANDS list, assigning the highest weight to the option selected as the "go to" brand at Q11, followed by the options selected at Q10, followed by all remaining items in the BRANDS list. The order is then applied to Q12 with the flatorder tag. 

See demo See code Restart demo