10 Replies Latest reply on Jun 12, 2012 11:10 AM by Sean Mullane

Is there a way to re-order the columns in a set?

Matt Shoemaker Jan 14, 2011 11:03 AM

I have created a set by Ctrl-clicking 2 fields and then selecting "Create Set" from the right-click menu.

The 2 fields are called "Opp Status" and "Express Flag".

The resulting set always lists the Express Flag column before the Opp Status column, regardless of which field I select first when creating the set. Using the "Show Members" dialog, I can drag-and-drop to re-arrange the columns in the window, but the change doesn't keep when I select OK.

In the set member list, I would like to see the values for Opp Status on the left side and Express Flag on the right side. For the user, this makes more logical sense when selecting set members from a quick filter because the set members with the same Opp Status should be grouped together.

For instance, in the Quick Filter now I see:

Null, Closed

Null, On Hold

Null, Open

False, Closed

False, Open

True, Closed

True, On Hold

I would prefer to see:

Closed, Null

Closed, False

Closed, True

On Hold,Null

On Hold,True

Open,Null

Open,False

1. Re: Is there a way to re-order the columns in a set?

Joe Mako Jan 14, 2011 12:32 PM (in response to Matt Shoemaker)

I agree, it does sound odd the the reordering is not sticking. I recommend you send an email to support@tableausoftware.com, reporting this as a possible issue, and with a link to this thread.

In any case, here is one way to get the result you are looking for:

1. In the list of Dimensions, drag the field "Express Flag" onto "Opp Status", this will create a hierarchy in the order that you want, if not, you can reorder the fields within the hierarchy
2. ctrl-click both fields (so they are both selected inside the hierarchy), and right-click to create your set.

This will ensure that the fields are sorted in the set the way you want them.
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2. Re: Is there a way to re-order the columns in a set?

Matt Shoemaker Jan 14, 2011 3:37 PM (in response to Matt Shoemaker)

Thanks Joe. That worked beautifully and it serendipitously led to a solution to a problem that I was having displaying a certain subset of records with sub-totals and totals.

James Baker (or another Tableau forum monitor), Can you please comment on whether or not forum topics like this are "slurped" into your issue tracking system or would it be more effective for me to submit this directly to support@tableausoftware.com? Thanks!
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3. Re: Is there a way to re-order the columns in a set?

James Baker Jan 19, 2011 2:35 PM (in response to Matt Shoemaker)

They are not slurped, or entered unless someone pipes up and says "I've filed this"
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4. Re: Is there a way to re-order the columns in a set?

Matt Shoemaker Jan 19, 2011 2:42 PM (in response to Matt Shoemaker)

OK. Got it. Can you comment on whether re-ordering columns in the show members dialog is supposed to be supported with drag-and-drop?
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5. Re: Is there a way to re-order the columns in a set?

James Baker Jan 20, 2011 10:59 AM (in response to Matt Shoemaker)

Hi Matt. After a little research, the word on the street regarding the Set (show members) and also the View Data columns is that we upgraded the display widget used there and got drag-and-drop of those columns for free. However, at the moment it's just a momentary reordering as we don't persist the drag-and-drop order or make any underlying changes to the Set itself.

Sorry to lead you astray with the UI. "I want to reorder my Set" has been a feature request for quite a while but we have not addressed it yet. Thanks for pointing out that we're actually a little closer than we were aware of.
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6. Re: Is there a way to re-order the columns in a set?

Matt Shoemaker Jan 20, 2011 11:07 AM (in response to Matt Shoemaker)

Awesome. Thanks, James. I suspected that the column drag-and-dropping was just part of the framework but glad to hear that the actual re-ordering of sets is on the radar.
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7. Re: Is there a way to re-order the columns in a set?

Andy Cotgreave Jan 21, 2011 4:03 AM (in response to Matt Shoemaker)

I've been having this problem and would like to see ordering in sets implemented soon!
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8. Re: Is there a way to re-order the columns in a set?

. Matthew Jun 11, 2011 6:59 AM (in response to Matt Shoemaker)

+1
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9. Re: Is there a way to re-order the columns in a set?

Joe Mako Jun 11, 2011 7:56 AM (in response to Matt Shoemaker)

additionally, you can create a calculated field that concatenates the fields together in the order you want.
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10. Re: Is there a way to re-order the columns in a set?

Sean Mullane Jun 12, 2012 11:10 AM (in response to James Baker)

Looks like this functionality hasn't been added yet. Bump.
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