Order By

Overview

The Order By node sorts a DataFrame by one or more columns. Use it to control the row order of your data before it is exported, used in a report, or passed to a destination node.

Purpose

Use Order By when downstream nodes need records in a predictable sequence, such as newest invoices first, customers sorted by name, or report rows grouped by status and date.

Configuration

Add one or more sort columns by clicking Add Field. For each field, configure:

Setting	Description
Field	The column from the input DataFrame to sort by
Order	ASC (ascending, A to Z, 1 to 9) or DESC (descending, Z to A, 9 to 1)
Nulls	Where to place rows where this column's value is null: FIRST (nulls appear before all other values) or LAST (nulls appear after all other values)

When multiple fields are added, sorting is applied in the order they are listed: the first field is the primary sort key, the second is the tie-breaker, and so on.

Inputs

Input	Data Type	Input Type	Description
OrderByInputData	DataFrame	Single	A DataFrame connected to the OrderByInputData port.

Outputs

Output	Data Type	Collection	Description
OrderByOutputData	DataFrame	False	The same DataFrame schema with ordering rules attached.

Processing Logic

The node copies the input DataFrame metadata and adds one order rule for each configured sort field. Each rule stores the selected column, direction, and null placement. The actual rows and columns are not changed by the configuration itself.

If no sort fields are configured, the node emits a warning.

Examples

Sort open orders by newest date, then highest amount:

Field	Order	Nulls
order_date	DESC	LAST
amount	DESC	LAST

Notes / Limitations

• The Order By node does not change the data, only the row sequence.
• If you need to sort and then limit the number of rows, combine Order By with a Query In-Memory node using a LIMIT clause.