ARRAYSORT Function

Sorts array values in the specified column, array literal, or function that returns an array in ascending or descending order.

This function calculates based on the outer layer of an array. If your array is nested, the sorting of inner elements is not factored.

Wrangle vs. SQL: This function is part of Wrangle, a proprietary data transformation language. Wrangle is not SQL. For more information, see Wrangle Language.

Basic Usage

Array literal reference example:

arraysort([A,B,C,D],descending)

Output: Returns the following array: [D,C,B,A].

Column reference example:

arraysort(myArrays,ascending)

Output: Returns the arrays listed in the myArrays column sorted in ascending order.

Syntax and Arguments

arraysort(array_ref,order_enum)

Argument	Required?	Data Type	Description
array_ref	Y	string	Name of Array column, Array literal, or function returning an Array to apply to the function
order_enum	Y	string (enumerated value)	Order is defined as either: `ascending` (default) `descending`

For more information on syntax standards, see Language Documentation Syntax Notes.

array_ref

Name of the array column, array literal, or function returning an array whose array values you wish to sort.

Multiple columns and wildcards are not supported.

Usage Notes:

Required?	Data Type	Example Value
Yes	String (column reference or function) or array literal	myArray1

order_enum

String literal indicating the order by which the referenced arrays should be sorted:

ascending - (default) lowest values for the valid data type are listed first.
descending - Null/empty values are sorted first, followed by mismatched values. Then, the array values that are valid for the specified data type are listed in descending order.
For more information on the rules of sorting, see Sort Order.

Usage Notes:

Required?	Data Type	Example Value
No	String (enumerated value)	descending

Examples

Tip

For additional examples, see Common Tasks.

Example - Student progress across tests

This example covers the following functions:

ARRAYLEN - Returns 1-based number of elements in an array. See ARRAYLEN Function.
ARRAYELEMENTAT - Returns array element based on 0-based index parameter. See ARRAYELEMENTAT Function.
ARRAYSORT - Returns array sorted in ascending or descending order. See ARRAYSORT Function.

Source:

Here are some student test scores. Individual scores are stored in the Scores column. You want to:

Flag the students who have not taken four tests.
Compute the range in scores for each student.

LastName	FirstName	Scores
Allen	Amanda	[79, 83,87,81]
Bell	Bobby	[85, 92, 94, 98]
Charles	Cameron	[88,81,85]
Dudley	Danny	[82,88,81,77]
Ellis	Evan	[91,93,87,93]

Transformation:

First, you want to flag the students who did not take all four tests:

Transformation Name	`New formula`
Parameter: Formula type	Single row formula
Parameter: Formula	IF(ARRAYLEN(Scores) < 4,"incomplete","")
Parameter: New column name	'Error'

This test flags Cameron Charles only.

The following transform sorts the array values in highest to lowest score:

Transformation Name	`Edit column with formula`
Parameter: Columns	Scores
Parameter: Formula	ARRAYSORT(Scores, 'descending')

The following transforms extracts the first (highest) and last (lowest) value in each student's test scores, provided that they took four tests:

Transformation Name	`New formula`
Parameter: Formula type	Single row formula
Parameter: Formula	ARRAYELEMENTAT(Scores,0)
Parameter: New column name	'highestScore'

Transformation Name	`New formula`
Parameter: Formula type	Single row formula
Parameter: Formula	ARRAYELEMENTAT(Scores,3)
Parameter: New column name	'lowestScore'

Tip

You could also generate the Error column when the Scores4 column contains a null value. If no value exists in the array for the ARRAYELEMENTAT function, a null value is returned, which would indicate in this case an insufficient number of elements (test scores).

You can now track change in test scores:

Transformation Name	`New formula`
Parameter: Formula type	Single row formula
Parameter: Formula	SUBTRACT(highestScore,lowestScore)
Parameter: New column name	'Score_range'

Results:

LastName	FirstName	Scores	Error	lowestScore	highestScore	Score_range
Allen	Amanda	[87,83,81,79]		79	87	8
Bell	Bobby	[98,94,92,85]		85	98	13
Charles	Cameron	[88,85,81]	incomplete		88
Dudley	Danny	[88,82,81,77]		77	88	11
Ellis	Evan	[93,93,91,87]		87	93	6

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